BBC Books Something in the Water A Torchwood Novel

Author	Andy Lane
Published	2008

Synopsis: An irregular bout of coughs and colds has Dr Bob Strong worried, especially when he himself starts to cough up blood. Saskia Harden is persistently found submerged beneath bodies of water and is not on any files apart from at Dr Strong's GP practice. Torchwood have found a dead body in an advanced state of decay that is still able to talk. And all it can say is 'Water hag'...

• A Review by Shawn Metz
• A Review by Leslie McMurtry

A Review by Shawn Metz 17/7/12

Oddly, Trevor Baxendale's novel Something in the Water reads much like Another Life, only shorter. This story is set in the second season, just prior to the episode Meat (Gwen needs to lie to Rhys about injuries she sustained). With a full season of episodes to draw from, Baxendale does an excellent job at capturing all of the voices of the regulars. Though most of the novel is dialogue-heavy, it is easy to distinguish which character is speaking based on the dialogue alone. Jack, Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Ianto are all captured far better in this novel than in the three prior novels of the series.

However, the secondary characters are few and far between. The only secondary character that was developed was Bob Strong. We get a strong description of what he is like as a person prior to the first chapter and we immediately feel some sympathy for him later in the novel when events take a turn for the worst. The alien antagonist, like the one in Another Life, is given little character development and comes across as a stock character/alien fiend that wants to take over Earth. With a novel this short, one would have thought Baxendale would have fleshed out the villain more.

The plot is basic and unoriginal: all across Cardiff, an epidemic of symptoms related to coughing and hacking up mucus and blood lead the government to believe that a new flu strain is developing. Torchwood, however, discover it is related to a ghostly apparition dubbed the "sea hag" and could lead to the birth of a new generation of aliens that want to colonize the planet. The plot is straightforward and the prose style makes this a very fast read. The lack of original ideas is what brings the book down for me. When the birthing process is described, all I could think about was that I had seen John Hurt go through something similar. It would have been nice if one of the characters made that connection as part of the dark humor aspect (something I can easily see Owen referencing).

All in all, a light read with good characterization and an unoriginal plot. 5/10

A Review by Leslie McMurtry 12/5/14

My relationship with Trevor Baxendale (or I should say, his writing!) has been fraught. I very much enjoyed Wishing Well, was less enthusiastic about Prisoner of the Daleks but mostly felt positive toward it, but his short stories in Short Trips haven't made me jump for joy or anything. However, I found myself quite disappointed with Something in the Water. Though it's not Baxendale's fault, I must add this to the list of Torchwood novels whose covers lie as, although this is a story with a large medical component, it's not really about Owen. Or doesn't feel like it is.

Dr Bob Strong, the novel's main guest character, feels like he belongs to the first season, in all the ways (good and bad) therein implied. He's rather obsessed with sex, but the brief sketches of his colleagues - acid Letty Bird and jovial Iuean Davis - are more enjoyable. Where Baxendale excels is in the story, which is for the most part well-paced and has the gore and suffering one comes to associate with Torchwood stories. There are some good set pieces you could easily imagine showing up on the TV show back in the day: Owen and Jack being attacked by scary, slimy objects in an abandoned fish factory, and Jack and Gwen watching in horror as a dog's head is bitten off its body while its owner meets a watery grave.

The main problem with the novel is characterization; none of these characters feel authentically Torchwood. Gwen and Toshiko's conversations feel rootless, and no one seems to know who Ianto is and what he should be doing (contrast with Trace Memory). Owen, too, feels rather safe, though there are flashes where I can believe it's him. For example,

'I'm not that kind of girl,' said Gwen with a weak smile. 'I mean, don't date corpses as a rule.'

'What about Rhys?' asked Owen.

Gwen gave him two fingers without even looking.