Blackout (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) [Mass Market Paperback]

Keith R.A. DeCandido (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (September 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416526366
• ISBN-13: 978-1416526360
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Keith R.A. DeCandido was born and raised in New York City to a family of librarians. He has written over two dozen novels, as well as short stories, nonfiction, eBooks, and comic books, most of them in various media universes, among them Star Trek, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Marvel Comics, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity, Resident Evil, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Farscape, Xena, and Doctor Who. His original novel Dragon Precinct was published in 2004, and he's also edited several anthologies, among them the award-nominated Imaginings and two Star Trek anthologies. Keith is also a musician, having played percussion for the bands the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players, the Boogie Knights, and the Randy Bandits, as well as several solo acts. In what he laughingly calls his spare time, Keith follows the New York Yankees and practices kenshikai karate. He still lives in New York City with his girlfriend and two insane cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blackout by Keith R.A. DeCandido, September 5, 2006

By 

J. Nygren "Bookwurm" (Sandpoint, ID) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blackout (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Simon Spotlight)) (Mass Market Paperback)

Blackout by Keith R.A. DeCandido is a well written and entertaining story. It is a "Spike" story, and you won't find any of the Scoobies or Buffy in this tale. It takes place in 1977 New York, and fills out the story of the last few days in the life of Nikki, the Vampire Slayer. The story alternates between Nikki's tale and Spike's, who has come to New York to bag himself his second slayer. Standing between Spike and his final confrontation with Nikki is a local Vampire mob boss, who wants Spike either recruited into his organization or dusted. When Dru unexpectedly arrives in NY, things really heat up.

The author has taken the Spike vs. Nikki in the subway scene from Season 5 BTvS "Fool for Love" and Spike's first meeting with Nikki from Season 7 "Lies My Parents Told Me" and built them into a story that is exciting and true to both the main characters. This is the Season 2 Spike, evil, snarky, brash, and full of confidence and bravado. If you don't like Spike, you probably won't enjoy the story. If you are a Spike fan, and want a new story about him, or if you want to know more about Nikki's life as a mother and a Vampire Slayer you will find this to be an engaging tale and satisfying read.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Blackout" is the best Buffy tie-in novel yet!, November 25, 2006

By 

The-Big-Bad (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Blackout (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Simon Spotlight)) (Mass Market Paperback)

There are quite a few mediocre (and several downright awful) tie-in novels for the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" universe, but "Blackout" by Keith R.A. DeCandido is the best one I've encountered. If only the other fifteen Buffy/Angel novels I've read were this good.

"Blackout" is definitely a Spike novel. As a Spike fan, I have no problem with that at all. Buffy appears only briefly at the beginning and the end of "Blackout", which is just as well. There's not much room for her in this story of "evil" Spike in 1970s New York.

The Slayer in question in 1977 is Nikki Wood, the only Slayer we've ever heard about who also has a child to raise. Not only does she have to deal with demons, apocalypses and a criminal organization of vampires, she has to deal with Spike coming to town looking for trouble (soon followed by the demented Drusilla). The author is true in his depiction of the character of Spike in that the British vampire constantly straddles the line between bloodthirsty villain and charismatic anti-hero.

What elevates this novel above any other Buffy novel I've read is the simple fact that despite knowing the inevitable outcome (Spike stalking and eventually slaying Nikki the Vampire Slayer--also acquiring that awesome leather coat--was depicted in two episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Fool For Love" in season 5 and "Lies My Parents Told Me" in season 7), I was still interested and intrigued enough to read every word as the narrative progressed. Heck, the author revealed the forthcoming results of the few plotlines fans of the show didn't know about within the first six pages and I still wanted to see how it all went down.

If you can't see yourself enjoying a book that doesn't revolve around Buffy and the Scooby gang--or one where the bad guy wins--then "Blackout" isn't for you. Too bad, though, since many of the books that do revolve around those folks are poorly written. "Blackout" is also a much stronger work than the earlier Spike & Dru novel, "Pretty Maids All In A Row." So if you want to read one novel set in the "Buffyverse" (and aren't totally devoted to reading about Buffy herself), read "Blackout". You'll be doing yourself a favor.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, January 5, 2007

By 

Albert Asphall "book heaven" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blackout (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Simon Spotlight)) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was an excellent book. This book did a classic job of displaying Spike's brutality in his pre-Buffy days as well as the cunning of Nikki Wood.