So, to be transparent right up front: I know Ian Rogers, and we've shared a publisher. And I'm also kind of dreading writing the rest of this review, to be honest.

I've read all of Rogers' stuff, and I've enjoyed it—all of it—immensely. So, it honestly saddens me to say that this one was only...okay.

We catch up very quickly with Charles and Sally, last seen (I believe) in Rogers' excellent story from [b:Every House is Haunted|15904026|Every House is Haunted|Ian Rogers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348710890l/15904026._SX50_.jpg|21550289]. But, funny enough, I don't recall being irritated by Charles in the previous story, but this time, I found him officious and irritating in his mannerisms. And I'm afraid I didn't like the new character, Toby, very much.

The story, as a whole, didn't hang together all that well for me. There was a lot of information tossed out in the first two-thirds just to set the stage (which went a long way to creating that officious view I had of Charles and the dislike of Toby).

The last third, where the story kicks into gear, was a mite too vague for me. A lot of things being tried by Sally and Toby that they'd never tried before, but they happened to work. There was also some (again, my opinion here) silly behaviours going on. Sally's out of her body investigating, but neither Toby nor Charles are paying much attention to the safety of her unguarded physical body. Just didn't work for me, when Charles had been overstressing his experience and observation skills just a little while before.

Overall—and quite surprising for the calibre of writing I've come to expect from Rogers—it just seemed like a long, slow build up with very little payoff. Overall, it was absolutely not terrible, and if you've read any of his previous stories regarding the Mereville Group, it's worth the read, but it's nowhere near the best that I've read from Rogers. ( )

Amusing short story. Though now I wonder if there is more in this universe, because I really enjoyed the world building set up for this story. ( )