2.5/5

Option Lock is, I thought, a very interesting book, with a competent complement of characters; certainly, a strong thriller entry into the Doctor Who expanded universe.

My lower rating then, comes from the fact that at around the midpoint of this book I realised that the main characters so far have had very little agency in the run of events and that the villains seemed to be lenient to them, for the sake of keeping the heroes in the plot. From then on, I was on the look out for the main characters having anything meaningful to do that affects the plot and ended up feeling like this never occurred.

The plot however is still interesting, and it feels clear that the author has a talent for the cold war thriller genre – in a rare turn for a Doctor Who book, I feel like the plot is hampered by the presence of The Doctor and all the sci-fi elements he brings with him. I wish I could read a version of this book that wasn’t a part of the Doctor Who universe.

I probably would give this book a slightly higher rating if I read this again, after all it is a competent exercise in its genre, I was just so dejected while reading by the perceived lack of agency of the main characters that I can’t currently give it a higher rating.