Archaeologist Horace Stockwood first visited Easter Island in 1842, accompanied by his closest friend Alexander Richards, to conduct research into the history of the islanders' beliefs. Having stolen something sacred and precious to the islanders he too briefly befriended, for thirty years he is wracked with guilt over his own greed and cowardice. The Doctor, visiting Earth accompanied by Leela, agrees to fund a return expedition.

If I said that the first two things I noticed about this book were a contents page which resembles the tracklisting of a particularly self-indulgent Yes album and the fact that it seemed to be largely narrated by Leela, I think you could forgive my mild apprehension about reading it. In fiction, as in many other things, I prefer economy of style over complexity; thatsomething is difficult doesn't make it more valuable. Respected percussionist Neil Conti once commented "What's the point...when only the drummer knows where the beat is?" As a musician himself, Jim Mortimore presumably understands the rhythm of his own writing, but I've often had trouble keeping track of story and characters through some over-detailed and humourless prose, to the point of losing interest. His last novel Eternity Weeps was an improvement, mainly due to alternating chapters between the two leads, and it's pleasing to report that he has employed similar techniques here with even better results.

Although this book uses the first person mode exclusively, this doesn't seem such an obvious advantage as it was with Eternity Weeps, where one of the main aims was to portray both sides of a dying relationship. Eye of Heaven has no such hook and jumps back and forth in time, reducing the linearity of the narrative. Not an original technique, but any attempt to do something unusual with a Doctor Who novel should be applauded, especially when the narrator chosen for the greater part of the novel is Leela, who had yet to appear in a novel set during her own era. Perhaps in an attempt to make up for her absence from the Virgin Missing Adventure range, Jim gives her a lot to do - certainly more than the Doctor, in a story which also isn't over-populated with supporting characters, Stockwood aside. Of the others only Alexander Richards's sister and James Royston, a friend of Stockwood's of whom Leela is wary, are portrayed in much detail.

This strikes me as being the first BBC Doctor Who book to merit a second reading. The plot is actually very simple, kept interesting by a structure which sometimes makes it difficult to remember exactly where and when you are, but which just for once seems worth the extra effort. Quite unexpectedly, the best in the range so far. Either Jim Mortimore is improving fast or, as I said, I'm finally getting a hold of his style.