3 ( )

Perhaps it's because I'm not keen on spiders, but I found this a taut, thrilling, horror novel for teens - or at least most of it was. It tapers off in the last third, once the mystery is solved, and there's an oddly anticlimactic ending that I think is meant to feel a little spooky and doesn't quite get there. Still, it's such a distinct step up from Justin Richards' Silhouette, which came out at the same time, I can't help but applaud it.

My vague memory of Mike Tucker books in the '90s - I'm thinking of Illegal Alien in particular - is that they are quite technically and militaristically oriented, with specific weapons, planes, tanks, etc. That is certainly present here, and it's not really my thing, but it didn't get in my way. I did feel that Tucker was slightly hamstrung by a limited vocabulary, which may have been imposed upon him by the publisher to fit an intended audience. As good as the horror sequences were, much of the rest of the prose felt just a touch underdeveloped.

As for the depiction of the Twelfth Doctor, it's obvious that again, Tucker hasn't seen much (or possibly anything) of Capaldi's performance, likely relying on scripts. He certainly pegs the character's moodiness and his occasional callousness, which is especially prevalent in early series 8. Seeing as there's a deliberate reference to "Into the Dalek" in Silhouette, I'm guessing all three writers of this set were provided with that teleplay - and that fits, frankly, the aspects of the character Tucker has managed to nail.

Just as Silhouette might entertain an 11-year-old, this feels like a 14-year-old Who to me: crisp and straightforward, with some good scares and slightly cardboard secondary characters. It's not the best of the best but it's good popcorn fare. ( )

Great story! Love how Mike Tucker mixed Earth history, present day and an alien planet into one story! The Doctor and Clara were portrayed brilliantly exactly as I remember them off the tv show.

I like how Mike gives a back story about Robin Sanford and Clearfield. When Clara gets transferred to the body of the Wyrrester on their home planet of Typholchaktas I could picture the planet and like Clara said it was like looking at hell. I really enjoyed this story! ( )

READ IN ENGLISH

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

Publication Date: September 9th 2014

I anticipation of the new Doctor Who series (where we'll finally get to know the new Doctor) I'm reading/reviewing a few of the new Doctor Who Books. If you want to catch up, you can read my reviews for Touched by an Angel (Weeping Angels) and The Engines of War ("Ex-ter-mi-nate!"), featuring my two favourite Doctor who monsters.

The Crawling Terror is a new kind of book for me on a number of levels, for it is the first Doctor who novel I've read that featured either Clara (I don't like her), the 12th Doctor, or adversaries that are not already iconic, like the Daleks for example.

Do you like insects? And spiders? Then you're just going to love this story, as some massive insects and spiders feature in it. Giant spiders are nothing new of course (think for example Harry Potter, or Middle Earth) but they never fail to freak people out. I, myself was scared by the thought of giant mosquitoes, as I always try to stay away from even the little ones.

The TARDIS brings Clara and the new Doctor to a little village in England, under attack by said insects and arachnids. It looks like the local science park might be responsible, but just what has it all to do with an alien species and a military experiment completely gone wrong?

The story started quite creepy actually, something I don't always experience in Doctor Who. There was a rising tension as the villagers tried to run from the attack. The second half or so of the story is more bizarre as everything (well, almost everything, but no Daleks) gets thrown into the plot, like Nazis, time travel and aliens. What's a good story without them?

It didn't always feel like this was a different Doctor during the novel. This is most likely due to the fact we've only seen so few of him, that I wouldn't know how to describe him except that he's older than the last few Doctors. I'm sure this will all be solved after the new series starts. I still don't like Clara, but that's not the fault of the book.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but perhaps a bit too bizarre for me at times. It still read as an episode from the series, which I think is precisely what one wants when reading these books. For my little Doctor Who project I've got two more books that will be read in the coming week(s): The Blood Cell and Silhouette. ( )

Dr. Who lovers will love to read when the show is not on the air. Enjoyable! ( )