Trace Memory

The first thing I want to say about the fifth Torchwood novel, Trace Memory, is that I love that cover art--those undead guys are creepy! So anyway, this guy named Michael from the year 1953 suddenly appears in present day Cardiff--not that unusual a phenomenon for a city on a Rift, except that each member of the Torchwood institute encountered Michael some time in their individual pasts. Owen remembers him as a presumed mental patient when Owen was a young doctor in training; Tosh remembers him as a strange intruder when she was a young girl growing up in Osaka; Ianto was just beginning work for Torchwood One in London when Michael appeared and caused the facility to go into intruder-alert lockdown; Gwen encountered him on her first patrol with her future partner Andy; and Jack--well, Jack, being Jack, encountered Michael in a more . . . intimate way. It's all tied to an ancient alien race called the Vondrax and a mysterious orb that emits tachyon radiation, but most of that stuff is left appropriately mysterious. I wouldn't say this was an awesome novel, but I did really like getting a chance to see the members of Torchwood before they joined up.