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Rating: 
Summary: A GREAT sequel to "If I never get back"
Review: "If I Never Get Back" was the greatest baseball novel I have ever read. When I heard that the sequel had come out, I ordered it immediately. I was not disappointed. Darryl Brock brings back most all of the main characters from the first novel.These were a group of characters with depth, and I cared about them. As the other reviewers have said, this book was a continuation of the first. Its as if Mr. Brock wrote this book specifically for fans of "If I Never Get Back", which number many. Baseball is less of a theme in this book, but it never strays far from the main theme. I also thought the book ended a bit abruptly, but I really didnt want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding sequel to a classic baseball fiction book
Review: Darryl Brock's problem, quite frankly, is that he hit a grand slam with "If I Never Get Back" (1989), a classic baseball adventure, time travel book. So what does he do for an encore? Well, if you're Mr. Brock, you send Sam Fowler back to the past to search for his beloved Cait, then get him involved with a little bit of baseball (unlike his first book in which baseball dominated), Mark Twain (delightfully again), Gen. George Custer, the American West and an interesting group of new characters. A grand slam? Well, maybe not, but a two- or three-run home run at least. In other words, Mr. Brock has written a sequel worthy of IINGB. A must read - but start with IINGB first. You won't put either of them down.
Rating: 
Summary: I guess he got back
Review: This is good stuff, just not as good as "If I Never Get Back," which remains one of my favorite recent novels. I guess my one real concern about the book is that it's more of a continuation than a sequel. I doubt that it would stand well on its own, as there are characters and events that would just seem to come out of nowhere if you don't have the background of the preceeding novel. Just a few, brief comments: 1. It's a worthy follow-on to the original novel, but you should definitely have read If I Never Get Back first. (Or heck, just reread it; it stands up really well!) 2. There is definitely less baseball, and less focus on baseball, although it does recur throughout. 3. The ending seems a bit hurried, and less carefully crafted than the rest of the novel. I still haven't decided whether this is just because I didn't want it to end, or whether I'm not pleased with the ending. It's well-written, well-researched, and well worth the time to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: not jack finney
Review: This novel is a straight-up copy of the style of jack finney, (which might not be so bad, as we will not see any more books from finney,) right down to the disgruntled male protagontist, who is just a little too stubborn to leave behind his old-fashioned values as it seems the rest of society has done. This novel, however, is short on intellect by comparison. First of all, there is no attempt to explain time travel in any diverting way. the character is merely put there by the author in a dream-like state. You can pick out the author's "research" work too easily as the plot progresses (he obviously visited the mark twain house museum in hartford...,) and you do not get the feel like he is revealing anything about the past that truly may have been impressed on a time traveller. the scene where twain thinks up a scene for one of his books and it just happens to be his most well-known scene is pathetic. but jack finney, too, wasn't always so cerebrally rewarding, so this book gets some credit for being a good fantastical diversion, which is the main appeal of the time travel genre. but, if you prefer the best, read finney's "forgotten news."
Rating:
Summary: swing and a miss?
Review: When I first read "If I Never Get Back", I was completely enthralled with it. I reread it many years later, and still enjoyed it. I looked forward to "Two In the Field", and zipped thru it, but in the end found myself thinking, "Is that it?". It was enjoyable, and I liked meeting historical characters like Twain and Custer, but overall found the book a little disappointing. Two of my favorite topics are time travel and baseball, which is why I liked the first one so much. I have to wonder why this one is titled as it is, since baseball is such a miniscule part of the plot. And I agree with those who say it ended abruptly.
Rating: 
Summary: sappy
Review: When I first read "If I Never Get Back", I was completely enthralled with it. I reread it many years later, and still enjoyed it. I looked forward to "Two In the Field", and zipped thru it, but in the end found myself thinking, "Is that it?". It was enjoyable, and I liked meeting historical characters like Twain and Custer, but overall found the book a little disappointing. Two of my favorite topics are time travel and baseball, which is why I liked the first one so much. I have to wonder why this one is titled as it is, since baseball is such a miniscule part of the plot. And I agree with those who say it ended abruptly.
Rating:
Summary: sappy
Review: When I read the first book, 'If I never get back' I was thoroughly captivated. Very interesting work. Not sure what ten years does to a man, but boy oh boy is this one sorry bunch of sappy crap. It's books like this that create 'nice guys' who actually believe this overly-romantic fantasy world. The time-travel is actually the most believeable part. While the first book was a creative novel with A LITTLE romance, this book is filled with cheezy lines and overly do-goody stuff - like the idea that a former-slave who Sam Fowler (the main character) meets would IMMEDIATELY trust a white man. Brock plays this book like it's a baseball novel to suck in men who get ultimately duped into believing it has a good plot line only to find out it's really one precarious step from a trashy dime-store novel. Brock's first book is wonderful, but his work here took a decidedly 'Kevin Smith'-Jersey girl turn, representing a man who had a lot going for him until this enormous bump in the road. I would not purchase this book - check it out from your library if you have already read the other 100 (or maybe, 1000) books on your 'must read' list. Interesting history stuff but can't overcome the sappy phrases throughout.
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