Reviews The Sin Eaters by DJ Forrest

Read by Gareth David-Lloyd

Written by Brian Minchin

ISBN: 978-1-408-42621-0

Torchwood has been receiving a few unidentified blips recently which fade after a few minutes, but this time they have a lock on them.  Jack, with Gwen and Ianto, the last three surviving members of Torchwood Three take the short cut down to the shore where they uncover a dead man covered in deep abrasions caused by an unknown source. 

Another beachcomber is on the beach that night, gathering up the source which enables his congregation to repent their sins and worship to their last breath.  The Reverend Haywood has plans for these creatures who grow with each sin in his font.  He has plans to deliver his message across the city of Cardiff, but the creatures have their own agenda…

The Sin Eaters audio read by Gareth David-Lloyd is a two CD story written by Brian Minchin.  Gareth known for his role as Ianto Jones, gives a good impersonation of Captain Jack Harkness, Rhys, his own character Ianto and Gwen.  Gareth puts deep feeling into his narration, you can feel the pain and the suffering of the characters that are touched by the larvae.  You can imagine the look on Ianto’s face after Puska falls out of the sky and Jack’s wit at various moments during the 2 ½ hour story. 

The story is after Series 2 but before Series 3 – the team are still in the Hub in Cardiff.  Jack introduces Ianto to a few surprises in the Hub that even ‘archive boy’ hadn’t been aware of, and Ianto introduces Jack to a few he didn’t think Ianto knew about.  It’s quite funny listening to the pair when they head out to sea.  Brian writes in such a way that you can’t help wishing that you could visualise the story in an actual episode, although given the level of CGI that would need to be involved, it could be quite a pricey episode at that.  But there are just a few scenes you wish you could see, to know that facial expressions count for a lot when you’re trying to visualise it for yourself, and I really want to see creature in the tank and the mother of all creatures rising out of the sea, and Jack, and Ianto and Puska!

I have to also admit that the picture on the front cover doesn’t convey what I imagined the fully formed larvae to turn into.  I was hoping for something far more alien than that, perhaps along the lines of alien dragonflies rather than hover flies, but that’s imagination for you. 

I have a wide selection of audio stories read by various cast members of Torchwood and although every single one of them are fantastic at their role, I can honestly say, that out of all of them, I would rather Gareth and Kai narrate.  There is something about these two men’s narrations that nail it for me on all levels especially their level of enthusiasm for the story.  I physically jumped out of my skin when Gareth yelled earlier on in the first half of the story.  I wasn’t expecting that!

Currently this is my favourite of all my Torchwood audio stories, and I do have a fair few now, although admittedly, a lot are digital downloads which I will at some point update to CD format. 

Published by BBC Audiobooks Ltd in 2009, if you haven’t heard it yet, then it’s a must buy.