Spike and Dru : Pretty Maids All in a Row [Hardcover]

In "Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row," a noirish tale of Spike and Drusilla, the Sid and Nancy of vampires, Golden fills in their long history together. The book has the feel of an Elmore Leonard novel, where the main characters are bad guys. In the Buffy-verse, you can't get any badder than the Big Bad himself, Spike! This is the Spike many know and miss before he received the behavior-modifying chip on the TV series.

The tale unfolds in World War II where in exchange for Freyja's Strand--a magical necklace allowing its wearer to shape-change--Spike and Dru most not only kill the WWII generation's Slayer, Sophie Cartensen, but all the other Slayers-in-Waiting, girls who have not yet been Chosen. Needless to say, they go on a killing spree, leaving a bloody trail of death in their wake.

Golden's characterization of Spike and Dru is spot on. You can hear James Marsters and Juliet Landau's--the actors who play the undead couple--voices in your heard when you read their dialogue. Golden also journeys into territory the show hasn't touched, giving you an inside look at the Council of Watchers and explaining, to some degree, how a Slayer is Chosen. It's too bad Golden hasn't written for the TV series.

There are also cameos and brief mentions of popular Buffy-verse characters. Golden throws in a few references to Angel and the Master. Kakistos, the vampire who debuted--and died--in "Faith, Hope, and Trick," the same episode Faith the evil Slayer made her first appearance, cuts a deal with Spike. And while Giles doesn't appear, an ancestor--also a Watcher--does. Buffy does NOT appear at all throughout the course of this novel, nor is she mentioned. This book is for die-hard fans only.

Contrary to how Amazon.com categorized this book, this is NOT for children! This story contains graphic violence and sex.

Also, this novel raises a contradiction in Buffy-verse continuity. It's been established Spike killed two Slayers, the first in the Boxer Rebellion. The second... well, the show says Spike killed a Pam Grier-esque Slayer in New York City in 1977, whereas this novel says otherwise. DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU! "Pretty Maids" is very well-written. I'm sure Golden, a gifted storyteller, can devise a way to fix this glitch without compromising his work and the episode detailing Spike's origin.

First of all, this book is very gruesome. Many of the scenes are quite gory, and everything is told in perfect detail. I'm not saying this is a bad thing by any means, it is, after all, a horror book. I'm just warning those who don't really care for such things. Also, this is NOT a book for children. There are various adult themes throughout the book.

The story is very in-depth and full of detail, and moves along at a swift pace. Scenes are introduced as sort of a diary. Diary is not the right word I'm looking for, but there are headings with the place and date, sort of like a log. It's greatly entertaining, I found myself not being able to put it down. I highly recommend this book for any Buffy fan, or horror fans.

Spike and Dru's characters are perfectly captured by Golden. I know this is said many times, but you can actually picture them saying these things, it's like watching a television episode. Spike is as arrogant as ever. He could be faced with the biggest bad of all, and still not be intimidated, and would always manage to crack a few insults. This book will make you HATE Spike for the things that he's done. I've always thought it a shame the direction he's taken in the later seasons of Buffy, he's truly a great villain.

I suppose I should mention the fact that there are inconsistencies in the continuity of this book and the show. I'm quite sure that when Spike was first introudced on the show, had the contents of this book taken place, Giles would have known who he is. Instead, he says there's no real record of him and he has to search for him. Also, Spike is said to have killed 2 slayers, and in Season 5 of Buffy we get flashbacks. The story in the episode and in this book do not mesh.

However, this book is so good you won't care about the problems. For the most part, this book is spot on. A great book, I urge you to pick it up soon.