Amazon Robina Williams Twilight Times Books Category:  Fantasy Publisher: Twilight Times Books ISBN-10:  1931201544 Type: Fiction Pages: 171 Copyright: March 2002 ISBN-13: 9781931201544 Meeting up with his pet cat, Leo, in the afterlife, Brother Jerome assumes that Leo, too, is dead. But Leo's real name is Quant, and he's a very special cat. With the quantum cat beside him, Jerome sets out on his adventures in the afterworld--and makes some surprising discoveries. The friary cat is called Leo. When Brother Jerome, slipping on ice in the cemetery, bangs his head on a gravestone and finds himself in the afterworld, he is surprised to meet up with Leo. The cat, he assumes, has also had a fatal accident. But Leo's real name is Quant: he is a quantum cat, and much more. Quant shows Jerome that he can return to the friary by creating a portal: picturing an object in the friary, staring hard at the image to disperse the atoms and then slipping through. Jerome doesn't always get it right, however. Quant is at Jerome's side when the friar makes a shocking discovery. Insisting on exploring the new world in which he now finds himself, Jerome is shattered to hear Pan's ethereal music floating through the trees and to have to step aside to allow two centaurs to gallop past. Horror-stricken, he turns to the cat: Has he wasted those years on earth? Whom should he have been worshiping all that time? Did he make a dreadful mistake in devoting his life to Christ? Of course not, the cat tells him, and reminds him that Christ said there were many mansions in His Father's house. The Lord is Lord of all pantheons, God of gods. In the friary, the Guardian, Father Fidelis, is haunted by a face from his past. Someone he hoped never to see again has appeared in the parish congregation. Why now? Whom can he turn to for help?        Excerpt Prologue Pan still plays to those who will hear him “Whoops!” Brother Jerome clutched at the headstone on Father Aloysius’s grave in an attempt to steady himself on the icy ground, but on the frozen grass his feet slid from beneath him. He pitched forward, his head hit the headstone with a thud and he slumped down, blood trickling from the cut on his temple. His fellow friars gave him a good send-off. The Provincial traveled up for the funeral, and Jerome was interred in the same grave as Aloysius. Despite his annoyance at his untimely death, Jerome had to smile at the irony of it all: being laid to rest in the same grave that had killed him, with his name and dates engraved on the headstone on which he had banged his head, well, that capped it all. He wondered if Someone had a rather black sense of humor. His death came as a complete surprise to him. So did the afterworld. There were no cherubs, no harps, no fluffy white clouds. There wasn’t anything, really. There wasn’t even anyone to talk to, although Aloysius popped along once, briefly, apologetically. “Sorry about that, Jerry,” he said. Jerome grasped the old priest’s hand, noting with interest how solid it felt. “That’s all right, Al. These things happen.” After all, he could hardly blame Aloysius for his death — not really. To be sure, if Aloysius’s grave hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have cracked his head on it. But then, if he’d had an ounce of common sense, he wouldn’t have gone out on an icy day in a pair of old sandals with slippery soles. He said all this to Aloysius. But he could see that Aloysius still felt guilty: as he stood contritely before him, his kindly old face was flushed with embarrassment. It was one thing, Aloysius said, to die as he had done, in the fullness of time, at the end of a long life, with the rest of the chaps gathered in prayer around his bed, saying a few last words to him and giving him the final blessing. It was quite another to die as Jerome had done. Jerome had been no age at all. He hadn’t expected death: he’d had no time to prepare for it. Fit as a fiddle one minute, he’d been a corpse the next. Jerome told him not to worry, not to blame himself. It had been an unfortunate accident. One of them had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, if Al’s grave hadn’t been where it was, then he’d still be back at the friary. Alive… with a broken leg maybe, but alive. But never mind: accidents happen. Aloysius was still upset, though. He patted Jerome’s arm comfortingly, murmured sympathetically and disappeared. Jerome hoped Aloysius would show up again, but he didn’t reappear, and he wondered where the old man had gone. He looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. He prayed he wouldn’t be on his own forever; he liked a bit of company. He found it boring, being alone. He tried meditating to pass the time but soon gave it up. He had never been much good at it: his thoughts kept wandering off. Now they meandered back to the friary, and Jerome found himself reflecting once more on the irony of his situation. It wasn’t the manner of his death that piqued him, but the fact that he was dead when others at the friary who were much, much older were still alive. It was quite annoying to have been outlived by the seriously old. He had been outlived by Father Angus, for instance. Angus was well into his nineties, and claimed to be looking forward to death. Each morning at breakfast, he would say without fail, “Well, one day nearer home.” Jerome smiled as he pictured the old friar, with his untidy beard and watery eyes. He remembered Father Peter had nicknamed him Angus Dei. Their guardian had told him he ought to do penance for making a joke like that. Well, Angus still wasn’t home, but Jerome was, and he wasn’t enjoying it much. You spend most of your life looking forward to the next world, he thought, but when you get there, it’s a bit of a let-down. There isn’t much to be said for it at all. It’s rather disappointing. He had expected something more... positive, something in the way of an experience. He hadn’t thought it would be like this. He’d been expecting… well, he didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been this. Is this all there is? he wondered. As he was reflecting on how uneventful the afterlife was turning out to be, he remembered Charles Causley’s poem Eden Rock and wished he, too, could be invited over to the picnic with the blue tin cups, the sauce bottle and the little dog. That would be a real treat — not that he particularly liked dogs himself: he preferred cats, he always had done. There was something about cats. Maybe it was the cool way they looked at you, as if weighing you up, appraising you, trying to decide whether you were worthy of them, worthy of their affection. You had to deserve cats. Sure, they’d take food from you when they were hungry — what animal wouldn’t? But they wouldn’t necessarily like you for having fed them. If they did like you, you had the feeling it was quite an honor for you. That made him think of Leo, the ginger tomcat who lived at the friary. They’d always gotten along well. Leo had already been in residence when Jerome arrived, though no one could remember the cat’s arrival. No one knew where he’d come from. Jerome supposed that he must have turned up one day, found he liked the place and stayed on, fitting in so well that soon no one could remember a time when he hadn’t been around. Father Angus, who had been at the friary for many years, had thought it a bit odd. Seeing the cat emerging from the shadows in the cloisters one day, he had suggested to Jerome that they had probably had a series of ginger toms and that no one had noticed one taking over from another. After Jerome had said that he thought that idea even odder, they’d concluded that their cat had lived for an unusually long time. Now that his own life at the friary was over, Jerome was to find out that Leo had indeed lived for a long time — a very, very long time. He was also to find out the cat’s real name. He was to find out that it was Quantum.

Jerome and the Seraph - Harriet Klausner's 10/10 review
Slipping on the icy ground of the cemetery, Brother Jerome smacks his head against the gravestone of Father Aloysius. His peers gave him a nice funeral but ironically buried him at the site in which he died.
When he first died, he briefly meets Aloysius who apologizes to Jerry, but that seem like a lifetime ago as Jerome finds the afterworld is void of anyone, even angels, except for Leo the friary cat, who is alive and well back in his former residence. Jerome is confused as there are no cherubs or angels with harps. Leo explains to Jerome that his real name is Quantum, but he can call him Quant and that it is easy to cross between the land of the living and the dead, which is why he resides here and at the friary. Simply Jerome must modify his belief system so that he can see and soon other spirits and doors to dimensions will be there. Of course coordinates are critical or else one can become the star of a painting or a branch of a tree.
JEROME AND THE SERAPH is a simple entertaining book that ironically connects complex topics (the afterlife, mythology, and quantum physics) into a wonderful fantasy that hooks readers from the moment Al and Jerry exchange a few words. The tale never lets go until Brother Jerome completes his journeys, though Quant steals the show. Fans who appreciate an amusing with serious undertone adventure tale will appreciate Jerome Through the Looking Glass guided by Quant the Cheshire cat.
Recommended:
Yes.
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner for The Review Centre

Jerome and the Seraph - Dallas Franklin's 10/10 review
Jerome And The Seraph is a delight to read! I was drawn into the story immediately and couldn't put it away, reading it in one sitting. When a book captures your attention this rapidly and keeps your curiosity piqued throughout, you know the price you pay for it is well worth it. And this fantasy story is certainly every bit worth the $15.50!
Robina Williams, author of the book has wonderful descriptive power in not only bringing the characters to life, but conjures up images of the scenes whether of this world or other worlds in a believable manner. You never feel like part of the book takes place in the Spirit world because she weaves in and out of both worlds so easily. Part of the story even brings you into a mythological world that blends in with the intricacies of all worlds.
The story opens up with Brother Jerome, who accidentally dies in a fall when he strikes his head against a headstone in the friary cemetery. Life in the Spirit world isn't at all what he expected as he wonders why he's alone. Shortly afterwards he's visited by Leo, a cat he loved and cared for while living in the Order. Jerome comes to realize that Leo, who prefers to be called Quant, seems to be able to travel into the dead and not-dead world at will.
Quant teaches Jerome how to use his own perspective and focus in doing the same and although he often gets stuck in trees, and once behind the grapes of a stairway post, with practice he's able to visit his friends in the living world too. Some of his fellow friars begin to see and communicate with him, adding mystery to the story. It becomes several stories intertwined into one as the story unfolds but you're never lost as often happens when writers use this technique.
We also get to know the other Brothers and Guardian of the Order that shows their human frailties in their struggle with keeping their vows. Each of them deal with the temptations in their own personal way, giving humanity to the inner world we all deal with on a daily basis. The story also shows us how our thought patterns and assumptions aren't always the way things really are.
Although in the beginning I felt the main character was Jerome (Jerry), you soon discover that the mystical and mysterious cat, Quant is truly the character that keeps the story intriguing.
Robina expertly weaves her knowledge and love of Pre-Raphaelite art, mythology and quantum physics without one needing prior knowledge of either to realize its impact on the story. I really loved how she brought the understanding of linear time and simultaneous time into layman's terms, which made the story all the more interesting and awe-inspiring.
Robina is working on a sequel to Jerome And The Seraph and I'm already looking forward to its completion. I recommend this story highly and give it a top rating of 10.
Reviewed by Dallas Franklin for Sell Writing Online.



Review by Annette Gisby
Brother Jerome had no idea that his walk that day would turn out to be fatal. He hits his head on another friar's tombstone and is then buried in the same grave. Little does he know, that being dead is only the start of his adventure.
The afterworld is not entirely as he expected, there are no harps, no angels flying around. At first there is just him and a cat, a cat that seems remarkably like the one that used to frequent the friary when he was alive. In fact it is the same cat, but how could it be there and here at the same time?
As the cat explains, it's all a matter of seeing. It takes a while, but eventually Jerome gets the hang of things, the ability to see the other spirits and to travel between dimensions.
The book is a well written story, with a light hearted look at quantum theory that you don't need a degree in physics to understand. The characters are all well drawn and you feel for poor Jerome on his first attempts at inter-dimensional travel, where he gets stuck inside a pillar, a tree and a painting respectively.
Paintings, classical mythology and architecture all play bit parts, but the cat is the star of the show. Ms. Williams has blended every feature together so effortlessly, you wonder why you never saw the connections between them before.
Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of Writing the Dream and Silent Screams and editor of Twisted Tales webzine.