Just One Damned Thing After Another characters

Also known as Max

Appears from the start

A historian whose difficult upbringing has made her independent, guarded, and unusually calm in a crisis. She accepts an invitation to join St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, where investigating the past means travelling to it and surviving whatever happens there.

Appears from the start

The director of St Mary's, an outwardly restrained administrator who expects exacting scholarship, discretion, and courage from his historians. He recruits Max and is responsible for keeping the institute's hazardous work functioning.

Appears from the start

The formidable woman who reconnects Max with her academic vocation and points her toward St Mary's. Her composed manner and practical support make her one of the institute's stabilising figures.

First appears in chapter 2

The head of St Mary's Technical Section, responsible for the pods that carry historians into the past. Blunt, highly capable, and protective of his equipment and people, he initially finds Max as exasperating as she finds him.

First appears in chapter 2

A St Mary's historian and one of Max's closest colleagues in training. Dependable under pressure and willing to challenge Max when necessary, he becomes a regular partner on assignments.

First appears in chapter 2

A fellow member of Max's intake, intelligent and self-possessed. She trains beside Max and Peterson as the new historians learn that academic preparation alone cannot make a jump safe.

First appears in chapter 2

A security officer at St Mary's whose work begins where historical research becomes physically dangerous. He helps prepare and protect teams operating both inside the institute and in the field.

First appears in chapter 2

St Mary's senior administrator, keeper of schedules, records, and institutional order. Her quiet efficiency gives her influence well beyond the apparent limits of her office.

First appears in chapter 3

An energetic member of St Mary's security staff with an elastic attitude to dignity and procedure. Beneath the disorderly presentation, he is brave, loyal, and useful when a mission collapses into improvisation.

First appears in chapter 3

A senior St Mary's scientist whose enthusiasm for experiments is matched by an ability to continue working amid institutional chaos. He supports the historians with specialist knowledge and analysis.

First appears in chapter 3

A physician responsible for patching up historians after training and assignments. His professional concern is repeatedly tested by the risks St Mary's treats as part of an ordinary working day.

First appears in chapter 11

A man connected to the organised attack on St Mary's and its work. Once the conspiracy is exposed, he emerges as a ruthless enemy willing to exploit historical events and sacrifice people for control of time travel.