Angel: The Casefiles, Volume 1 (Paperback)

by Nancy Holder (Author), Jeff Mariotte (Author), Maryelizabeth Hart (Author) "You don't know what evil is..." (more)
Key Phrases: empath demon, howler demons, rogue demon hunter, Angel Investigations, Los Angeles, T'ish Magev (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Angel Investigations: We Help the Helpless

"Los Angeles. It's a city like no other....People are drawn here. People, and other things. They come for all kinds of reasons. My reason? It started with a girl."
-- Angel, "City of"

For a hundred years, Angel offered an ugly death to everyone he met. And he did it with a song in his heart. A gypsy curse put a stop to his rampage, but his doomed love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer drove him from Sunnydale on his own quest for redemption.

Fortunately, he's not alone. His support system includes Cordelia Chase, ex-May Queen (just until her inevitable stardom takes effect); Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Rogue Demon Hunter; and Gunn (Charles Gunn, his name, not his street tag). Their rates are low, and their logo is indecipherable -- but they save people, and stuff.

About the Author
Best-selling author Nancy Holder has published sixty books and more than two hundred short stories. She has received four Bram Stoker awards for fiction from the Horror Writers Association, and her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. She has written or cowritten twenty Buffy and Angel projects. A graduate of the University of California at San Diego, Nancy is currently a writing teacher at the school. She lives in San Diego with her daughter, Belle, and their growing assortment of pets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment; 1 edition (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074342414X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743424141
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #283,130 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Episode Guide, June 8, 2002

By	James Harrison "harri310" (East Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews

The equivalent of the Watcher's Guides has come out for Angel and how does it stack up? Casefiles is much more well organized than the Watcher's Guides, while at the same time it is more streamlined.

Unlike the Watcher's Guides, the Casefiles is basically only 2 sections: a character guide and bio, and an episode guide. There are actor bios in the back, but they are small and seem somewhat unimportant.

While it, like the Watcher's Guides, includes interviews with the cast and crew, it includes the relevant portions of each interview with the episode it relates to. This means that the interviews no longer go quite in depth about the general process of making an Angel episode, and instead focus on the difficulty in making each episode.

The episode guide, however, goes in far greater depth than in the Watcher's Guide, often devoting 2 to 3 pages to each episode description. Like the Watcher's Guide, it also includes a few interesting facts about each episode.

The character bios, also like the Watcher's Guide, are simply recaps of what that character has been through. While nice to read, if you've seen the episodes, they don't provide any new information.

If you're interested in a lot of behind the scene information about the show, this probably isn't your book. It does have some, but by and large it is simply an expanded and comprehensive episode guide of the first two seasons. This doesn't mean that it isn't worthwhile. Any Angel fan who wishes to relive memories of the uneven first season and interesting second season will relish this guide.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Wouldn't Like Him When He's Happy..., July 26, 2002

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Despite top notch acting and a fair share of interesting plots and story arcs 'Angel' is often treated as BTVS's poor cousin. Of course, the network shift hasn't helped either. Every year I'm surprised and delighted that the show is continued, and I keep hoping that Angel too will eventually come out on DVD. In the meantime, the team of Nancy Holder, Jeff Mariotte, and Maryelizabeth Hart have managed to produce the ultimate Angel memory aid, aptly called 'The Casefiles.'

Ostensibly, the book is comprised of the episode synopses for the first two seasons. But it offers far more than just the story line. Action and resolution are there, of course, but there are also short descriptions of new characters, some info in how each episode relates to others in BTVS and Angel, and expense repost, lists of weapons used, quotes, vampire rules, location details, scenes that were cut, interviewlets and.... You get the idea, enough detailed info to help you become the closest thing to an Angel trivia maven. Did I mention a character guide and actor profiles and scads of pictures?

Yes, it is possible to overdose on Angel info, but this book is a mine of data with many surprises. For one inch of shelf space, I can check on the episodes I missed and look things up when I'm indulging my compulsion to read and review Angel books. If you are a fan, this book is almost everything you ever wanted to know about the show. The writing team has done a super job of creating and enjoyable, well-organized and designed reference book about Los Angeles' oddest detective team. I only my college textbooks were half this much fun.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect For Angel Fans, June 15, 2002

By	Barry "Barrybgb" - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

After countless books on it's sister show "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", including two 'Watcher's Guides' by the author of this very book, the show 'Angel' finally gets it's own due. Anyone who calls themselves a fan will snatch this book up and devour every page. It's well written and nicely designed. Like the Buffy guide books, this one has two sections of colored pictures that have some real good pictures. Although this book doesn't delve into the day to day making of an episode like Buffy's last guide book, it's still good. Every episode for the first two seasons of the show are here in great detail. The sections seem even longer than they were in "The Watcher's Guide". Each section also comes with little categories like quotes and all that stuff that you have come to expect. The book is designed like, hence the title, a casefile. Every episode summary comes with a section telling you who the clients were in a particular episode and what became of them. It tells you if the Angel team received outside help from anyone. It also gives you the expenses that were used in every episode. The weapons they used, and the music heard in the episode. At the end of every summary, it tells you if the case was closed or not. The beginning of the books goes into great detail for every character on the show or has been on the show at one time or another. The end of the book deals with the bios of the actual actors themselves. If you are a fan, you probably pretty much already know their bios and history and all that. The book and it's designs inside are well done. More than the Buffy guides. The show has proven itself to be it's own being from "Buffy". It is a little darker and seedier than Buffy. Writer/Director/Producer/Creator Joss Whedon did the impossible when he spun off an incredibly successful show from another show. That doesn't happen too often. While Buffy continued to beat this show in it's first 2 seasons, this show has definitley found it's footing and it's strength this past year and was better than the Buffster. Author Nancy Holder, along with Jeff Marionette and Maryelizabeth Hart, are great writers who really pack everything in here. What more could a fan ask for?. Not much. Not much at all. I still don't think that this guide is as close to being as great as the two previous Buffy guides, especially the second one, but it does a good job anyways. This is essential for fans.