Twenty-five years ago, Harald Engstrom drugged Tanner, froze him, and kept his body in a frozen food locker in the sub-basement of a house in Union City, New Jersey. Tanner was recently discovered entirely by accident.

A team of doctors thaws out Tanner who though chronologically sixty-four years old, has the body of a thirty-nine year old man. Tanner figures he has a lot to do to catch up on all that has happened since he has been out of commission. Not only has much happened on the political front, but technology has made enormous strides.

Tanner commits himself to learning about the history of the period that he has been gone, and the advances in technology. He is aided by a quirk of his biology. The portion of his brain that controls sleep is nonfunctional. Thus since he has no need to sleep, he concentrates on his twenty-five year absence from the world scene while the rest of the world sleeps.

Inevitably, Tanner’s former boss catches up with him. He saddles Tanner with another assignment. He is to travel to Burma, or more correctly, Myanmar, to smuggle someone out of the country. Needless to say, much happens to Tanner in his attempts to carry out his boss’s wishes.

Imagine the Rip Van Winkle scenario with a twist. As does Rip, Tanner essentially falls asleep for twenty-five years. Unlike Rip, who ages during the time period, Tanner’s body remains that of a forty year old. This situation allows Block to resurrect his hero, logically (?), without having to make him a senior citizen.

Numerous situations arise with Tanner’s unique status which allow Block to display his talents for humor. Tanner has been the guardian of a seven-year-old girl when he was frozen. When he is revived, his charge is now a beautiful young woman, an appropriate age for his romantic attentions. Physically he is up to the challenge, but his mind keeps telling him she is a mere child with respect to him.

Indeed, the world changed dramatically during the time period, 1972-1997, when Tanner was on ice. It is interesting to note how quickly Tanner gets in step with the world, though his amazement at the changes that have occurred cannot be denied. He embraces the computer age and societal changes with open arms, but the author is quick to remind the reader that Tanner’s frame of reference is much different than our own.

In the final part of the book, Tanner journeys to Burma to do his chief’s bidding. Here the story seems a bit contrived, and is not nearly as entertaining as Tanner’s adventures when suddenly he is deposited in a world which is a quarter century older than the one he remembers. Still, Block’s humor shows through while the author does a commendable job of educating the reader to the political climate in present-day southeast Asia.

--Andy Plonka