First novel I’ve read by this author and I don’t think it’ll be the last.
I enjoyed this book from start to finish. Every chapter ended on me wanting to know more and more.
At first I wasn’t sure about the time travel aspect but I grew to enjoy it and understood how it fitted in with the story.
A great read and very well executed.

Well, certainly didn't expect the sudden turn of events! Yes, there were hints early on but didn't actually think the author would take us there. But somehow it works!

Detective Beth McDade worked for the Los Angeles Police Department until she lost her badge for having sex with a junior officer. Beth is now with the sheriff's department in Barstow, California, a desert town where 'nobody wants to be.' In the 1800s, Barstow was a busy railroad hub for silver mining operations, but is now just a hot desert burg near a military base and a tourist attraction called the 'Calico Ghost Town' - a re-creation of the original town of Calico, with 'residents' and 'shopkeepers' dressed in period costumes.

As the story opens Beth is called to the scene of a late night accident near Peggy Sue's diner, a 50s-style eatery that looks like a giant jukebox surrounded by dinosaurs. Beth is told that an old man was killed by a motor home.

When Beth looks at CCTV footage of the incident, she observes the sky crackling with electricity, a loud blast, and a bright flash from the nearby Marine base. Then a terrified, disheveled old coot runs out of the darkness into the road, where he's mowed down by a trailer home that has no chance to avoid him.

When coroner Amanda Selby examines the old man's body, she tells Beth that the victim, who has no identification, is filthy; has only a few, badly decayed teeth; is infested with lice; is suffering from advanced syphilis; is wearing clothes manufactured in the 1880s; and has old coins in his pocket. Beth is bewildered, but thinks the victim was probably a kind of eccentric mountain man living off the earth.

A few days later, a Los Angeles police officer consults Beth about a missing person. It seems a Los Angeles chef named Owen Slader, who was driving back to LA from Las Vegas, vanished in the desert. The last ping from Slader's Mercedes SUV occurred around Barstow, and Beth determines that Slader went missing on the same day, at the same time, and in the same area that the dirty old mountain man ran into the road.

Shortly afterwards, a construction crew that's just starting work in the desert near Barstow comes across a buried old coffin containing a dry yellow skeleton that's over a hundred years old. And -WAIT FOR IT - the skeleton is identified as Owen Slader, who disappeared just a few days ago.

From here the story alternates back and forth between the old mining town of Calico in the 1880s, and current times in Barstow, where Beth is investigating the disappearance of Owen Slader. Beth's inquiries put her on the radar of Bill Knox, the Security Chief at the nearby Marine base, who warns her off. Nevertheless, Beth plows on with her investigation.

In 1880s Calico, we see that the town is in the midst of a silver rush. It has one newspaper man and one judge, and harbors saloons, restaurants, prostitutes, bath houses, etc. that cater to the miners. Calico is dirty and stinks to high heaven, with red dust everywhere, and human waste and garbage covering the streets and swept into open ravines. The descriptions of old Barstow/Calico are very vivid and I could picture the filth; the overpowering stench; the exhausted miners with bad breath and unwashed clothes; the meals of steak, beans, biscuits, and boiled potatoes (25 cents); the bath houses where the same water is used again and again; the cramped caves where miners sleep; and so on.

There's a side plot about Beth's investigation of the robbery of a house on the outskirts of Barstow, that the out-of-town owner sees on CCTV from his home in La Jolla. Beth shows up as the culprits are getting away, after one robber flips a middle finger at the security camera and pees on a sofa. Beth gets on the trail of these perps, who've hit several homes in the area.

There are plenty of twists and surprises in the book, which is a mixed-genre thriller.

I was a little put off by Beth's obsession with sex (she picks up men and has sex with them to deal with her boredom and anxiety), a plot device I call 'male fantasy writing.' That aside, this is an excellent story, highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Lee Goldberg, and Severn House for a copy of the manuscript.

I do love a good genre mash-up, but to specify which genres would give away too much - to get the most impact from this book it’s essential to avoid spoilers! I’ve loved this author’s Ian Ludlow and Eve Ronin series, and this starts out looking like another book about a tough jaded but dedicated female cop - then takes an intriguing turn with a 19th century timeline and highly likeable couple of characters making the best of difficult conditions. The mystery is in how they connect.

‘I don’t have to shoot you. You’ve already shot yourself. You have zero credibility. You got thrown out of the LAPD because you’re a drunken sex addict who can’t control herself. It’s only gotten worse since you arrived in Barstow.’
Beth McDade is a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy whose career stalled due to misogyny and double standards in the LAPD, and now tries to make the best of it as part of a small team of detectives covering the isolated towns between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. When called to investigate the death of an unidentified man run over by a motor home, she is puzzled by his autopsy findings and the fact that no one recognises him. Calico is a small abandoned town which became a local tourist attraction, but in 1882 it was a bustling fast growing silver mining settlement. Then an oddly dressed stranger arrives at the local saloon with an unusual proposition…

At the start of this, I thought it seemed too similar to the Eve Ronin books, and was dubious about Beth and her grubby hobby, but once I got an inkling of what was going on loved the twist and the sections set in the past. Goldberg is a former screenwriter/TV producer, and this shows in his scene descriptions and action sequences - this would make a brilliant TV series. Past Calico is vividly described - stench and all, and I liked all the classic Western tropes even if I don’t usually like Western stories. This was heading for five stars and a nomination for one of my books of the year, but I was a bit disappointed by some of the plot elements that were left unexplained. It’s unclear whether this is the start of a series which may rectify this - I do hope so, but in the meantime I’m rounding down from 4.5.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for the ARC. I’m posting this honest review voluntarily.
Calico is published on November 7th.

Loved it!

I ordered this without reading the summary. I like the author's other works and figured I would like this book. The writing was great. The plot has Beth, a police detective in a small California town trying to find out how a man missing for just a week is found dead with the skeleton showing he died nearly a century previously. I am not a huge fan of most time traveling books (Stephen King excepted) and considered abandoning the book, but the writing was just too good. I am glad I did because I really liked it. The plot turned out to be excellent. The insight into life in the 1880s was interesting and the story in more recent times (2019) would have made a great story all. on its own.

This is the first book I've read by Lee Goldberg and I would definitely like to read more. Without giving away the plot, this is a genre bending tale with a strong, female lead - a randy detective with an axe to grind who gets pulled into a strange case which, come hell or high water, she just has to solve. Her story runs in parallel with that of a man trying to make sense of his past and how it might affect the future. It was full of twists and turns and I couldn't put it down. The sensory descriptions of life in a 19th century mining town were spot on and made me feel like I had been transported there. This novel would make a brilliant film. Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

Great combination of a police procedural, sci-fi time travel story, and Western. Owen's transformation into Ben as he is sent from 2019 back to 1880's California is delightful. Beth's modern-day investigation into what happened to him is riveting as she slowly puts together the pieces to discover the unthinkable has happened.

Vivid, immersive and endlessly fascinating, Calico is an unforgettable investigative thriller that will burrow into your brain and set up shop before completely blowing your mind. Lee Goldberg has crafted a tale that is as engrossing and inventive as anything you’ll read this year. A creative novel that you won’t be able to stop thinking about for a long time.

In Barstow, California a vagrant is killed when hit by a RV in the middle of the night. At the same time, a man driving through town on the interstate disappears without a trace. These separate incidents are given to ex-LAPD detective turned San Bernardino County detective Beth McDade to investigate. As she gathers clues and evidence, a connection between the two cases arises and ties back to events in Calico, a small mining town from the late-1800s. Faced with shocking revelations that defy logic, Beth must tread carefully to unlock the entire unbelievable mystery before she is shut down by powerful forces that will do anything to keep the situation from becoming public.

I lost sleep over Calico. Yes, it was incredibly difficult to put down and so I read late into the night. But that’s not all. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the overall concept. It opened a Pandora's box of what-if questions that got stuck in my head. And when I did fall asleep, I dreamt about the book and woke up thinking about it even more. And even a week later I still can’t shake it. Because Calico is more than a police procedural or crime novel. Way more. And the method by which the story is told, switching back and forth between present day Barstow and Calico from the late-1800s, makes it damn near impossible to stop reading as the intrigue increases and the story sinks it’s hooks into you deeper and deeper. You get absolutely invested in certain characters and have a burning desire to know what happens next, asking yourself over and over how you would respond if put in similar situations. I would say more but won’t dare risk spoiling the experience for readers. Best to go into this one knowing as little as possible.

Calico is alluring and entrancing. Extraordinarily thought-provoking and riveting. Memorable and mind bending. Something exceedingly different from the typical thriller. A fantastic book expertly crafted by Lee Goldberg and gifted to readers.

To be honest I requested this book after reading a few good reviews – without checking the book description. I was enjoying the book till I came across the words ‘time travel’ and then realised my mistake. I don’t like reading anything about time travel! I wondered if this was one book I wouldn’t finish – but I did, and I loved it! I found it fascinating, and absolutely love Detective Beth McDade. A very imaginative and well-researched story and I’m sure it’s going to be a huge hit. Thanks to NeGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this early copy.

On February 2nd 2019, Beth McDade is called to an accident on a deserted road. The victim, a man dressed like a miner from the 1800s has been hit by an RV. He came off second best. Beth assumes the victim is an actor from a nearby tourist attraction, but a closer inspection of his clothes and his teeth suggests otherwise. On the same night, a man, Owen Slader, disappears while driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to visit his daughter. The last ping from his mobile phone shows he was on the same road. Two days later, the body of Owen Slader is discovered – in a one hundred-year-old coffin.
The story is told from two perspectives. We have Beth and her investigation to get to the truth of exactly what happened out there in the desert on that February night. Where did the miner come from, and where did Owen go? Then there is Owen’s story, who, thanks to some sort of tear in time and space, finds himself stuck in the 1880s.
Both storylines are compelling and honestly, I couldn’t flick the pages quick enough.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts of as a typical American police detective novel. A disgraced female detective investigates the death of a man in the desert. It is at this point that strange things begin to evolve as the autopsy show that this man is over 100 years old. An imaginative plot that involves time travel but on quite an intellectual level. Nothing really makes sense but.....who knows. Although this book one of a series about the detective, it works well as a stand alone novel.
Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for the advance copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

I recently read the latest Eve Ronin book and aside from wondering how Lee Goldberg is so prolific, I jumped on reading Calico without really reading the book description beyond disgraced ex-LA detective is working in a remote part of California. I liked Detective Beth McDade, a tough cop with an attitude...then BAM...time travel. Seriously, but it works and I loved it. So much fun. Read this book!

Calico by Lee Goldberg is the story of Detective Beth McDade, set in Barstow California, and her most recent homicide case, a seemingly homeless/indigent man hit by a mobile home on the night of a thunder and lightning storm and a large explosion at the nearby military base. The Mojave Desert doesn’t seem like the best location for a life or a detective/crime story. Beth is visited by a previous acquaintance from the LAPD who is investigating the disappearance of a man last known to have been driving in the area of Barstow. Just as Beth’s investigation gets intriguing due to some odd results revealed by the coroner, the author takes back a hundred years or so to the mining town of Calico, not far from the present-day Barstow.
What promised to be a straightforward crime story set in an unusual location, now becomes a most intriguing and, at times, difficult to fathom story of time travel. The night of the storm, it seems, a rip in time appeared and at least one person traveled back in time and another traveled through the rip, forward in time. The story now lives in two times: Beth’s story, attempting to gather evidence to support her bizarre theory that the corpse dug up on a building site is that of the man from LA who was last seen just two weeks ago – and the story of that man’s life a hundred or so years ago in Barstow where he landed after falling through the rip in time.
The plot has been carefully constructed such that this story, unlike most time travel stories, feels plausible. The characters are sufficiently flawed to be real people that we can identify with and cheer for and they relate to each in what feels like a real manner without it feeling forced or deliberate.

Beth McDade, a detective with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department investigates the death of someone who was hit and killed by a motor home and then of a body uncovered at a construction site. The coroner's report offers anomalies that involve when these individuals lived and died. A lightning storm, explosions from two area military bases and a particular day in February factor into the investigation. As McDade uncovers more that in all sense can't be possible, she runs into roadblocks intended to shut down her investigation and most likely ruin her career. The history books of the area offer more clues as she has to consider that the impossible is possible. In Calico time runs in more than one direction.

Rips in time and the idea of time travel make this a thrilling read. Beth McDade has the intelligence to connect the dots and to see the connections that are a hundred years apart. Add the humorous nods (Denny's, H. G. Wells, Gilligan's Island theme song, Ben Cartwright, etc.), and this is Lee Goldberg at his best.

I will be recommending this book. A compelling adventure!

I appreciated the research that was involved. A list of material is offered in the author's note and acknowledgements.

Thanks to Severn House, Lee Goldberg and NetGalley for this ARC.

Beth McDade is a down on her luck cop investigating a case of possible time travel. Owen Slader is traveling through town in his Mercedes and vanishes. 100 year old bones are found with aspects relating to the present.
This was an awesome read different from the other mysteries I’ve read this year. It held my attention and had me quickly flipping the pages late into the night. Thanks NetGalley and Severn House for this ARC that will be released November 7,2023!

When I first started reading this I thought it was just going to be another novel about a disillusioned female cop out of favour with her colleagues. But I rapidly became hooked as Beth becomes heavily involved in a case that has mysterious links to lives in the 19th century. Her determination to bring closure to the bereaved family against all odds makes for a rollercoaster ride taking in the past and present as the truth is painstakingly revealed.

This story is based on time shifting which requires a lot of investment to take seriously. It can also be confusing to recall who turns up in different centuries. The basic premise of the book is unlikely which could make a reader wonder what was he point. Beth is a disgraced detective trying to retrieve her career when she stumbles over this opportunity. The book is well written but I found the story unconvincing. The best is the end.

Lee Goldberg has chosen an excellent location for this genre crossover novel. Homicide detective Beth McDade works in Barstow (San Bernardino Co) located on the banks of the Mojave river with the Calico mountains behind where the ghost town of Calico lies, an old mining area. Beth is sent to investigate a fatal accident outside a roadside diner, the victim killed during a lightning storm. Who is the victim? Why do aspects of the autopsy make no sense? This is just the start as a man from LA disappears in very odd circumstances, there’s a robbery and also explosions on military bases. It’s all happening in Calico, how are these seemingly random events connected, if at all? Beth is on the case.

First of all, a big shout out for that location which I especially enjoy. The author creates a terrific atmosphere as it is very well described, it’s bleak, desolate and dry and hence a perfect spot for what transpires. At times, you do feel as if you are a fly on the wall looking down on all the characters in the various locations. It’s very clear that some extensive research has been done into the old mining town of the 1880s, it’s so authentic you could almost smell it!!

Lee Goldberg is a very visual writer and that’s what makes his books such fun and highly entertaining. Do I buy into this mash up of genres? Nooooo, but do I enjoy it? Oh yes, and that for me is the main thing. I like the inclusion of movies and TV shows which are used creatively and wittily and I suspect are probably the inspiration behind some of what occurs. The plot thickens, the mystery deepens, it’s told at a good pace and there’s rarely a dull moment and it’s a definite page turner. Somehow or other, the author manages to weave the timelines together cohesively and I applaud him for that!

The characterisation is good, Beth reminds me of an indomitable frontiers woman as she definitely has that spirit. She is flawed, but feels very authentic and likeable. I also like Amanda, the medical examiner, she is a hoot! It’s always colourful when she’s on the pages.

Overall, this is a quirky fun novel with plenty of smiles, so just rein in your disbelief and go with the flow for a very entertaining ride.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Severn House for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A broken career cop in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but time on her hands, doesn't sound like a great plot for a book, but once I was in to the storyline it really took off.
It has all the usual plot lines, a secret agenda from the Armed Forces trying to keep things quiet after a scientific accident, a cop that doesn't know when to quit and for me a quirky off beat humour running through the book.
A great read. And I can see a thread for a sequel too.

I grabbed a copy of this book without reading the blurb, having grown very fond of this authors writing recently. But to my astonishment it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. What I was expecting was a crime thriller akin to the fast talking crime novels I’ve been devouring of late. What I actually got started out very much in this vein but quickly morphed into a tale involving strange events that occurred amid what appeared to be a thunderstorm but turned out to be a hole through which people suddenly travelled either forward or backward in time.

It took me a while to get over the shock, and I confess that I struggled to push on through the book once I realised that I’d unintentionally duped myself. Hang on a minute, I found myself thinking, this isn’t what I signed up for! I even stopped reading it for a few days before, rather reluctantly, picking it up for a second go. And I’m glad I did. Once I got into the flow of a tale told in both a present day Californian desert setting and an accompanying story set in the same area in the late 1800s, I slowly warmed it.

In some ways, it’s odd that I didn’t settle into the story more quickly as I’m a bit of a time travel buff. I think the issue is that I found the time travel activity here somewhat unconvincing, even though the dual stories were interesting enough. The whole thing is a slightly odd mix of a modern day detective seeking to re-boot her career after it was derailed by wayward act and a man setting out to protect a daughter who – in this world he finds himself – has yet to be born. It didn’t quite work for me, and yet I still found myself smiling as I turned the final pages.