Great book, really good fun. ( )

Really enjoyed this story with The Doctor and Martha and loved the aliens in it also the Hervoken! As I was reading it was like an episode in my head I could picture The Doctor and Martha doing everything ( )

This was a great Doctor Who Halloween story. ( )

*Spoiler alert - if you've not read this book and you want to, there are some spoilers in the following review.*

This is a Doctor Who novel featuring the Doctor in his Tenth incarnation with Martha Jones as his companion. I was quite looking forward to reading this one as it's set in New England which is an area of the US I know fairly well, and it's set at Hallowe'en which is a big deal in the US and quite an experience. It was quite a good read, although very clichéd in several parts and there also seemed to be some scenarios copied from other Doctor Who novels or actual episodes.

The baddies, the Hervoken are a new creation although they did remind me rather of the scarecrows from Human Nature/Family of Blood. I found it interesting how they don't talk but rather communicate by telepathically exchanging emotions, which is something that I don't think has been used before. It's a shame that this was used in a novel as it would have been rather nice to see it in the show.

I did find it to be quite a creepy book, more so than most Doctor Who novels, although I'm not sure if that was down to setting it at Hallowe'en or because of the actual plot and the Hervoken themselves. One particular part where a character has his mouth removed was especially creepy, although it did also remind me of something similar done by The Wire in The Idiot's Lantern.

Some parts of the book fail quite badly, such as the scene with Martha in the café where she agrees to go home with the young boys, all of whom are around the ages of 12-13. The following scene features an attack by a horde of plastic bats and it wasn't until that part had finished that I realised it was bats as in the creature, rather than bats as in baseball. It could have been me having a thick moment, although it's an easy mistake to make seeing as it's set in the US so the ambiguity could have done with a little clarification. The crashed spaceship ending failed for me, I found it quite disappointing as it seems to be clichéd sci fi fare and has been previously seen in the novel Sting of the Zygons.

Having said that, it seemed rather obvious to me that the author had no real knowledge or experience of the US as there were little things that didn't ring true or were just completely wrong. There's a scene where the Doctor uses the salt from a blue bag in a packet of crisps to repel the Hervoken and it's said to be a natural occult defence which amused me. Later on, he goes on to use salt and iron to contain the book and again, I found this amusing as the use of salt and iron to fight against occult creatures is something seen often in the Spook's Apprentice series!

All in all, it's a reasonably good read, the above points notwithstanding. I found the stereotypical New England town and obvious lack of knowledge about the US to be a little glaring but other readers might not have the same issue. ( )

I love Doctor Who and I love Hallowe'en - so, a story that combines the two? Sign me up!

I liked it. The plot was entertaining and the creepy aliens were creepy, if a bit fantastical. My only problem is the characters' dialogue. The story is set in America, and the author makes a point of pointing out Americanisms when the Americans say them, but most of the Americans' speech is filled with Britishisms. I know I should expect this, being as it's published by BBC Books, but it's a bit strange having someone emphasize eating 'french fries' instead of 'chips' on one page and then having them refer to 'a packet of crisps' or 'ice creams' on the other. I did have a bit more fun than I probably should have imagining Americans talking like that - I feel if he'd just have stuck with the British English, it might have been better, but the combination of the two is just odd. ( )