Review: The Lost Boy novelisation

The first season of The Sarah Jane Adventures drew to a close with Phil Ford's two-part television story The Lost Boy, and now the adventure is available as a book, novelised by Gary Russell.

Just as Sarah Jane Smith is settling into her new life as a mother, her son is taken away from her when two people claiming to be his real parents make an passionate public plea for his return. Faced with overwhelming evidence, she resigns herself to a life of loneliness, pushing her other young friends away - thankfully, Maria and Clyde are more suspicious, and they investigate. Could the whole thing be an elaborate plot involving a vengeful foe? And is one of Sarah Jane's most trusted friends really all he seems to be?

As a conclusion to the series' first run, I had mixed feelings about The Lost Boy. It's a decent story in its own right, but it definitely lacks both the emotional and dramatic oomph - for want of a better word - of the preceding story, and isn't quite as imaginative or exciting as some of the other episodes. That said, the alternative explanation of Luke's origins is really quite convincing, and the Slitheen's triumphant return (without the usual warning signs of shifty-looking fat people or abundant farting) caught me off-guard.

However, in Gary Russell's adaptation of the two television episodes, some of the story's more successful points are lost by necessity. For example, the Slitheen reveal is undermined, because anyone who's seen the episodes (or indeed, anyone who's seen the cover!) will be aware of their involvement beforehand, which spoils the revelation in the middle of the story. It also robs the first half of the plot of some of its intrigue, so there was a risk that the book might fall flat as a result.

Happily, this isn't the case, and the novel is another brisk and enjoyable read. For me, the highlight was the lively and funny opening, which provides readers with some intriguing backstory to parts of the plot, and contains some superb writing from Russell. The prose is absolutely crackling with energy and vivacity, and the early pages are an efficient and successful hook, setting the tone for the subsequent story and grabbing the reader's attention. In just a few short pages, we're given a vivid picture of a neighbourhood and its inhabitants, with impressive detail and charming wit.

These qualities aren't restricted to the start, though, and the entire book makes for a great read. It doesn't matter that a few of the plot's twists and turns are spoiled, because the book is so much fun. It also allows for some aspects of the story to be refined - without the limitations of a television budget, the inside of Mr Smith becomes far more effective; without the limitations of Alexander Armstrong, the aforementioned supercomputer is a good deal more threatening and credible.

Perhaps more so than with any of the previous SJA novelisations, Gary Russell has taken The Lost Boy and absolutely made it his own. And, without meaning any disrespect to the source material, doing so has improved it no end. This is another brilliant little book.