How to Stop Time, Matt Haig, Penguin Random House, ISBN: 9781 7821 18626
Step aside Edward Cullen, there’s a new 400-year-old in town.
Except he’s not a vampire, doesn’t sparkle, is human and is deliciously awesome. Tom Hazard is sick.
He was born with an illness that slows down the aging process dramatically. He looks 41(ish) but is actually centuries older.
We follow Tom’s present day-to-day life living in London as a history teacher, with brief and descriptive flashbacks into his extensive and colourful past.
He was given one rule by his mentor, who has the same affliction, not to fall in love.
Tom is tired of life and as the reader, we watch him come to terms with change and inevitability and see a different side of death and progression.
It is a quirky, short read that will stay with you for days and, in my case, weeks after it was put down.
It is a solid five-stars review for Haig and for any Benedict Cumberbatch fans as the book received movie rights before its release with the Sherlock Holmes star signed on for the lead.