After the lacklustre Escape Velocity and the dismal Earthworld I badly needed something magical to restore my faith in the Eighth Doctor books, and under the pleasingly ominous cover of Vanishing Point I found it.

If the chief failure of Earthworld was that its plot didn't support whatever its themes were supposed to be, Vanishing Point is the absolute opposite. The story perfectly explores a strong and fascinating theme -whilst being well told and compelling in its own right. It's true science fiction, and excellent Doctor Who to boot!

The theme in question is twofold - the meeting point of the science of genetics and religious faith, especially the concept of the soul. Far from stumbling under the burden of such weighty subjects, Stephen Cole creates a world in which these ideas meet head on. Right from the start the book is gripping, and while the opening scene with its dark and stormy night may sound melodramatic, it's carried off with style and pace which continues throughout the book.

Matt Ridley's popular science book Genome is cited as a big influence, and it may well have helped that I had recently read this excellent and fascinating book. However, Cole's plot is so tightly wound that the science at the core of it seems natural and inevitable when revealed. The characters are interesting and fresh, even the disillusioned Priest - who could so easily have been a cliché - rises above a rather Goth name (Nathaniel Dark) to be sympathetic and human.

The Doctor is in his element in unearthing the truth, and the book has one of the best Fitz storylines for a long time - it's a refreshing change from many of the other books where he seems to so often slip into the role of hapless wannabe. Anji goes from strength to strength, and it's this book, for me, that really establishes her as a companion. In Escape Velocity she was a bystander, in Earthworld she was only strongest when mourning her lost boyfriend. Here she is part of the team. No one of the regulars seems to be more prominent in the story than the otheres - it's a strong ensemble effort this time.

The ending is perhaps a little too contrived, inasmuch as it allows the final confrontation between the Doctor and villain to be isolated from the others, playing up the epic a little indulgently. But it's an epic sorta book, which has a real strength of plot and purpose, which never loses sight of the people at the heart of the grand drama, and which has more than restored my flagging faith in the book series.