| CASUALTIES OF WAR by Steve Emmerson |
| Story 37 Synopsis: August 1918, and the village of Hawkswick is blighted by the mysterious deaths of cattle, and disappearance of people. The nearby Hall for injured and shell-shocked soldiers is the first port of investigation for the mysterious new man from the Ministry, a Doctor. He watches the treatments of the Hall's head, Dr Banham, involving gargantuan lumps of clay. The Doctor also attracts the attentions of spinster Mary Minett, who rumbles that he isn't actually from any Ministry at all. As the mysteries add up, Banham continues to deny the Doctor's suggestions that he has any connection to it. But eventually, after repeated attacks, the Doctor finds that the secret gun store, to which only Banham has a key, is really a gateway to a realm where Dark Forces operate. Banham has been siphoning such negative energy into his clay that the Dark Forces have taken him over. The Doctor takes the fight to Banham, eventually closing the gateway and destroying the Hall. Job done, he moves on again. |
| Review:- The Doctor's 20th century voyage brings him to First World War Yorkshire, and a spooky examination of the horrors of wartime on the mind. The strange thing about the book is that it's quite obvious who is behind the trouble from early on, and it becomes merely a waiting game to see if the Doctor can make Banham crack, or catch him out and find out his true intentions. But then, the scares and weird things are the key to the whole point. The rather nebulous nature of the evil behind Banham is an indication that the journey is more important than the destination. It is a journey that brings a gentle romance for the Doctor with Mary Minett, wilful spinster of the parish, who proves a useful friend and foil for him, but also a key indication that this is now a Doctor for whom romance is a foreign pastime with no interest to him. Minett is one of several well-characterised and interesting people in the book (Cromby the farmer being another). Her well-meaning efforts to help the Doctor are driven as much by her feelings for him as a natural sense of justice and concern. It is her imperilment that makes it a personal crusade to stop Banham once and for all. Her exposure of his credentials is a secret for them to share, as she knows he means no harm. Or maybe she's afraid she'll lose him? The Doctor assumes the mantle of detective, trying to fathom the sudden appearance of trenches, the violent evisceration of farm animals, or the sudden recovery of dead bodies. Without co-operation from Banham, his searches keep hitting a brick wall, but he does eventually break through. Whilst the nebulous idea of Dark Forces controlling Banham, and spooky, ghostly soldiers building sacrifice trees is all very well, the problem comes when a sensible explanation is needed to wrap up the story. And this is when it rather falls apart. The brief battle in the fantasy otherworld created by the Forces is all too incredible after a book that solidly deals with the normal world. The Doctor takes the Force on because there's no other way to proceed, and he somehow stops it, putting a stop to Banham for good, and causing a bit of destruction for good measure. His abrupt departure is fitting with the overall arc, but the idea that the Forces are only temporarily thwarted sums up the rather flimsy finish. Did he succeed? Could he have succeeded sooner? What will happen next time? Loose ends, and not the good kind. There's no problem in examining the stresses and strains of soldiers in wartime. But this book doesn't really do that, bar the clay monsters that supposed absorb the negativity, but for little end. As a plain scary story, it's okay up to a point, but it can't keep it up. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |