This is an okay book. The Doctor and Jamie travel to a strange city outside of time and space filled with nameless horrors, drawing on the generic tropes of the Lovecraft mythos. It's decent, but never quite frightening enough, and the ending is cheesy. I liked it more than A Big Hand for the Doctor, but it left less of an impression.

Warning: this review contains a spoiler.

****

This is the Second Doctor's story in the 12 Doctors, 12 Stories box set and features as its companion the ever-popular Jamie MacCrimmon. The story is so short that trying to summarize it would give away most of the plot, but I can say that it was deliciously creepy and enjoyable. I also liked the use of bagpipes as a weapon at the end of the book---although I do like bagpipes, they are certainly very effective at traumatizing the ears of unsuspecting listeners. Recommended if you want a quick hit of Second Doctor. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2071806.html

"The older man stuck out a leather-gloved hand. ‘Thank you, thank you very much.’ He smiled through a neat, grey-flecked goatee beard, his eyes dark and curious beneath heavy brows. ‘I’m Professor Thascalos.'"

That was the moment on page 5 when I punched the air and thought, I'm going to enjoy this one. And indeed I did; it's the second in the series of eleven one-off Puffin ebooks by well-known authors to be released on the 23rd of each month this year (I downloaded and drank it in the day it was published), far far better than the first in this series, with Michael Scott pulling in references to Old Who, particularly the Second and Third Doctor eras (with a nod to The Doctor's Wife), and also especially to H.P. Lovecraft. I am a sucker for Lovecraft/Who pastiches in general and I loved this one too, the Second Doctor and Jamie being transported in the crippled Tardis to the Nameless City by the operations of the Necronomicon, and having to deal with eldritch horrors by whatever means they can. It is very short (40 pages) but great stuff and gives me hope for the rest of this series. ( )