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Audio Book Review


Cover

Torchwood
Mr Invincible

 

Author: Mark Morris
Read by: Tom Price
AudioGO
RRP: £10.20, US $24.95
ISBN: 978 1 4458 7198 1
Available 07 June 2012


Ross Chapman is one of life’s losers - so when he survives a point-blank shooting, dons a superhero costume and becomes a crime-busting vigilante, something strange is clearly going on. This isn’t the only odd thing happening in Cardiff. Around the city, time is distorting: some people are aging and dying in a matter of minutes; others are reverting to childhood. Sgt Andy Davidson knows he’s out of his depth - so when Jack Harkness sweeps into the police station, he’s glad of the help that only Torchwood can provide. For Jack, however, the stakes are higher than ever. He’s seen a vision of Gwen being murdered. If he can’t solve the mystery of Mr Invincible, he can’t save her...

This, the culmination of a quartet of audio exclusive adventures set after Miracle Day, unites protagonists encountered separately in the three previous releases. Captain Jack Harkness, who, during Red Skies, beheld an apparition of Gwen getting shot and killed by an unknown gunman, has rushed back to Cardiff to save or avenge her. There he encounters and teams up with Sgt Andy Davidson, who was the spotlight character of Fallout. Tom Price, who played Andy on screen, returns to perform the reading, as he did during Fallout, lending his seemingly effortless tones to Mark Morris’s story.

The author weaves a tangled tale of super-powers, premonitions, time distortions and wish fulfilment. Perhaps surprisingly, the title refers not to Captain Jack but to Ross Chapman, whose sudden immortality is so similar to the Miracle that it’s odd that none of the characters comment on the fact. At first it appears as though Jack’s vision is a complete red herring, merely a device to get him back to Earth after Red Skies. Gwen and Rhys are both fine as it turns out, having returned to Wales following the events of Army of One, though they play only minor roles here. However, the vision ultimately proves to be relevant.

Of the four stories, this one and Fallout have felt the most like the Torchwood of old to me, thanks largely to the Cardiff setting, and despite the lack of participation by the TV show’s two main stars, John Barrowman and Eve Myles. I did not find Mr Invincible as engaging as Fallout, though.

Thanks to these audio releases, Torchwood is proving to be invincible, despite the absence of a new series on TV.

6

Richard McGinlay

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