| MISSION: IMPRACTICAL by David A. McIntee |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS is invaded by a Tzun and Veltrochni, trying to kill the Doctor. He manages to shunt them out, and traces them back to Vandor Prime, landing in a spaceship, Nosferatu, recently stolen by Sabalom Glitz and Dibber. They arrive on a junkyard moon, to find themselves under arrest. But their captor, Niccolo Mandell, wants them to do a job for him, stealing a precious Veltroch artefact back. He impounds the TARDIS for the duration. The Doctor tells Glitz he is bound to help out. Glitz has to get together the team of criminals who stole the artefact in the first place. This is achieved, at length, but with one or two mishaps. The artefact is stored on the Thor Facility behind time locks, so the Doctor has to be careful. Glitz and Frobisher are kidnapped by the bounty hunters, as collateral. They also have the TARDIS. Their ship is then attacked by Ogrons, but they come to an accord. The Doctor leads the thieves in the attempted theft, and succeeds. They travel to the rendez-vous point, where they find Mandell plans to double-cross them all, and sell the artefact. He kills a Veltrochni delegation. But the Doctor points out that they used a double of Mandell in the theft, so he will be a wanted man. The Doctor keeps hold of the artefact, to take back to Veltroch. They are attacked by the Ogrons, and put in captivity with Glitz. Frobisher helps an escape, but in the confusion, Dibber is shot dead, and the Doctor appears to die. This fulfills the contract on his life. But he survived using purloined time technology from the Thor Facility. He suspects the Time Lords put the bounty on his head. With that settled, they head to Veltroch, to hand over the artefact. Mandell arrives, as do the Vandor police. Mandell claims the Doctor has organised the theft, but he gives away his guilt. The artefact is returned. Mandell is arrested. The Doctor asks the Veltrochni to pardon Glitz and the other thieves, who have averted interstellar was. Then, he and Frobisher leave in the TARDIS. |
| Review:- It's a crime caper, and a 'grand finale', according to the foreword. It's certainly a mouthful... The Doctor and Frobisher realise something's up when the TARDIS is invaded by a couple of bounty hunters trying to kill the Doctor. Tracing the visitors back to Vandor Prime, they stumble on a plot to avert a war, and reunite a band of thieves to steal a vital object back. What they don't realise is that the guy giving them the task is planning a double cross, and that the Ogrons will get involved... and so on. To be fair, it's a pretty easy read. The characters are mostly explicable, and the returns of Glitz and Dibber are welcome. Set against this, is the ongoing Tzun-Veltrochni situation, as described exclusively in several of McIntee's other books. Presumably, if you're a fan, this is your lucky day. If, however, you find the whole thing pretty tedious and smug, then... well... Neither the bounty hunters, nor the precious artefact, nor the war situation between Vandor Prime and Veltroch (which is reminiscent of Frontier In Space, as if that were desirable) are all that rewarding. The bad guy, Niccolo Mandell, is more interesting. He's in the familiar position of working for a government, but in reality being a double-crossing schemer who plays dirty to get his way, and extract maximum profit. He is at least fun to read, and a reader can easily hope he gets his comeuppance. Especially when his bland wife is a major character, as a cop who thinks hubby is a goody-goody. Glitz, Dibber, Frobisher and the Doctor all emerge well as characters. Dibber's death is given the weight it deserves, especially for making Glitz forget his own avarice. Frobisher gets explored as a character, with him having to adopt several different disguises, including his original pre-penguin form. As for the Doctor, his wisdom and cunning enable him to effect the heist, and to make sure that the minimum damage is done by Mandell's mischief. The gang of crooks are a good bunch, each in their own way having a lot to contribute to the story. The Ogrons are also well described, especially in the sense of descriptions of stones and rocks. There is a sadness to their character that is often forgotten. The other fault with the book, though, is a sense of indulgence. Now, perhaps this is what was intended in the 'grand finale' sense, but so many silly continuity points come up that a reader can either lap it up or spit it out. Few of them add anything to the novel, and most of them detract from it. So, overall, though there is a lot to enjoy here, and it's nicely written, as usual, the whole thing leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. Oh, and the title's crap. |
| Disclaimer: I've read it. |