Product Description

Tiger Bay, Cardiff, 1950: A mysterious crate is brought into the docks on a Scandinavian cargo ship, the Kungssangen. Its destination: The Torchwood Institute. As the crate is offloaded by a group of local dockers it explodes, killing all but one; a young Butetown lad called Michael Bellini. Fifty-eight years later a radioactive source somewhere inside Torchwood leads the team to discover the same Michael Bellini, still young and dressed in his 1950s clothes, cowering in the vaults. As they question the intruder, it becomes apparent that each of them has met him in the past. All of them remember him talking incoherently about terrifying 'Men In Bowler Hats' and little more, but it's Jack who remembers him best of all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64751 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

About the Author
David Llewellyn was born in Pontypool in 1978. He is the author of three previous novels, 'Eleven', 'Torchwood: Trace Memory', and 'Everything Is Sinister'. He lives in Cardiff.

Customer Reviews

Captain Fantastic
Having read all of the original Torchwood novels published to complement the TV series, I have found them to get better and better. I often think that they would make good television stories and this novel in particular could be a cracker with today's special effects. Michael is an enigma - how does he know the Torchwood team, why does he think he's travelling in time and who are the sinister 'men in bowler hats' who seem to know exactly when and where he's going to be at any given time and who will stop at nothing to track him down..?
David Llewellyn has produced another fast-paced, imaginative and unputdownable read; let's hope there are many more to come.

My favourite so far
Many novels accompanying TV series have a problem: sometimes they offer "background information" on the characters that doesn't fit the ongoing storylines of the show; or you strike on the idea that the author of the book has never seen a bit of the show, because he obviously writes about whole different characters.
Good thing to say: this book's not like that. Mr. Llewellyn manages to find just the right words, I found it great fun to read (not to mention that it's a pretty captivating story).

The story is set around Michael, a young man from 1953 Cardiff, who gets intangled in a series of events that (of course) bring Torchwood to the scene. The book mostly concentrates on Jack's connection with Michael. So if you're a fan of Gwen-, Owen- or Tosh-centred stories this might not be your favourite. They all have their moments (chapters), but overall they're minor characters in this one. Ianto/Jack-fans on the other hand will have a field-day, because this is a novel where his relationship with Jack doesn't get ignored by the author (no adult content of course, but some beautifully written scenes).

In the show's timeline I guess the story is situated somewhere shortly after the beginning of season 2 - Jack/Ianto is pretty obvious, but Owen's still alive, Gwen seems not to be married yet...

To outline it in brief: I would recommend this to Torchwood fans who appreciate an intriguing plot, like Jack-centred stories and don't care if the rest of the team is left out in the cold a bit.

I enjoyed it
This book is a bit different than the other Torchwood novels I know because the actual main character is a time traveller called Michael. Michael is a very intriguing character who became a continuous time traveller by an accident that is linked to Torchwood. From the beginning I was wondering what will become of him and I was kept wondering until the end of the book. I like it that the answer is somewhat open to interpretation. Maybe Jack managed to break the cycle Michael is stuck in but maybe not. But even if he did, I don`t think Jack was able to finally free Michael. I very much cared for that tragic character and although I would have wished a happy end for him I think the author made the right choice.

What I like is that this book uses the opportunity when exploring the accident and its consequences to reveal more about Torchwood`s past and the history of the main characters. If the author wanted to, he could easily write a sequel. I would welcome it if the does but maybe it is better to leave the reader wondering and wanting more.