I'm gonna go ahead and say it: Option Lock is mid. There are definitely worse entries in this series, but this book struggles with many of the same issues.

The most notable one for me is the lack of focus on the Doctor and Sam. There are many moments in this book where I felt like the author wanted to be writing literally anything but a Doctor Who novel, which is a shame, because their stronger moments are what save this book from a lower rating and weeks of frustrated reading for me. While Pickering was an interesting and well-rounded character, and Sargent had his moments, I felt that most of the side characters were fairly one-note - not to mention that there are far too many of them.

Another recurring issue in this series that this novel struggled with is the pacing. This book spends so much time describing the minutea of the American political and defense system, the way every little thing about launching missiles works. It strikes me as a very odd choice to feature and name a president of the United States in a British sci-fi novel. It's possible that I just don't enjoy war stories (which I don't), but the way tense and initially fast-paced moments ground to a halt to explain things really grated on me.

Then there are other, more minor things. Aside from Vampire Science and maybe Genocide, this series has a bad track record with its treatment of women, and this book is no different. It also relies on the secret society controlling the world, a pretty well know anti-Semitic trope, made worse by the imagery of the Khameirians. It just left a veneer of bad taste over the entire book that I couldn't quite ignore.

That's not to say it's all bad; I already mentioned that I liked Pickering, and his and Sam's relationship is really wonderful. There's also more of Sam and the Doctor interacting the way I like, and the Doctor's terrible driving is a highlight. The concept of the Khameirians is interesting, if a little underdeveloped.

Then there's the stuff that's neither here nor there. The writing is pretty solid; some of the descriptions are vivid, but some are a little sparse and left me confused. Other than the military stuff and the first quarter of the book, the pacing actually wasn't too bad. The epilogue is good, though I know it's unlikely to matter.

At the end of the day, I think this book just isn't really for me. I understand why it's generally considered one of the better books in this series.