Kursaal

Book review by Paul Scoones

It's hard to believe that it's taken more than a hundred original full-length novels to get around to doing Doctor Who's first fully-fledged werewolf story. First-time novelist Peter Anghelides - whose name will be familiar to Decalog or In-Vision readers - has woven a tale that, whilst not particularly deep or complex, is nonetheless competently and satisfyingly told. Particularly memorable is his ability to create characters that successfully engage the readers' interest and sympathy, only to have many of them meet a sudden and shocking demise. It is in this way that he evokes the real terror of the encounters with the wolf-like Jax.

The downside of Kursaal is that seemingly in order to flesh out the story, the clues are presented some time before the Doctor realises what is going on. When he finally realises that he is dealing with werewolves, the reader is way ahead of him and this unfortunately makes the Doctor appear rather dim. This eighth incarnation has also developed the most disconcerting habit of laughing at the most inappropriate moments. There is however some compensation in the excellent characterisation of his companion, Sam. [4/5]