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| Trouble all over again for Captain Jack Harkness in the new novel: TORCHWOOD: EXODUS CODE. Image: BBC BOOKS. |
TORCHWOOD: EXODUS CODE
by John and Carole E. Barrowman
Published by BBC BOOKS
Reviewed by Scott Weller
The world is ending. The madness is spreading.
Doing a bit of Indiana Jones globe–trotting, the Earth stranded ex-time agent from the 51stCentury, Captain Jack Harkness, at first without his trademark army zoot coat, has a deadly 1930’s encounter of the strange kind, high above the Peruvian mountains, whilst investigating a mysterious three-ringed insignia mysteriously carved into the volcanic countryside, located near a mysterious hacienda. It’s an off the beaton track place of dark foreboding and even darker secrets, guarded by a distinctive high priestess and her life guardian, possessing links to both the past and future of planet Earth.
From this discovery, we shoot into the present day, where, what starts off as a few cases of possible domestic violence linked to frightening bursts of emotional instability, soon escalates into something far more tangible and terrifying, making our world’s already fragile population even weaker in spirit. A force capable of bringing such killing triggers on a massive scale that it may not necessarily be of human origin- an alien threat with links to the planet’s genesis, whose underground earthquakes and geysers quickly spill out across its domains. Has Doomsday truly arrived? Will Harkness, trying to unravel the oncoming storm, be too late to prevent Earth’s final, fiery fate?
Set a shot time after, and continuing on in some respects, from the recent US version of TORCHWOOD for the STARZ TV/BBC partnership, Miracle Day, fans missing their fix of the series on the goggle box will be thoroughly entertained by this new adventure, EXODUS CODE, written by the man who knows his character- the sexed up to the Nth degree Jack the Lad of space, Jack Harkness-as much as Russell T. Davies, his original creator: John Barrowman, carving out a sprightly and highly readable work (actor, singer, musician, presenter now writer! Where on earth does he find the time to do all this!) alongside his sister Carole, keeping things interesting in all the right places and continuing the series popular mixing of the domestic with big sci-fi concepts-most notably here with its plot of raging aggression hormones and sexual drives suddenly strengthened in women, driving them on to committing acts of incredible violence and self mutilation… fellas, if you think PMT is bad enough, this is the Joan Collins mega-bitch of female payback!
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| Earth's Guardian Angels- Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) - return! |
His over sensationalized, omni-sexual escapades mostly, and thankfully, kept in the background this time (though there is the odd occasional reading moment where I wanted to shout out get a room!), our hero alien poster boy with the never can die edge, Captain Jack, whose escapades this time have a bit more of the aforementioned Indiana Jones and James Bond factor about them, remains the essential key to the eras-shifting story, working alongside his friend and ex-TORCHWOOD adventurer, fiery Welsh wonder woman Gwen Cooper (played on-screen by Eve Myles, whom, in printed form, is a more vulnerable and isolated figure, and doesn’t have any big guns or butt-kicking alien weaponry to utilize this time), her long-suffering but ever-loving husband, Rhys, and a new bunch of supporting characters who soon prove an amiable lot-a new kind of Torchwood team in the making by the books middle to final third, including a female hologram program, reminding me of quirky cyber-tech Augur’s work from the EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT series, providing essential key help and plot exposition where necessary. The development of the fictional Cuari tribe, of which our heroes’ fate is linked, also proves interesting as the science fiction and period details fuse together.
And, as a nice bonus to DOCTOR WHO fans, of which Barrowman/Harkness has been such an important and popular part of the shows modern incarnation, watch out for a nice and savoury little nod to the past later on in the story…
Not stopping for breath as it zings along between the distinctive and never more opposite desert mountains of Peru with the valleys of domestic Wales, UK, and with the countdown to the end of the world begun (all that’s missing now is the classic James Bond voiceover: “Two minutes and counting!”), EXODUS CODE sustains itself well and eventually wraps with a satisfyingly bright lighted and big destructive bang, alongside a modern spaghetti western/Sam Peckinpah’ish gun battle through the decayed streets of its key hacienda locale, now owned by a modern-day crime cartel, with just a touch of Tarantino-esque madness thrown in for good measure for all our concerned parties. There’s also an intriguing surprise in the books final pages that should prove interesting for anyone involved in all future TORCHWOOD book and TV spin-offs…
Having never been one of the most die-hard fans of the former BBC 2 WHO spin-off- though I did like the later one plot only seasons- TORCHWOOD: EXODUS CODE, in literary form, is one of those fine and rare instances where we have an exciting, well-thought out and structured book continuance that actually lives up to its format potential…a big success for the Barrowmans.
KOOL TV RATING: a positive 4 out of 5
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