This is the 59th novel published by the BBC to feature the 8th Doctor.  His companions are Fitz Kreiner and Anji Kapoor.

This story takes place in 19th century England and also features the antagonist Sabbath.  Sabbath was first introduced in the 8th Doctor adventure The Adventuress of Henrietta Street.

The Doctor and his companions are in the 19th century because of some time distortions going on there.  The Doctor discovers one of the "symptoms" of this is a man named Octave.  A man that has been split into eight different people, all sharing the same mind.  He also discovers a woman named Constance Jane who seems able to either read minds or to actually see into the future.  During a discussion with Octave, Octave kills the Doctor. 

The Doctor, however is unable to die even though his ribs have been driven into his chest.  When he recovers, he realizes that this is because his other heart has been relocated inside of Sabbath.  The Doctor visits Sabbath and confronts him about this.  They also consult about the "time machine" that has fractured Octave.  Sabbath and the Doctor decide to work together to find and destroy the time machine.

The Doctor is killed once again by Sabbath's servant, Angel Maker.  Since he still cannot be killed because of the heart, he is able to meet with Death herself.  He makes a deal to ask a person that had been killed where the time machine might be.

The time machine is eventually found in the hands of another fractured person Dr Chiltern.  He has been fractured into two people, one virtuous and human the other the flip side of his "twin".  This one though has been merged with objects, plants and animals from the 1950's.  The Doctor enters the machine and it begins to destroy itself.  Sabbath takes the Doctor's heart out of his chests and throws it onto the floor, disgusted with the Doctor's methods.