I've not yet read the book on which this 3-½ hour abridgement is based but taken as a whole the pedigree of this release is pretty impeccable from a fan-boy standpoint.

My impression is that Dan Abnett is a fan favourite with a background in comics and multi-media adaptations (TV and games) and so going into this review I was pretty sure I was in safe hands. I've read his Wallace and Gromit book and it's a good laugh. My primary perspective is that I'm a fan of TORCHWOOD, the cast and creators in any case but a definite plus is that Eve Myles (TORCHWOOD's Gwen Cooper) has such a pleasant speaking voice that I was almost won over before playing the first of the 3 CDs in this package. Of the three (to date) TORCHWOOD audio releases, I was attracted to this one because Myles is the reader.

If an audio book is to work, there must be a convincing relationship between the quality of the source material and the strength of performer. That is the case here. Abnett's story is written in the third person and I wished that it had been in the first so that the listener might feel a stronger sense of being talked too rather than at.

Myles does not 'do' all the voices but it's not a problem because the narrative barrels along and her narration is emotional enough to hold the listeners attention (the story is dialogue-heavy).

The story has familiar elements and rests on a conceit well known to fans of science fiction. Aliens policing the Rift (the "Border Princes") from the other side of it have sent a posse of their chaps here as 'sleeper agents' and part of the process is that they do not remember their true nature until they are awoken: the object is to enable them to blend in with human society entirely. Unfortunately, one chap does not recognise his wake-up call for what it is and so goes on the run, convinced that monsters are pursuing him. Stan Lee wrote a short comic book story that covered similar ground in the 1960s as did Philip K Dick in the 1950s. Still, the idea that another dimension is worried about dodgy stuff filtering across from our dimension to theirs is an undeniably nice touch.

The aliens make a nice visual (spiky, smoky things) and there are several exchanges that stand out because they do not come across as Who-influenced let's-nobble-the-aliens-kids events. This thoughtful edge gives the story an OUTER LIMITS feel (the 1990s adult-focussed remount, not the 1960s original) just like the TV show. As per the TV show, Gwen is the primary empathic character here and Myles portrayal of Eve's devastation on realising that the TORCHWOOD team cannot save their charge (consider the brilliant PJ Hammond 'fairy story', say) is real hand-wringing stuff.

Given the tone and content ('snot bubble', anyone?), this is not a bedtime story but rather something you might listen to in the car.

Fingers crossed, Naoko Mori will be invited to read the next audio book and so enable some pundit to define the release as a memento Mori. As it were.

Further read: DAN ABNETT profile