Torchwood: The House That Jack Built

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1949276.html

Again, a decent Torchwood novel - I remain impressed by the overall quality of the range - this time featuring a time-travel mystery centred around a particular Cardiff house, one which Jack himself has personal links to. Adams is a good descriptive writer and takes us much further into Jack's background over the decades in Cardiff than other authors have done, with decently creepy alien forces to boot. Another good 'un. ( )

People keep dying in strange ways at a house that Jack used to own.

The plot is creepy and interesting and none of the minor characters are safe (although like most books of this kind, the main characters never seem to be in any real danger). Unfortunately, everything is a bit rushed and the resolution is not especially satisfactory.

The writing was ok for the most part, but the oddest mistakes kept popping up, like missing commas that totally changed the meaning of a sentence (or more often just made no sense whatsoever). I don't know if it was a writing problem or an editing problem, but either way, it was distracting.

Overall, the book is rather like a Torchwood episode - enjoyable but not really what I'd call good - except without the things that make the tv show so much fun (the actors, the witty banter, the special effects). Only recommended if you really like Torchwood. ( )

Funny, scary, mind-bendingly twisty tale of one house that seems hell-bent for hell's gates. Packed with more enjoyable scenes and dialogue than ought to be legally permitted (including more name-dropping of the author's friends than one would suspect, for that matter). Adams has the right mix of saucy, cheeky, intelligent tale spinning to make 'TV Tie-In Novels' actually respectable. And, given his nature, that's the most surprising thing of all. Read it. Read it NOW! Do it! ( )