The Tunnel at the End of the Light 
Time Hunter Series 
By Stefan Petrucha

    Telos aficionados first met Honoré and Emily in one of the Dr. Who novellas The Cabinet of Light (also reviewed on this site) last year. The story was continued, sans the Doctor in The Winning Side and now they are back again to face more strangeness in a grim, shattered postwar London. This time it is a race of weird subterranean beings that have risen from London’s sewers (a favorite element in this type of fiction, don’t you think) to wreak havoc on the public. Or is it just certain individuals who are their targets? Honoré and Emily are recruited by reclusive poet Randolph Crest to save him from their clutches and get to the bottom of the problem.

     There is a convincing portrayal of bleak postwar London in these novellas, but gone is the film noir style and this could well be an episode of Buffy or Angel. There are demons to battle, a recurring nemesis and ciphers to crack, but at least Emily has got rid of the pink pyjama-d Bond Girl image and is kicking butt with Honoré, having her own powers to add to save the day. I felt that more could have been added to the mix to make a fuller story, novella length notwithstanding and personally I preferred the debut novel, which was more original. It will be interesting to see where the series goes next.

Obtainable from Telos Publishing Ltd, 61 Elgar Avenue, Tolworth, Surrey, KT5 9JP
Standard edition £7.99, Deluxe edition £25
Visit the website http://www.telos.co.uk