Atom Bomb Blues

"You're helping them to build the atomic bomb."

Writer: Andrew Cartmel

Format: Novel

Released: December 2005

Series: PDA 75

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis 

Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1945. The Second World War is coming to its bloody conclusion, and in the American desert the race is on to build an atomic bomb. The fate of the world is at stake in more ways than one.

Someone, or something, is trying to alter the course of history at this most delicate point. And destroy the human race. Posing as a nuclear scientist with Ace as his research assistant, the Doctor plays detective among the Manhattan Project scientists, while desperately trying to avoid falling under suspicion himself.

As the minutes tick away to the world's first atom bomb blast, the Doctor and Ace find themselves up to their necks in spies, aliens of the flying saucer variety, and some very nasty saboteurs from another dimension. 

Verdict

Atom Bomb Blues was a great novel to serve as the final Past Doctor Adventures book! I am still a long way off from blogging every adventure from this range but I really have enjoyed what I have covered so far and this was a more than decent way to conclude the range. I maintain that it's a shame it didn't continue past 2005 with the modern era in full flow, but I understand why the decision was made. The setting for this novel was superb and the prospect of the Doctor interfering and meddling in the Second World War at the time the atomic bomb was being created was fantastic. That was extenuated by the fact this was the seventh incarnation and with him being the most manipulative of Doctors, the possibilities were endless! Ace's involvement as the Doctor's assistant was very good and I liked the fun that came with her taking the fish oil capsules to make her mathematical abilities vastly enhanced. The whole plot being a longstanding plan of the Doctor's was intriguing and the methods taken to keep the TARDIS hidden was impressive. There were a great variety of characters in this book and I think the highlight of the bunch had to be Ray. He was such a fun and just barmy character and his obsession with music and collecting records got to the point of ridiculousness but that just made it good! His desire to collect music records going so far as to travel between dimensions and parallel universes to obtain music that should have been banned was quite something. It was a little mad that a particle physicist from the future concocted equations that opened the gaps between dimensions and he was soon used by Imperial Lee and Lady Silk in a crazy plan to ensure Japanese victory in every universe. He was fine with that if it meant he got to go home and have the records that didn't exist in his universe with him. That really is just ludicrous! He was written well though and was a very interesting character throughout. I liked how he got friendly with the Doctor and Ace and didn't want them to get hurt or caught up in events, and the truth that he received coded messages in the music of Lady Silk was excellent. The revelation that it was Rosalita that was his accomplice was fantastic and I thought the Doctor's method of deducing that with the spilt chilli was very cleverly done. Butcher was another great character and I particularly enjoyed his interactions with Ace. She constantly referred to him as Bulldog which seemed to suit well, but one thing I was shocked by was that Ace wasn't calling the Doctor professor at all. That seemed a little off when it came to characterisation. I really enjoyed the moment with the Doctor holding a knife to Silk's throat and she wasn't worried in the slightest, but panic quickly set in when it came to Ace being in that position. That was the companion at her best. Henbest was another decent character and his role in the opening prelude to the book that took place part way through events was good and knowing that Ace would get drugged with truth serum was an interesting way to start. The way the tables were turned and he received a similar fate was very good. One element of the story I wasn't a massive fan of was the whole Zorg and tentacle ship inclusion, but I thought the humour of Butcher being convinced he was drugged was terrific. The role of Oppenheimer and the household was great and I liked that the Doctor's involvement in the atomic bomb was centred on changing Teller's equations so he wouldn't go on to become pro-bomb was not what I expected, and must admit that the lack of clarity around different universes seemed slightly convenient, especially with the doubles. I must admit that I thought the first half of the book was much stronger and my enjoyment slightly wained once we departed from pure historical elements. I didn't think it was required, but that's not at all to say it got bad! Overall, this was still a very strong book that served as a good read. 

Rating: 8/10