Something in the water by Trevor Baxendale

Torchwood is one of the worst kept secrets in Wales, an agency outside the law that deals with the odd and dangerous, the heroes in the black SUV that drive in to save the day when things get messy.  They are a tight team and used to using their unique skills to make progress in whatever Rift related challenge they are facing, but this time the team is a little fragmented and focused on different projects.  Tosh and Gwen are ghost hunting. and Owen has become more than a little distracted by a mysterious illness that has struck a community not far from the Rift.  To make matters worse weird sparks of Rift image are appearing and disappearing, tantalising little sparks that something isn't right.

As Captain Jack Harkness and his team try and solve the mystery they find themselves at risk of becoming part of the mystery, a mystery that seems to revolve around a woman named Saskia Harden and the legend of water hags.  When Tosh and Gwen discover a body in the bog and bring it back to the Hub they are shocked to discover that the dead body still has secrets to share - secrets that start them on a race against time.

One of the best things about reading books based on a television series is finding an author who manages to capture the charm of the series and the quirks of the characters - creating a story that reads like an episode of the show.  Baxendale has nailed the team of Torchwood, the quirks, the subtle charms, the lurking immaturity which makes them both a tight knit and somewhat childish team.  You can hear the characters through the writing, picture the boyish charm of the roguish Captain, and picture the horror as the supernatural villain rears it head and wreaks havoc on the team and the rest of the "cast". 

This is an old book in the series, written in 2008, and there have been cast changes in the series since but these early episodes is my favourite time period, a time when it was more about the freaky events and monsters than story arcs that got increasingly far fetched - a time when you could picture things happening rather than having a little trouble suspending belief.  I loved Torchwood and this book was a good fix.

If you like this book then try:

• X-files: Ruins by Kevin J. Anderson
• X-files: Skin by Ben Mezrich
• Supernatural: Witch's Canyon by Jeff Mariotte
• Supernatural: Night terror by John Passarella
• Doctor Who: The kings dragon by Una McCormack
• Doctor Who: Nuclear time by Oli Smith
• Torchwood: First born by James Goss

Reviewed by Brilla