Second paragraph of third chapter:

Bland’s appearance befitted his name to the letter. He was tall and fair with ice-blue eyes and a bone structure that was singularly without peak or trough, giving him an oddly flat, even face. Bullied as a youngster both at home and at school, Bland had vowed to never again experience the same powerlessness as an adult that he had had to endure as a child. Bland was a corporate man with the ear of President Nixon, or Dickie as Bland called him. Everyone was afraid of Bland, and no one stepped out of line at the Laboratory now that he was in charge.

I’ve worked my way through almost every Doctor Who novel that actually features the Doctor, and am now delving deep into spinoff lines: this is the first of a “second season” of books from Candy Jar about Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart in the months between The Web of Fear and The Invasion, and for extra recursive Who-ness, its author is the daughter of Brian Miller, who appeared in Old Who as Dugdale in Snakedance (1983) and in New Who as Barney the tramp in Peter Capaldi’s first episode, Deep Breath (2014). Oh yeah, her mother was Elisabeth Sladen, who appeared in Doctor Who once or twice as well.

This is a decent first novel. There’s lots of Whovian fan-service, including to the Sarah Jane universe (a very peculiar origin story for Brendan Richards of K9 and Company); but the focus is on Anne Travers much more than Lethbridge-Stewart himself (which is refreshing). All the bits are there – moon-landings, drugs, babies – and they combine pleasantly enough. I hope Miller keeps on writing.

Net in this series is The Showstoppers by Jonathan Cooper. You can get Moon Blink here.