Thursday 11 October 2012

Review - "Melody Malone: The Angel's Kiss"



As I'm sure everyone knows by now, this is NOT the book the Doctor was reading in "The Angels Take Manhattan".  This is, in fact, the lead in - this book is basically Melody/River's prequel to the events detailed in the episode.

"The Angel's Kiss" is a good read - in the style of one of those fabulous Raymond Chandler detective novels.   The story is told by River in the first person (but AS Melody Malone) and it contains lots of lovely River-isms - you can hear Alex Kingston's voice as you read it.   It's not a deep, heavy novel - it's a short, fun novella.  Take it for what it is and you really will enjoy it - I found myself giggling at numerous intervals and once I'd started reading, I didn't stop until I finished it.

Justin Richards has done a very good job of capturing the voice and character of River - but a River pretending to be Melody Malone so you get some fantastic lines such as:

“It was the sort of day when deciding what to wear is like planning a military operation. Believe me – I have considerable experience of both.” 

There's a quite brilliant "About the Author" page at the front which reveals:

“Melody Malone is the owner and sole employee of the Angel Detective Agency in Manhattan. She is possibly married but lives alone usually, and is older than both her parents. Sometimes. Why not visit her website? Ah – probably because the internet hasn’t been invented yet. Sorry, Sweetie.” 

The book isn't very long - it's a novella and the price reflects that - but honestly, it is well worth downloading if only for a bit of a prequel to "The Angels Take Manhattan".  If, like me, you love River...then it's practically perfect.

My only gripe is that the BBC have missed a trick with this.  They really should have an audio option with Alex Kingston reading it - I'd certainly buy it.

To download this e-book visit:

Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss - Amazon UK

Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss - Amazon US




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