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Title: Redemption by Mel Odom ISBN: 0-671-04146-0 Publisher: Simon Pulse Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (20 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Good story, good dialogue, some weaknesses in narrative
Comment: Overall, this was a pretty good book. The story was interesting, the dialogue true to the characters (for the most part) and the pacing good. The problem I had with the book is that it read like the author wrote it in one draft and then submitted it for printing without editing. You would read along for a couple of pages, really getting into it, and then a sentence would pop up that was awkwardly written or a descriptive word thrown in that would harshly snap you back to reality. An example of this would be during a fight scene where all of a sudden the author Odom describes Angel as scampering along. Angel may do may things, but he doesn't scamper.
The other problem that I had was with Doyle's character meeting up with a loan shark and a seer. Both of these characters were interesting to a point, and the scenes were well written, but they ultimately had nothing to do with the story. They could have been written out completely and the rest of the story would have remained the same. In fact, the loan shark storyline is completely left dangling. He forgives Doyle's loan as long as Doyle agrees to introduce him to Angel. Interesting, you might think. And then you would read the rest of the book wondering what business this loan shark would have with Angel. But you would never find out, because Odom never goes back to this subplot. It is just left dangling at the end. Very disappointing.
But getting past the occasional misplaced word or sentence and the subplot that goes nowhere, there was a lot of good in this book as well. For the most part the characters read like those in the show (which isn't always the case in tv tie-in novels)and the rest of the plot is pretty tight. The introductory scene hooks you right in, and for a while at least you are intrigued by the mystery woman who Angel had met and fought over a century ago and who is now not only still alive and well, but doesn't seem to recognize him.
I bought this book at a garage sale for a quarter. I got my money's worth. I don't know if I would feel the same if I had picked it up at cover price.
Rating: 5
Summary: ONE OF THE GREATEST BOOKS I HAVE READ!
Comment: To me, this book repersents that the character ANGEL is trying to get redemption. In this book to me is most dramtic is where angel finds out that whitney has the personality of a vampire hunter from the days where angel was angelus and not angel. This book has a great ending to it. I have continued to read the rest of the series and now I have finished the eighteenth book and looking forward to the book named FEARlESS.
Rating: 4
Summary: Whitney Tyler's not a vampire, she just plays one on TV...
Comment: Angel Investigations takes on the case of Whitney Tyler, the hot young actress who plays the vampire Honor Blaze on "Dark Midnight," the hit television show. It seems that there is a cult of crazies out there who think Whitney is a real vampire and are trying to kill here. If that was not enough of a hook for author Mel Odom to get you interested in this original novel based on the "Angel" television series, he also tosses in a sinker: Angel recognizes Whitney as somebody from his past (as in two centuries past).
I have to admit up front that in "Redemption," a story set in the very early days of the "Angel" series (i.e., Doyle is still around), employs a narrative technique that more often than not rubs me the wrong way, namely alternating chapters between the present and the past until the author is ready to tie up all the narrative threads in one neat little bundle. Usually pacing is one of Odom's strong suits, but I think the fact that the chapters set in Ireland in 1758 are long on mystery and short on clues, works against this approach.
However, two of Odom's other strengths are amply present in "Redemption." The first is his characterization, where he does a nice job of capturing Angel's reticence, Cordelia's babbling self-absorption (at that point in the series), and Doyle's unhuman ability to constantly put his foot in his mouth when it comes to having a conversation with Cordelia. In all of this "Angel" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" novels Odom always has his characters talking the right talk. However the most memorable character in the book is actually one of the minor characters. No, not the loan shark who collects toes, but Gannon, a priest from a warrior cult sworn to slay demons and the like who is willing to give the vampire with a soul the benefit of the doubt; marvelous idea for a character and well written. Second, Odom comes up with a pretty good payoff for the mystery. If anything, he holds off on the payoff too long and by the time we know Whitney Tyler's secret we do not really have a moment to enjoy the revelation because it is time to fight the final big fight.
Along similar lines, Odom should be working out more of the mystery elements of the two mysteries in "Redemption", namely who or what is Whitney Tyler and who or what is killing the guards assigned to protect her. Now, I do not mind not being able to figure out the mystery, but I do like to feel the clues are there for me to at least play along, and that is not really the case in this novel. But, to be fair, Odom is dealing with a character that is in the Sam Spade hard-boiled detective tradition, where you go along for the ride and watch the man work his mojo, rather than the Sherlock Holmes super slueth genre. Add to that the fact that the "Angel" series has never been into deciperhing the clues and my criticism is pretty much completely undercut. But it still would have been sweet.
Obviously one of the other fun bits in "Redemption" are the bits about a hit show about vampires (Cordelia is always complaining that Whitney's character does not have a "grrr" face like a real vampire). Odom shows remarkable restraint in regards to such wry commentary, but you have to wish he had let himself have a bit more fun with that aspect of the story. "Redemption" is certainly an above-average "Angel" book and proves once again Mel Odom never short changes his readers in any of these books.
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Title: Avatar by John Passarella ISBN: 0743406982 Publisher: Simon Pulse Pub. Date: 27 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Bruja by Mel Odom ISBN: 0743407016 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 31 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Summoned by Cameron Dokey ISBN: 0743407008 Publisher: Simon Pulse Pub. Date: 01 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: City of by Nancy Holder ISBN: 0671041444 Publisher: Simon Pulse Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Haunted by Jeff Mariotte ISBN: 0743427483 Publisher: Simon Pulse Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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