Shot Through Time
By Richard Modlin
Hartside Publishing, 2023
$24.99, Hardcover; $15.99, Paper
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by Danny Gamble
In Shot Through Time, Richard Modlin offers a tale that is at once science fiction novel, historical novel, and romance novel. He tells his tale with a deft eye toward detail. Indeed, Modlin breathes life into his primary characters: Sgt. Noland Black, a thirty-year-old grenadier in the 10th British Regiment; Dr. Andrew Gorsky, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Revolutionary War reenactor; and Dr. Carol Morris, “a confident [surgeon] in her mid-thirties,” Sgt. Black’s tour guide through the 20th century, and his potential love interest.
The novel begins on Wednesday, April 19, 1775, as Sgt. Black marches his troops back to their barracks in Cambridge after a search for illegal weapons in Lexington and Concord. A shot rings out, followed by a volley of musket fire. Shots fired, deep pain, a brilliant flash of light, darkness. Sgt. Black awakens to find himself shot through time and into Dr. Morris’s operating room 200 years later.
Readers will chuckle as Sgt. Black marvels at such mundane modern objects as the telephone, an airliner, and television. Dr. Morris’ VW Bug baffles him. A trip to McDonald’s astounds him. But Dr. Morris is an exemplary guide to modern-day Boston. Tourists to the city will find Shot Through Time an indispensable guidebook. The two visit such historic sites as Harvard Yard, the Bunker Hill Monument, and the Old State House. Visitors who regularly post photos of their meals on Facebook will enjoy a trip to Holli’s Seafood on Auburn Street for a lobster dinner—”[our] herdsmen feed [lobsters] to the pigs,” Sgt. Black informs Dr. Gorsky.
Of course, time travel stories are nothing new. Even film and television have mined the subject for decades. The Starship Enterprise travels through any day, year, or century that Cpt. Kirk and Mr. Scott can conjure. Modlin is aware of this topic and gives literary props to Jules Verne’s The Time Machine and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.
The novel does offer a sense of mystery and asks readers pertinent questions: Will Dr. Gorsky ever stop his infernal matchmaking? Do Carol and Noland ever consummate their flirtations? Does Sgt. Black return to the 18th century and his lady love, Meera? Read the book to discover the answers.
With Shot Through Time, Richard Modlin gives readers a well-researched—or more accurately, a textbook-level—tutorial on life in 18th- and 20th-century Boston. As it should. Modlin is an emeritus professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama at Huntsville and author of 70 scientific articles. He spent a lifetime in academia and is a consummate researcher. He is also author of three previous thrillers set during the American Revolution, about which you can learn more on his website: richardmodlin.com.
Danny Gamble writes from Montevallo, Ala.
