The First Reviews Are In!
- Author Chat
- by Alexander Bentley
- 08/04/2025
You can see some of the comments about the book on this web site home page. But here is one from Amazon that was an excellent review and summary. A good grade too!
Angela A
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2025
Haven't read a spy - or should I say, spy-fi - thriller like this in years. I've read Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Poirot (and countless others), but a lot of the more recent books I've picked up have felt stale in what they offer. Not to discount modern writers, but I feel as if the spark that fiction used to have is just gone.
Not here! Honestly, Furniture Sliders gives a lot more than just the same-old stuff I was expecting. Bentley has crafted something genuinely thrilling here, because it's not just "spy" or detective, it's a mix of noir and sci-fi...with a shockingly unique plot.
The premise is that a post-war operative (Max Calder) for an agency called the Bureau is pulled back into the game after WWII, only to find that there's more going on than he initially realized. It's a conspiracy weaving time travel, government agencies, and, of course, a healthy dose of espionage. Not only that, but Bentley ties in real-world characters and events, showing he's done his research while writing this. He mixes in quantum science and real-world spy tactics, Alan Turing, and cutting-edge tech in a way that makes it believable, while also keeping it mysterious.
Max Calder himself, the main character of the series, is a fun read. He's not showy, but he's one of the best at what he does - and this is constantly at odds with the recurring theme of missing and faltering memory throughout the book.
How do you know what's real, and how can you succeed if your memories might be false?
From what I can tell, this is Bentley's first novel, but he's nailed it. I'm looking forward to what comes next in the series!
Not here! Honestly, Furniture Sliders gives a lot more than just the same-old stuff I was expecting. Bentley has crafted something genuinely thrilling here, because it's not just "spy" or detective, it's a mix of noir and sci-fi...with a shockingly unique plot.
The premise is that a post-war operative (Max Calder) for an agency called the Bureau is pulled back into the game after WWII, only to find that there's more going on than he initially realized. It's a conspiracy weaving time travel, government agencies, and, of course, a healthy dose of espionage. Not only that, but Bentley ties in real-world characters and events, showing he's done his research while writing this. He mixes in quantum science and real-world spy tactics, Alan Turing, and cutting-edge tech in a way that makes it believable, while also keeping it mysterious.
Max Calder himself, the main character of the series, is a fun read. He's not showy, but he's one of the best at what he does - and this is constantly at odds with the recurring theme of missing and faltering memory throughout the book.
How do you know what's real, and how can you succeed if your memories might be false?
From what I can tell, this is Bentley's first novel, but he's nailed it. I'm looking forward to what comes next in the series!
KK
The kind of sci-fi you can cruise through, enjoying the author's obvious talent for developing a plot and fleshing out characters and scenes. You'll feel as though you've been to some of the locations, stepping back into the last century. You'll also gain some insight into the world of quantum mechanics where many strange things are regularly observed to happen, and observation itself appears to be capable of causing change - Schrodinger's cat notwithstanding.
