Time and Robbery

The saga of accidental immortal Velius continues in this skimpy sequel to Centuries Ago and Very Fast. Tech geek and reluctant spook Joseph Tavistock is charged with guarding the British border against passport fraud. He finds a series of fake IDs that belong to one person, a man called Velius—who must be hundreds of years old. Tavistock’s ambivalence and passivity when faced with the moral quandaries of his job make him a rather unsympathetic character, and his similar reactions to his wife’s secrets prevent her and their relationship from ever coming to life. Tavistock makes a single move toward individuality by liking Velius in spite of himself. His co-workers appear only in broad brush strokes, as does Velius’s latest young lover, Emil. Only in Velius’s adolescent daughter, Quince, does Ore create a character whose vibrancy rivals her father’s, and there is no action to speak of. (Mar.)