Silhouette

"This Doctor bothers me... He affects an air of ignorance and indifference. But beneath it are undercurrents of knowledge and curiosity."

Author: Justin Richards

Format: Novel

Released: 11th September 2014

Series: NSA 12.01

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara, Paternoster Gang

Synopsis 

"Vastra and Strax and Jenny? Oh no, we don't need to bother them. Trust me."

Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra. 

Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran. 

The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers. 

How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all? As the Doctor and Clara join the hunt for the truth they find themselves thrust into a world where nothing and no one are what they seem. 

Verdict 

Silhouette, a wonderful name for a novel, was in itself absolutely wonderful! A stormer of a story to kick off the Twelfth Doctor's novelised era (or is that The Blood Cell)? I'm not sure. All three novels (The Crawling Terror also) were released on the same day and when I purchased them from Waterstones it was this novel that was on the left of the three so I figured that this was set first of the three. Anyway, from the prologue I could tell this was going to be good! I adore the Victorian setting of the 1890s and with it being a pseudo-history story, and the addition of the Paternoster Gang, I was confident this was going to be brilliant and indeed it was! The mystery behind the murder of Marlowe Hapworth was a great focal point and then you throw in the deaths of other people and each member of the Paternoster Gang has a task, trail or lead for their role in the story. I was surprised that it took over 50 pages for Madame Vastra to be introduced but the humour of the Doctor arriving without saying hello made it more than worthwhile. I liked Justin Richards' dialogue for Jenny very much, he really captured her from on screen effortlessly. The same can be said for Vastra but maybe quite not for Strax and that's purely because of the format so it was far from a problem! The humour from Strax, as with all his previous appearances, was excellent. I'm surprised that the story's title, despite its beauty, was named after Silhouette and not Affinity. Now, Silhouette was a stunning character and her beautiful description was matched by her appearance on the cover. It even sparked a sense of the Doctor fancying her which was a pleasant shock. But for me Affinity was the star character, both as villain and in the end hero. I loved the concept of people as weapons, as was the plan of the outstanding villain Orestes Milton. The red crystal method of control was superb and I loved his disgust when the effects were slightly fading momentarily on Silhouette and she showed compassion towards others. Right from that moment it was clear Milton was ruthless. His businessman background was great, even more so when it was discovered he was on the run from the Shadow Proclamation! It's about time that organisation played a prominent role in a story after the events of The Stolen Earth. Back to what I was saying with regards to Affinity, the use of face-changing really was a unique idea of a villain's accomplice. Enslave a man then genetically modify him to take on the face of who he wished! It's actually pretty frightening, which I think was the idea. The different personas who introduced himself to each of Clara, Jenny and Vastra were all terrific! You had Oswald who Clara quite fancied, forgetting her relations with Danny momentarily. Then there was Jim who, despite Jenny's vested interest with Vastra, she was quite attracted to! And then there was Festin who I think caused the saddest moment of the three by far! Pretending to be a fellow Silurian, Vastra seemed delighted to not be alone but then it just turned out to be a trap. From that point onward I knew things weren't right and I was anticipating the turns of Oswald and Jim as I read on. The references in this novel to A Good Man Goes to War, The Snowmen and Hide were all very clever and delicately placed within the dialogue. The Carnival of Curiosities was depicted fabulously and it being the focal setting of the story was tremendous. The different amusements on display were described as being fun and exciting. It bared similarities, I thought, to The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. And I'm sure you can tell from the Carnival's name that the Doctor would love the place! The humorously shared reference between the Doctor and Clara towards the Time Lord's overwhelming curiosity. The plot itself centred on emotion in an incredible way! Milton was going to unleash his "greatest weapon" yet and intended on using London as an example of it working. He wanted to unleash a cloud of anger, quite literally. London was going into chaos as people become vented with anger through no fault of their own. But the Doctor's plan was brilliant and I loved how he did it in calm fashion. In the Carnival, the Doctor along with Strax's help as the Strong Man, was putting on a sensational show keeping the attendees' spirits high and immune from the effect of the anger cloud. And the way he ridded London of the cloud was great and logical! He would use Empath, another enslaved assistant of Milton. The Doctor took off the ring that kept him out of his own control and demanded he soaked up the party atmosphere full of joy, fun and happiness, entertainment, glee and euphoria. With it built up so much, the Doctor then demanded it be released into the heart of the cloud, wiping it out. It was a stunning moment! After brilliant origami bird threats, a face-changing man and Vastra and Jenny being lured into being trapped, the cloud was defeated but the story wasn't quite over. Milton, now angry himself, was threatening to destroy Southern Britain with missiles as he escaped. But then in an outstanding ending, what he thought was the Shadow Proclamation calling giving him a pardon for his past sins, turned out to be Affinity luring him into the path of the real Proclamation's missiles who'd carried out their execution warrant. A superb and brilliantly clever climax to a wonderful story! Outstanding plot, fantastic characters and a lovely relationship between the Doctor & Clara and the Paternoster Gang. What more can I ask for?

Rating: 10/10