Trading Time by Owen Martin

 

Trading Time by Owen Martin.

Published 23rd July 2020 by RedDoor Press.

From the cover of the book:

Julia Madison is about to take a break from her career in the family corporate law firm. A little disheartened by the excesses around her she decides to travel to Brazil to work with some of the poorest people there.

Geoff Madison is on the verge of retirement, feeling his age and ready to slow down. His long-time best friend and client, Larry is just the opposite. Full of life and energy he is excited by the massive breakthrough his research company has made into harvesting time from one human, to give to another. 

He wants Geoff to represent him in this, the biggest opportunity of his life. Geoff isn’t sure, but Larry ploughs on anyway, beginning trials with this new method.

Gabriel and Isabella live in a favela and willingly give up some of their years for the money they are offered. But the drugs haven’t been checked rigorously enough and they are ageing early – and quickly. By chance, Julia meets Gabriel and hears his shocking story.

As Gabriel and Isabella’s bodies race towards their untimely demise, Julia vows to bring their case to trial back in New York, placing her father’s friendship with Larry at risk and causing Geoff to think carefully about right and wrong as he faces his own terminal diagnosis.

A twisting and twisted drama that spans the favelas of Brazil to the courtrooms of NYC.

******************************************

I am always fascinated by books that are about that strange old concept of time, so this is a title that immediately caught my eye - and I am so very glad it did, because this is a book that I ended up reading in almost a single sitting, which doesn't happen often dear reader...

This is a story based on the development of a new medical procedure that can harvest time from a donor and transfer it to another - the theory being that someone can choose to sell some of their lifespan to make money to improve their own lot at the expense of a few years, and similarly a buyer can extend their own allotted time on the Earth by purchasing a little extra. 

While this may not be a new idea in the realms of fiction, this is the kind of storyline you normally come across in a book firmly in the science fiction genre. It's not a surprise then that I was expecting this to be a thriller with a hard sci-fi edge, in the Michael Crichton mould. What is surprising is that while it certainly does have echoes of Mr Crichton they are rather of the more reflective kind than he is normally associated with, and to spice things up nicely, somewhere along the way, they have also been firmly spliced onto a John Grisham legal drama - so more of a love child of the two shall we say?

This is actually a book rather light on science, beyond proposing that a new procedure exists, but this matters not a jot because the story itself is about the ethical issues surrounding such a development, rather than the ins and outs of the procedure itself. Instead the crux of the matter lies in whether or not it is right to take a portion of someone's lifespan and give it to another person at all, and there is a tough legal battle to be fought before a decision can be made by the courts.

Of course, this is made all the more interesting by the fact that the procedure in question is the province of a global corporation under the remit of a less than scrupulous American business man who is keen to make as much money as he can from it - and he is not too careful about following the letter of the law along the way. This aspect of the tale provides a delicious thread of menace to the proceedings that allows our author to spin this as a thriller both on more familiar New York City ground and in the steaming favelas of Rio, alongside the courtroom drama element.

I really enjoyed the way Owen Martin throws up so much thought provoking material in his telling of this story. Along with the more obvious moral considerations about the buying and selling of time, there is so much about how we can effectively ease poverty; the exploitation of the poor and vulnerable by the rich, particularly by global corporations;  the influence of business and money making decisions on ethical considerations; the, possibly misguided, imposition of first world sensibilities on the developing world;  the freedom of an individual to make their own, albeit difficult choices; the way campaigns are fought in this social media age; and interestingly, the role of activism in fighting for justice.

This is an intelligent, page turner of a book that will both entertain you and leave you with some intriguing issues to mull over. So far it has gone a bit under the radar, but I hope my review will help garner a few more fans for Owen Martin's novel, because I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Trading Time is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, from Bookshop.org HERE.

Thank you to Lizzie Lewis at RedDoor Press for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Owen Martin was raised on a farm in Ireland and graduated in business from Trinity college in Dublin. He now lives in Switzerland and has spent most of his life in executive leadership positions throughout the world. He travels extensively for business and writes occasionally for relaxation.