Torchwood: Bay of the Dead...

[fajrdrako]

Bay of the Dead by Mark Morris. I'd been saving it because it was the last of the Torchwood novels on my bookshelf; but I was desperate for new Torchwood material so I read it all in one fell swoop.

It turns out to be a zombie novel. Now, unlike so many of my friends and acquaintances, I am not charmed by zombies. I avoid zombie stories. Okay, I did watch Shaun of the Dead and maybe even laughed, but zombies just aren't my thing.

So I wouldn't have read this, except it was Torchwood. No complaints, really: it's not my favourite of the Torchwood novels, but I wasn't bored or annoyed, and it had its moments.

1. Page 82:
   
   Ianto looked bewildered. 'But that doesn't make sense. Does it?'
   
   'Maybe not,' Jack said, and grinned suddenly. 'But when all's said and done, what the hell does make sense in this crazy universe of ours?'
   
   
2. Page 43, from Ianto's point of view:
   
   
   Detective Sergeant Swanson... was a tall, slim, beautiful black woman in an immaculately tailored grey suit. The beads in her braided hair clicked gently together whenever she moved her head. She and Torhwood - and she and Jack in particular - had a love/hate relationship, which Jack seemed to revel in. In fact, Jack had once remarked that you could cook eggs on the heat of the sexual tension between him and the statuesque policewoman. Ianto hadn't been sure whether Jack was joking, and therefore couldn't now work out whether he ought to be jealous or not.
   
   
   This passage is, as far as I could tell, the only one which implies a relationship between Jack and Ianto. They work together for most of the novel (while Gwen is having her own adventures with the zombies and with Rhys), with nothing personal at all except once - near the end - Jack kisses Ianto on the forehead.
   
   I'm tempted to say big fuckin' deal, since I'd like more relationshippy stuff, but I know, these books aren't written for the likes of me. (...And why not?)
   
   
3. PC Andy gets a whole sub-plot to himself, in which he's a brave zombie-fighter, helping a damsel in distress who's a pretty good brave zombie fighter herself. And in the end, asks her out for coffee. Way to go, Andy! His interaction with Gwen and Rhys is great, too.
   
   
4. P. 44:
   [Detective Swanson said,] 'He said there were some unusual aspects to the case. In fact, his actual words were, "This one's weirder than a three-heade monkey."'
   
   Jack looked unimpressed. "I dated a three-headed monkey once. What a summer that was!'