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robertmorvay's review
3.0
An extraordinarily fun ride concept of a buffoonish, yet confident-enough everyman in a James Bond type story. The mystery is compelling although it does end up falling apart. The entire last act of this novel seems like it was slapped together as fast as possible with an ending that is barely comprehensible because of its speed. Almost excellent.
cosmonautchris's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
A fun read for fans of vintage Doctor Who, and a competent mystery/adventure novel, but not terribly complex.
nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/763482.html[return][return]This was the second officially published Doctor Who novelisation not based on a TV story (the first being the long-forgotten Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma, from earlier in 1986). Alas, it is not very good. I was startled on page 4 to learn that, in this book meant to have a contemporary mid-1980s setting, NATO headquarters was in Geneva. A fairly trivial detail to those readers who visit neither NATO nor Geneva as frequently as I do, but symptomatic of a lack of focus throughout. Harry Sullivan, meant to be an experienced doctor working on top-secret biological warfare, seems to have no idea about elementary security precautions. There are some nice bits with a recurrent Van Gogh motif, and a climactic fight on the Eiffel Tower, but basically it doesn't make much sense. There are cameos from the Brigadier (now retired to teaching a la "Mawdryn Undead") and Sarah Jane Smith as well.
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