The story begun when David and Keith first meet a drummer boy from another time, with irreversible consequences, reaches its conclusion at last. Weaving the tale with old and new characters, the story moves forward to the time of the boys' A'levels and first jobs, and introduces a wonderful new character - David's younger sister Lyddy. The story moves once again in and out of time into the past and the future, solving mysteries from earlier stories, and opening up new intriguing sub-plots. The language is rich with Mayne's usual resonances, the characters are fascinating and the overall story incredibly optimistic! This is a glorious novel - Mayne at his best.