4.5★s
The Quantum Chain is the fourth book in the Joseph Bridgeman series by British author, Nick Jones. With two successful time travel change missions under his belt, Joe is relaxing back into his life, hoping things with Alexia will progress further, and a little worried about the direction his best friend Vinny’s renewed relationship is taking, when he gets a call from the woman he refers to as a red-haired hand-grenade.

Gabrielle Green needs his antique dealer assistance in acquiring a Tang Dynasty ceramic horse. The mingqi is a focus object, an item that is a conduit to a particular past event that needs changing, and this one has gone off its expected path. A quick trip to Amsterdam with a loaded credit card fails: the item is already sold to Emil Zanak, who runs Extempero.

As the Continuum is rather desperate to get their focus object back, Joe is suitably attired and equipped with a generous budget and a convincing past to get him into the auction. But that doesn’t go as planned. Joe is shocked and stunned when he learns exactly what Extempero does. He improvises, and manages to get to eighth Century China anyway, attempting to carry out the mission, even with Zanak and the auction winner in tow.

While this corner of China in 753AD is friendlier than he expected, Joe’s best efforts aren’t always good enough and, assisted by an old friend, he has a lucky escape from a nasty fate involving archers. He does learn the method and extent of Scarlett’s perfidy, something he needs to quickly bring to the Continuum’s attention. It turns out to be much more serious than Joe realises, and it seems like someone within the Continuum is feeding Scarlett information.

Between them, Joe, Gabrielle and certain trusted members of the Continuum set up a trap for Scarlett: it’s the only way they’ll stop further deterioration of the Future Change Index. Will they succeed?

This instalment sees Joe flitting between the eighth and twenty-second Centuries with relative ease, becoming a temporary multi-millionaire, managing several narrow escapes from those intent on doing him harm; he is shot with a tranquiliser dart and tied to a tree, gets to stand on the Golden Gate Bridge, and barely escapes an earthquake with his life.

Reading this series in order is highly recommended as there are many spoilers in this book for the previous three and, read as a stand-alone, The Quantum Chain would be rather confusing. In fact, with two Joes at one stage, the plot gets quite convoluted, even for the reader who has faithfully read each book. It will be interesting to see what Nick Jones has in store for his protagonist in further books. Excellent time travel fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing.