Customer Reviews

Ghoul Trouble (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read every Buffy book that I have been able to get my hands on as well as watched the tv series and I have to say this is one of the more entertaining ones. It is based on the old legend of the Sirens of the sea luring the soldiers to their deaths with a song that they could only hear. This time it is a pack of ghouls masquerading as a band of beautiful young women ready to rock and roll the men and boys of Sunnydale to their untimely deaths. Not gonna happen in Buffy Summers town! Poor Xander with his horrible taste in girlfriends-Praying mantis and a mummy ring a bell, ends up to be the most smitten of the guys and almost becomes part of the main course. In the mean time there is yet another baddie wreaking havoc in the form of a vampire that can walk in the day light. He calls himself Solitaire and one particular passage where he ends up fighting with Angel made me want to cringe. All in all this book has everything that the Buffy fan looks for in action/adventure/bad guys/ and of course the "good" guys winning in the end. Heck you might even end up cheering for Cordelia a little bit as well. It is definitely one that I could not put down....

When a new all-female rock band playing at the Bronze seems to mesmarize the male audience in a seemingly unnatural way, Buffy takes notice, but she doesn't really have the opportunity to investigate further. On patrol one night recently, she discovered some human bones that had been picked completely clean. And there's a new vampire in town named Solitaire, who can apparently move about during the day, unharmed by the sunlight. When Willow manages to identify the bones through personal items such as wallets and jewelry found with them, the Scooby Gang discovers that all the victims were young males, students at either the high school or UC Sunnydale. Then one night, Willow dissapears, and Solitaire decides to strike at Buffy by attacking both Giles and Angel. Now Buffy must defeat Solitaire, discover who killed all those guys, and rescue Willow from whoever captured her. Can she accomplish all three things in time to save her friends? This Buffy novel was filled with action, suspense, mystery, and a surprising conclusion. I highly reccomend it to fans. And I really like the new cover design, on a side note.

I've been a fan of the Buffy books for a long time, and it's always good to see a new author write a book for the series. John Passarella wrote a pretty impressive book. Ghoul Trouble is set early in the third season, even before Xander and Willow kissed, and it was pretty awesome to see how Passerela was able to keep the continuity. I even caught hints that lead to things in season 4. I also liked how Passarella managed to make 2 main villians for this book, each is as interesting as the other. A little more folklore was even started, about the existence of ghouls, and to add to the danger of the 2 main villians, he takes 3 of the people closest to Buffy and puts them in instant danger. But what really made this book was the twist the takes place during one of the final battles with one of the main villians. It wasn't obvious to me at all while I was reading the book, and when I got to the twist, I knew I couldn't stop reading. I look forward to see if John Passarella will write another Buffy novel.

Can I give this more than 5 stars? Goul Trouble is such an outstanding book!! There are so many positive things to say about this, I don't know where to start. I guess the best place to start is with a quick summary of Goul Trouble. When Buffy and the Scooby gang are on patrol, they discover a pit with human bones that have been picked clean. It's up to Buffy and the Scooby gang to find out who did this and stop them. A new all female band named, Vyxn, has come to Sunnydale and is headlining at the Bronz. They seem to have a strange hold over the male population, and the male population seems to be dwindling out...one by one. It's up to Buffy and her crew to find out what's going on. But she has other problems. She has to track a vampire that can walk during the day, and has a mission. His mission is to hunt the slayer down, and killer. Not to much for our favorite slayer to handle....or is it?

One of Passarella's strenghts is that he portrays the characters in his book as they are on the show. I mean they are *exactly* the same. I have never seen an author be as loyal to the show as Passarella is. I swear that I could hear the char. of the show speak. It's incredibe. The scene when Solitaire and Angel fight is so incredible! Passarella's writing style really comes throught, the images just leap off the page.

I really like how Passarella play on the friendship of Willow and Xander. It's obvious how much they mean to each other, and what they are willing to do for one another. When it comes to these two charcaters, Willow was seen as innocent as she in on the tv show. As was Xander was his usual self. *LOL*

I was also impressed on the two seperate plot in Goul Trouble. Most of the time when there are more than one plot, the author tends to favor one plot and let the second slide. This is *not* the case. Passarella does a powerful job on the 2 seperate plots, and are both constructed with care. Kuddo's to Passarealla. It's easy to see that Passarella cares deeply about his work.

This books works on so many levels. If you like Buffy books, then you won't want to pass this book up. Also if you like good fiction from an author who has a wondeful style of writing, then you need to read this book. I can't stress this enought, if you read this book, you won't be sorry.

Buffy Summers knows that something is not right in Sunnydale when an all-female rock band spellbinds its male. However, Buffy has no time to determine why it feels unnatural to her because she needs to concentrate on the human bones that an essence sucked dry. If she had the time, Buffy would have learned that the all-girl band is comprised of ghouls lunching on the male of the species. There is also a new vampire in town, who handles sunlight like a mortal strolling in the daytime.

The Scooby Gang has its own troubles so Buffy can expect little help form that quarter. Buffy?s plate is overwhelming as she must stop a sun-tanning vampire, ascertain who killed the males and put that creature out of circulation permanently, and save a close associate held captive while insuring she keeps up her non-slayer life.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: GHOUL TROUBLE is a delightful tale that keeps the essences of the main characters of the TV show yet provide a new adventure for Buffy. The story line is more than just a horror tale as John Passarella adds humor and a who-done-it to the action-packed suspense thriller. Mr. Passarella has written a tale that will interest readers beyond just the series fans. This in turn will send the audience seeking other Buffy novels (see SPIKE AND DRU: PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW by Christopher Golden) and Mr. Passarella?s award winning WITHER.

Harriet Klausner

First off, if I could give this book more than 5 [star]'s, I would. I am 11 years old, and a Buffy fanatic. I strted watching the show on BBC2, in 1998, when it debeauted, and was instantly hooked. When I saw an advert for the Buffy book 'The Remaining Sunlight' I went looking. But, instead I found the novel 'The Harvest.' TRS is a graphc novel, but TH was a novel. I read it in a week and loved it. I knew then that I had to collect all of the Buffy books. I now have several. Well, Ghoul Trouble was by far one of the best. The plot is excellent, the writing style is superb and the action is great. It is also good because ther are two villains, Solitaire and VYXN, the band of ghouls. I like the action scenes of Buffy the best and in here, the fights are so well described I could see a clear picture in my head of what was going on (especially the bar fight at the start! COOL!)
I recommend this book to any Buffy fan, newcomer of avid fan. It is a fantastic book and should be read. For plot, fighrs and drama, I personally give this book 100%!
PS. I also recommend 'Immortal', 'Revenant', and 'Prime Evil!'

Ghoul Trouble is a great book! I enjoyed this book very much, especially the ending. It had a twist that I never would've expected. This is a great book for any Buffy fan, or even a first timer. The characters personalities are captured very accuratley in the book, and the references to earlier episodes and books have been added in very well. A great book, a must have!

Plainly packaged for the younger readers, this is every bit as enjoyable for the older Buffy fans. Most titles in the Pulse line read like T.V. episodes, some better, some worse, and this one is pretty good.

A siren trio of ghouls prey on the young men of Sunnydale, seeking to lure out the Slayer for a little fun and games. Along the way, they take a shine to Willow, and decide to coerce her into joining their ranks - all she has to do is eat the flesh of her best friend...Xander. But Buffy already has her hands full with a legendary vampire who walks by day, Solitaire, who has a separate personal duel of his own in mind.

The subplot could have worked in closer tandem with the plot on this one, but that's a minor point. This is a brisk, easy read, great for Scooby Gang interaction and clever one-liners. All the characters get a pretty fair share of attention. Younger readers will love it - though it is at times a tad gruesome - and even more mature readers will probably like it, if they can get past that terrible title.

When I'm twenty pages into a book and already asking myself if the author's written other stuff and where can I order it, that's usually a good sign.

Passarella does a superb job of capturing the feeling of the series, down to the odd, syncopation of the individual characters' speech patterns. The plots are handled well, in general, and while characters behave as you'd expect them to, there are still a few surprises.

My only complaint is with the Solitaire sub-plot. This day-walking vampire idea was great, I loved it, and then there was this added twist and I was wondering what would happen and then . . . well, I don't want to spoil the book, but let's just say that plot thread ends rather more anti-climactically than was necessary.

This is a must have for buffy fans!!! i read it once and i'm reading it again. this is the story: When Buffy and gang find a pit of bones(human) picked clean and find evidence that all owners of the bones were male, Giles tells them to be wary of sirens and/or ghouls in Sunnydale. Meanwhile, a new girl group shows up at the Bronze and all the guys go gaga for them. Xander and even oz are mesmerized by them. If that's not enough,Solitaire, a vampire with immunity to the sun and an interest in buffy's mom shows up and attacks Angel and Giles. Then Willow goes missing. Buffy must figure out what left the pit of boy bones, who kidnapped Willow, and how to get rid of Solitaire. And while all this is going on , Buffy's new "commando counselor" is on her case about the subjects she's failing. Will Buff get to Willow in time, get rid of Solitaire before he hurts her mom, figure out about the bones in the pit and pass 12th grade? read the book to find out.