Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel Hardcover – August 2, 2011

The weeping angels are probably my favorite doctor who monster and I had been doing a stint where I was focusing on the eleventh doctor's stories and books, so choosing this book at the time that I did was kind of a no-brainer. I thought Jonathan Morris did a phenomenal job (as a lot of the doctor who authors do) in making me feel as if I was watching an episode of the show in my head. He nailed the personality of Eleven, Amy, and Rory. He also does a great job of creating the character of Mark, our protagonist in this story, and making the reader really feel like they've lived Mark's experiences by the end of the book. The scenes with the weeping angels were both scary and fun, well-written and perfect for these monsters. The basic premise of wanting to go back in time to save someone we love is elevated here in my opinion by the way that Morris takes you on Mark's life journeys with him, so when it comes to that ultimate decision...do I change time to save the one I love and in turn affect the whole universe, or do I allow fate to take its course, much more weight was felt by me, the reader. I tried to put myself in Mark's position when he finally came face to face with this decision and it's not an easy one at all. It was this and a few other moments that were very emotional and could bring tears to your eyes. A definite page-turner for sure, the book moves at a brisk pace, ranging from the late '90's all the way to 2011, and the references to music and pop culture at the time of these moments were handled well, I thought. I highly recommend this to any doctor who fan, weeping angels fan, anyone who likes a good time travel story, and anyone looking for a good, solid, read. Five stars easily.

This story begins In Croydon one cold, wet October day in 2011, eight years after lawyer Mark Whitaker’s wife died in a horrific car crash. He’s handed a battered, dusty envelope found in the firm’s archive room. An envelope he’s never seen before but bears his name and the current date … in his own handwriting! He decides not to open the envelope straight away and continues to work until late, only to have a terrifying journey home with an invisible Weeping Angel statue pursuing him. The Angel is only visible to Mark on the various CCTV cameras he encounters along the way. At one point he notices himself on a tv-shop window CCTV screen, with the Angel standing close behind him and reaching for his neck. A man’s voice shouts out: “Don’t look back. Don’t turn around, don’t close your eyes, and whatever you do, don’t look back!” Cue the Doctor, Amy and Rory.I enjoyed this book. The Doctor, Amy and Rory are well portrayed and I could easily imagine the voices and mannerisms of the actors from the tv series.I would have preferred a different ending. But if I told you how I would have ended the story, you would know it didn’t happen that way.

The Weeping Angels are my favorite Doctor Who villians. They don't "exist" if you are looking at them, they can't speak, you can't hurt them, and they don't give up. They are so insidiously menacing. Touched By An Angel takes these now classic Who villians and puts a new spin on them. They are ever resourceful, and in this story their plan to feed off of even more concentrated time energy is ingenious. And wrapped up in the life of Mark and Rebecca Whitaker. This novel has Mark backtracking through his life, as he realizes that many things that happened when he was young was influenced by his older self. And this is dangerous as the Doctor, Amy and Rory must monitor Mark's life in an effort to make sure Mark does not attract the Angels by creating a paradox.This is such an intelligently engineered time travel story that uses the Angels extremely well. Their appearance in the beginning is especially chilling because there is a different approach to how they stalk their prey. The Doctor and his companions are not the focus of the story, but Mark is a complex enough character to carry the narrative interest. His relationship with his wife and the unfolding of their lives is very touching and romantic. I especially felt the ending was particularly clever and perfectly resolved Mark's emotional trauma. I thoroughly enjoyed this Doctor Who adventure!

A very good Doctor Who book. It is a bit different as the Doctor, Amy and Rory aren't the main focus. They are definitely there though,the characters are well written but unlike other Doctor Who books they are not center stage. Throughout the book you are taken on a trip through the life of Mark Whitaker a griving husband who is given a second chance. He receives a letter 8 years after his wife's death explaining how he can save her life. Mark still deeply feels the pain of his wife's death and is willing to do anything to get her back, including face the Weeping Angels. There are several suprises scattered throughout and the story does not end how you would expect. It is a great story and definitely captured my attention, I had it read in no time. My only problem with the book is that it had some language and a couple places with people sleeping together. Just passing comments or a word of two but worth note because I have always liked that DW is so family friendly, that it doesn't have a lot of the stuff that is in most shows now days.

It might be a little bit of a bias review being that I consider myself to be a fan of Doctor Who. This book was an absolute pleasure to read. Without giving too much away, the story does involve time travel and paradoxes. Jonathan Morris does an excellent job mixing action sequences with filling in the back story on the main characters. With a villain that doesn't move when anybody looks at it, he successfully conveyed suspense at the right points of the story. The story also expands upon the angels as a villain. In the TV series they've really only been portrayed as monsters that attack like wild animals looking for their next meal. Although that may be their underlying motive, this story shows them as a clever and calculating advisory worthy of being a Doctor Who villain.

This is another of the previously published Doctor Who novels, first published in 2011 and now republished in the Monster Collection in 2014. This one is unusual in the Monster Collection of stories in that it features a ‘monster’ which does not carry over from the ‘classic’ series like the Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans etc. Instead, this story features the Weeping Angels who are a ‘monster’ created for the new series and first featured in the 2007 story “Blink”.This story is also quite unusual in that it is very much a tale of human interest. The Doctor, with Amy and Rory are important features of the story, but the story is really that of Mark Whitaker, a lawyer whose wife is killed in a car accident in 2003. When the Doctor arrives in 2011, Mark is starting to think he’s going mad; he can’t really be seeing stone angels everywhere, can he?I really enjoyed this story; there’s a good depth of characterisation in it, and a real sense of living the story through Mark’s life. There’s a lot of time wibbliness in the story, and that’s necessary for the whole truth of the narration, but you need to keep track of where/when you’re reading about. Matt Smith’s Doctor is well portrayed here, and Amy and Rory have small but vital roles to play as well. A really good Doctor Who novel, and a good addition to the Monster Collection series.

I've tried reading some other Doctor Who novels, based on the recent series character of Amy and Rory, but they have either been faintly upsetting or big cat's pants.Touched by an Angel, is different. Written by Jonathan Morris, a regular writer for the books and audio plays, the novel hits all the right notes and manages to capture all the aspects of the characters that make them unique. It also has a good and straightforward plot, with enough time twists to keep everyone happy.Very good location detail and dialogue make this much more enjoyable than many of the other books in the series, and it acts as a good companion piece to the show.At some times I was sure it was based on parts of my life, but only the lame college disco and holiday in Rome with a cute girl - as so far I haven't been followed by angels in TV sets.I would recommend it for any who fan, but particularly those in their mid to late 30s: as they'll know all the tunes.

Everyone who has ever lost a loved one in a terrible accident has at some point wished they could go back in time and prevent it from happening. So what if by some freak occurrence that happened. You where sent hurtling through time and space to a point before you lost that special person. What wouldn't you do to save them. But then a strange man in a blue box wearing a tweed jacket and a ridiculous bow tie told you the ramifications of changing the past in such a way would be more than devastating. That to save the person you love more than anything could possibly end everything. That's the dilemma facing Mark Whiticker in this heart wrenching book. Can the Doctor convince Mark that saving his wife from certain death is the wrong thing to do before it's to late and before the Weeping Angels end time itself. It's s brilliant and emotional story and I highly recommend you read it. But don't blink, don't take your eyes of the pages, don't turn around and whatever you do don't blink!!!

Given the almost total absence of new Doctor Who fiction this year, I decided to take the option of catching up on the Eleventh Doctor novels. This is the first of the ones I selected to read as I'd heard good things and was curious as to how the Weeping Angels would come across in prose, due to their nature as a very visual menace. I was extremely pleasently surprised at the way they are written - with some genuine menace that creates a very vivid impression in the head. If they were to take novels and adapt them - not unlike how Human Nature was used - then this would be one I would want to see get that production treatment!

I've always greatly enjoyed Jonathan Morris's "Doctor Who" stories as he always seems to come up with interesting and dynamic concepts that have rarely been explored in the series before.Here he presents a magnificently human story with characters for which you genuinely empathise and care which makes it all the more compelling and all the more terrifying when the sinister stones statues start to appear.This book features a brilliantly innovative use of the Weeping Angels and their unique facets and abilities which contribute to a story with an amazing heart and an aching poignancy which leave you questioning even the Doctor's assertion that history cannot be rewritten...