Customer Reviews

Double Time

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In an attempt to win back his wife's love, unemployed Billy T. Pickle decides to rob a bank. Things don't go too well, as he first hands over his wife's shopping list, then finds his car vandalized and undrivable. Thinking quickly if not clearly, Billy grabs a teenage runaway as hostage, then carjacks a car driven by an elderly woman. The three of them make their escape from Washington D.C., but Billy has no idea where to go next.

Teen Phoenix Knott had enough of her single mother and had decided to run away to spend time with her father--in Seattle, completely on the other side of the country. As she is the only one of the three with a real destination in mind, ultimately the three head toward Seattle. By this time, Kate, the elderly driver, has decided she needs to help Billy out, providing frequent insights and encouraging him to re-imagine his life. Along the way, the Phoenix and Kate begin reading a romance novel about a pair of twins, mistaken identity, and true love. The novel further reinforces the lessons Billy and Phoenix are learning.

Author Prisilla Cogan creates an entertaining story with the pathetic Billy--henpecked and more a danger to himself than anyone else, the desperately seeking Phoenix, and the wise Kate bonding together over romance novels, tourist destinations, Canada and America as they make their way across the country. Cogan mixes a wry sense of humor with a touch of angst to hook the reader and keep us reading.

DOUBLE TIME's message is positive and certain to appeal, especially to young readers. More cynical readers might find it a bit simplistic and the NPR commentator's thoughts on the romance novel aspect seem quite on. Even we cynics (sadly I fall into this number) will enjoy Cogan's story of a man searching for a new dream after his old dream exploded.

From its implausible beginning to its clever end, Priscilla Cogan's DOUBLE TIME is a real delight to read. When hardluck schmo Billy Pickle botches a bank robbery (though he DOES get the money) and subsequently kidnaps a runaway teenager and an elderly widow, and the three take off in Matilda, Kate's (the octogenarian) car, you know you're in for an adventure. As they flee north and west, an impromptu family forms. The romance novel they read to entertain themselves on the trip, DOUBLE TROUBLE, becomes part of the fun. Like a Shakespearean comedy, the novel-within-the-novel plays on the mistaken identity of identical twins, and the comedy of the romance novel's characters spills into the "real" life of Billy, Kate, and Phoenix, the runaway.

Somebody once compared a novel to a trip, and the roadtrip that forms the essential plot off DOUBLE TIME is indeed about discovery. The conclusion comes as a surprise but one you think afterward, "oh, I should have seen it coming!" Lots of fun.

This is a book that many readers will love and many will find simply a pleasant quick read. The readers who love Paulo Coehlo The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream will likely enjoy Priscilla Cogan. The two authors share the use of fiction (novels) to explicitly teach something of living life wisely and fully. They both at times place speeches in characters' mouths to make their point rather than depend upon the reader recognizing the message through the characters' actions.

Double Time interweaves two stories. The "live action" is a trip across the country of three unlikely travelers - an inept, would-be criminal driven by love; a rebellious teen running away to her father; and a wise, elderly woman. The "fictional action" is a story being read as the three characters cross the county. This story is a "romance" novel - an unhappy photographer who hires a woman to impersonate her while she spends a year traveling the world and taking photographs, a husband who doesn't know the difference, a wise old black servant ... This story has the normal romance elements - falling in love with someone unavailable, surprise identity, happy ending ... Or at least these are the elements I assume are normal romace elements. Both stories are used to encourage personal growth in the characters and the readers.

Cogan is a sufficient craftsman to make the two stories intertwine successfully and to keep the reader engaged in both stories. So if you like novels with an explicit message, you will be enthusiastic about the book. If, however, you prefer that any message about human nature and growth be expressed only through the characters' behavior, then you will have a tepid response. Either way, the book is worth the time required to read it simply to observe how well the multiple threads of the narrative interweave and strength each other.

Billy T. Pickle, depressed over his recent unemployment and absence of his wife's love, decides to rob a bank. (This reminded me of David from Endless Love: A Novel (P.S.) who sought to win his girlfriend's eternal affection by burning her house and then rescuing her from said house flame). Misguided and depressed, Billy executes his outrageous scheme.

To make matters even more complicated, Billy kidnaps a teenage girl who had run away from home. She becomes his hostage as does the 80-something Kate Aregood, whose car Billy steals since his own had been vandalized. This unlikely trio heads for Washington D.C. with no clear cut plans in place.

Phoenix Knott is an interesting character. She runs away from her single mother with the idea of reconnecting with her dad in Seattle. As it turns out, the trio head for Seattle and Phoenix' dad. Kate, the oldest member of the group is the voice of reason. She tries to encourage Billy to think over the decisions he has made and unwittingly drawn her and Phoenix into and the possible repercussions they all face.

On a humorous note, the two women read a wildly implausible romance book and, as inane and cliche as the romance book sounds, Billy actually identifies with parts of it and feels the book has underscored the things the two women have been telling him about his life decisions.

This is a VERY funny book that is reminiscent of Flannery O'Connor. Like O'Connor's characters, these characters have names that fit them - Phoenix rising up out of the ashes, refreshed and reborn; Billy T. Pickle - always in a pickle and Kate Aregood, who truly is a good person. The mishaps and mayhem that follow these three are O'Connoresque and some of the humor is subtle. Billy is not really dangerous and is not the dominant member of this group or the dominant note of this triad. The three become friends by sharing the cliche romance books; their stops throughout the United States and Canada. Readers will want to know where their next stop will be.

DOUBLE TIME reminds me of Langston Hughes' 1951 poem, Harlem [A Dream Deferred.] One could say that Billy's life is reflected in that poem.

First, Priscilla Cogan is one of my favorite authors. I love her perspectives on life, love, and the human dilemma in general. And I love the way she creates wise women characters who teach through lovingkindness and no-nonsense, let's-get-this-show-on-the-road reality checks! With the plot within a plot device, we get treated to two such characters, each of different generations. All that said, this book seems to me to be the least strong in terms of writing style and complexity. The narrative style of the other four held my attention better - they were a bit richer. I think this book would be great for a teen exploring moral decisions and personal identity issues.

Armed robbery, kidnapping, and a road trip filled with friendship, great scenery, and . . . read aloud time!?!!! This was such a treat, funny and wise, and so intriguing that I put aside work and other entertainments to keep on reading. The story-within-a-story is worthy of Sheherazade, with a bit of M.C. Escher and his Mobius curves.

This book is a lot of fun to read. This book grabbed me in the first chapter, and later chapters pulled me along, faster and faster. The prose was nicely organized and it was very easy to keep track of the story lines. I also loved the little surprises that Priscilla Cogan included, especially those in the final chapters.

Billy Pickle is going to rob a bank. Unfortunately, the robbery begins to go sour even before Billy arrives at the bank. Once in the bank things become worse. Billy hands the teller a grocery list. After getting a rather small amount of money, Billy discovers that a group of teenage boys has slashed the tires on his getaway car.

Thinking quickly - though not cleverly - Billy takes teenage runaway Phoenix Knott as a hostage. He then forces Octogenarian Kate Aregood to be his getaway driver. The situation becomes tense as Billy continually pines for his unfaithful girlfriend Carmelita, Phoenix bemoans the lack of an iPod charger and spouts expletives with great abandon, and Kate tries to keep everyone calm.

To pass the time, the trio began reading a book titled "Double Trouble" by Felicity Dare. "Double Trouble" is nominally a romance novel, which is outside the genres I usually read, but I quickly became absorbed by the story of Daisy Hill and the DuMaurier family. I allowed "Double Time" and the novel within the novel to pull me along faster and faster, wondering what lay ahead. I was delighted to learn that author Priscilla Cogan had numerous surprises waiting for me from the beginning to the end, both in "Double Time" and in "Double Trouble."

The two novels evolve in parallel. We learn much about the Kate, Billy and Phoenix and they learn about each other as they journey across the United States. We also learn similar things about Daisy Hill. The lessons that Kate, Billy and Phoenix learn from each other and "Double Trouble" help them all.

Priscilla Cogan does tie up a lot of loose ends just a little too tidily, but I enjoyed the story so much that I was willing to overlook minor implausibilities. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and enjoy a fun book, and this book is certainly a lot of fun.

This book touches on several genres. People who enjoy romance novels may enjoy the novel in the novel. People who like stories about people discovering themselves and growing in a positive way will also like this book. People looking for an easy read with interesting twists will like the little secrets that Priscilla Cogan reveals in the final chapters.

I sometimes enjoy reading a story that easily draws me onward rather than having to push my way through a lot of heavy prose. This book was a fun, fast book to read, and other than the frequent use of expletives in places, this book is suitable for most readers down to the age of 16 or 17 years old.

This review is based on a copy of the book provided to me by the author.

Enjoy!

This is an absolutely adorable story. It is actually a story within a story and was an interesting idea that was. It is a fairly quick and easy read that should appeal to a wide variety of readers.

Enjoy.

An enjoyable, skillfully crafted story with an ending that will surprise you. Find a comfortable place to curl up with this book, because you won't want to put it down.

If you read the first half dozen or so pages in this book of the bank robbery gone awry, the collection of a pair of the most unlikely hostages and the escape in the ancient pale blue Dodge Dart, you'll be hooked. Then as the story develops where the two hostages are reading a romance novel you find amidst the laughter that there's an underlying story of how a book (the romance novel) affects the lives of the characters in the outside novel. But within the story the humor keeps up, even until I laughed out loud at the last paragraph in the book.

This book is published by a small press who unfortunately won't have the marketing muscle to promote it to the best seller lists, but it certainly deserves to be there. I'd also call upon someone in Hollywood to pay attention to this one.