| THE FEAST OF THE DROWNED by Stephen Cole |
| Story 8 Synopsis: Rose is visiting a friend, Keisha, whose boyfriend Jay, a sailor, died 3 months before, when his ship, the HMS Ascendant, sank in mysterious circumstances. Before their eyes, Jay appears like a ghost, before disappearing again. Intrigued, the Doctor decides to check out the ship, which is moored near Stanchion House. There, he, Rose and Mickey save an old woman from drowning, and during confusion, the Doctor slips into Stanchion House, but is soon rumbled. Rose and Mickey are hassled by Rear Admiral Crayshaw. They flee back to Keisha's house. The Doctor flees down to a scientific research in the basement, examening the Ascendant. He is soon rumbled again, and manages to escape, realising there is something alien in the water there. He hijacks a tugboat, but Crayshaw orders his men to fire at the craft. Having persuaded a scientist, Vida Swann, that she is in more danger from Crayshaw, they make their escape. There is another burst of ghostly visitations, and Mickey struggles to keep Keisha from joining the numbers of people throwing themselves into the Thames. Rose manages to meet the Doctor and Vida, and they head for an Ocean Research building to do some tests. Mickey brings Keisha there. The Doctor finds that the water has infected Keisha and Rose, and the ghostly apparitions work on pheromones. The water creature attacks, spiriting Vida away to its base. Rose tries to follow, but falls in the Thames and comes under the influence of the waterhive. Crayshaw disappeared in 1759. The Doctor and Mickey take Keisha back to be looked after by Jackie, and then set out to find Vida and Rose. Vida is kept unchanged because she is needed to convince an arriving Admiral to help the waterhive. The Doctor and Mickey break down into a secret lair, and help rescue Vida, the Admiral and some others. Mickey and Vida are sent to find special code sequencers in a crate from the Ascendant, whilst the Doctor buys time. He offers his TARDIS, but the creature controlling Crayshaw tries to take over his mind. Despite the pursuit of the water, Mickey and Vida get the crate into the water, releasing the chemicals. The Doctor then uses his link to the creatures with the chemicals, zapping the creatures into salt, restoring all its victims to normal. Then he leaves with Rose. |
| Review:- Terrors of the deep here, both physical and psychological... Once again, the Doctor and Rose face trouble in present-day Earth, as one of Rose's old friends get a visitation. Puzzled, the Doctor is soon on the case, and in the thick of it. The creepy Crayshaw is soon established as a creepy baddy, and in his desperate escape, the Doctor begins to see the horror of what is happening to the victims from the Ascendant. From then on, it's a race against time to try and determine what the aliens want, how they plan to get it, and if they can be stopped in time. Some of these new-style books have been disappointing in the extreme. Thankfully, this book is not like that. Given the setting, the involvement of Jackie and the Powell Estate is almost inevitable, but the threat here comes across as something more than just confined to the pseudo-kitchen sink drama often given. Though Rose's friend, and her guilty affections for Jay (and Mickey's relationship with Keisha) all form part of the puzzle, the presentation is more impressive than is the usual case. The Doctor comes across more interestingly, too, whether putting himself on the line in daring escapes, or making scientific studies. Whilst the over-use of the all-purpose sonic makes you realise why JNT was right to get rid of it in the first place, the Doctor displays enough of his wits to justify it. By making the monster into a form of water, Cole is able to play on the power and effect of huge volumes of water. Whilst it is unlikely that people with a fear of water really expect their bathwater to rise up and attack them, for example, it is a competent illustration of how all-pervading water is. As is pointed out, humans are mostly water themselves, and have an innate affinity to water. That such a vital thing could turn so lethally against people is a potent scare. Crayshaw makes for a solid villain, a mouthpiece for the malevolence. His background and long life seems to be one of those loopholes that organisations always seem to miss in stories like this. Had nobody thought to wonder how long the man had been around, and whether he was genuine? This is only a small complaint, though, set against such a compelling story. The book flows from incident to incident, building all the time, and thus creating both a dramatic suspense, and a worthwhile narrative. The ending might be dismissed as a bit sudden, but giving the often intangible nature of the terror before, it might be the best that could have been expected. A very good book. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book. |