Book of the Dead (Angel (Simon Pulse)) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ashley McConnell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Angel (Simon Pulse) | Publication Date: July 27, 2004

Wes has been a compulsive reader since childhood. It's an addiction like any other -- he craves books, loves them, can't live without them. So when his former colleague Adrian O'Flaherty comes to town and invites Wes along to a highly secret auction of rare occult books, Wes can't say no.

What Wes doesn't know is that Adrian is looking for more than dusty old tomes at the auction. He's out for revenge. Before the Watchers Council was destroyed, a man named Rutherford Circe stole a number of rare books from the council's libraries -- and killed the librarian, Adrian's father, in the process.

At the auction, Wes buys a box of old books that holds one of the most famous books of magick ever collected. The Red Compendium is known for totally absorbing it readers -- and Wes, always a sucker for compelling literature, couldn't put its down if he wanted to.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (July 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689870841
• ISBN-13: 978-0689870842
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #969,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I Loved It, August 3, 2004

By 

Kelly Martin "Kelly" (Omaha, Nebraska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of the Dead (Angel (Simon Pulse)) (Mass Market Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Book of the Dead." Wes has always been one of my favorite characters. The story gives us some insight into Wes's schoolboy days at the "Watcher's Academy."

The story was very interesting and I loved the concept. The pace was a little slow at the beginning, but it was still very enjoyable and interesting.

All of the central characters are very well written. Connor is not in the story because he is out of town for a few days. By sending him out of town, the author didn't have to deal with the Connor/Cordy relationship which was a wise decision.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves the TV show "Angel" and especially to anyone who loves Wesley.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars McConnell Delivers, August 31, 2004

By 

Julie Anne Smith "Julie Anne Smith" (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of the Dead (Angel (Simon Pulse)) (Mass Market Paperback)

The best media tie-in novels take the world of the television show and enlarge it, making it richer and taking it places the series couldn't go because of time or budget constraints. McConnell has done that brilliantly in this novel with an ingenious Big Bad wrapped in a delicious character-driven plot cooked up to delight any fan of Wesley Wyndam-Price. Wes' characterization is dead-on and runs deep; I could hear Alexis Denisof's voice in my head for each line. This is a story and a villain that are particularly Wesley's, and it is wonderful to watch the interactions between him and the rest of the team. McConnell has a deft hand with dialogue and her word snapshots capture the show's visual feel. The story, which you've read about in the reviews above this one, draws the reader in, and the result is a very satisfying read.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Missing Ink, August 12, 2004

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Book of the Dead (Angel (Simon Pulse)) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's always a surprise to pick up a new Angel or Buffy book by and unknown author and find that not only is the book quite good, but the author is only unknown to me. In a sense it's a bonus, I get to enjoy a new book and find a new author to follow. This is certainly the case with Ashley McConnell's Book of the Dead, which is both well written, has an ingenious plot device, and features Wesley, one of the team who more often than not is on the outs.

An obscure volume of spells finds its way to an occult store in Los Angeles. When the owner of the store examines the book he discovers it is The Red Compendium, a legendary volume containing the last and greatest spells of history's most noted mages - all of whom seem to have disappeared. One missing store owner later the book, really a trap designed by a demonic Bookwyrm to collect spells, finds its way to an auction and then into Wesley's hands. Wes finds the book impossible to put down.

Two collateral stories richen the broth. Emilio Herrara, and alienated high school student who has been coming to the store to swap work for bits of magical training, steals several books and suddenly tries to become a master wizard in one great leap. A disastrous leap for all those concerned. Angel and the team are desperately trying to trace Emilio down when they aren't trying to de-biblographize poor Wesley. And an old watcher school friend (make that not-quite-friend) of Wesley's suddenly shows up in Los Angeles. Adrian O'Flaherty has never really got along with the priggish Wesley, but Adrian's real agenda isn't making up with Wesley, it's revenge on the killer of his father.

Between Wesley's involuntary adventures in a book turned delicatessen, a teenager determined to work out his hostility with ferocious demons, and Adria's surfeit of hidden agendas, this is a plot that never stops anywhere for very long. It says something for McConnell's writing ability that despite all this the read never feels rushed or confused. In fact the pacing is perfect. In addition, a series of flashbacks to Wesley's adventures as a watcher-in-training give us a one of his best fleshed out characterizations. It makes you wish that the series hadn't come to an end.