Customer Reviews

Skin Game (Dark Angel)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Miss the series? Collins hits a homer again (his first being the excellent prequel "Before the Dawn"), this time picking up right where the series finale leaves off. The transgenic population of Terminal City has defiantly raised its "Freak Nation" flag but finds itself under siege by an increasingly trigger-happy cordon of police and National Guard. Ames White (still seething over his failure at the Jam Pony hostage incident) has pulled Detective Clemente from negotiation duty, and has upped the stakes by waging a P.R. war designed to blame a series a grisly murders on the transgenics.

Max settles, uncomfortably but competently, into the leadership role that has been thrust upon her; though her allies are never far behind, public fear and distrust are threatening to spiral completely out of control. Prominent characters include Logan, Joshua, Original Cindy, Sketchy, Mole, Detective Clemente, and of course Alec (though it's more than halfway through the book before he actually does anything). Ames White isn't much more developed as a character -he's reduced mainly to being nasty and surly to everyone in sight, although his credibility as an NSA agent is rapidly eroding. A new and particularly interesting character is Otto Gottleib, who starts out as a plodding, unimaginative federal agent but has a significant change of heart and becomes (in his own way) quite the hero. The other protagonist, "Kelpy," is a transgenic with a unique backstory and some wonderfully tragic motivation. Well-written, fast-paced, plenty of time for humor and a deepening of Max and Logan's relationship. No, the "targeted virus" plotline is not resolved, nor are Max's mysterious new tattoos or the "finding Sandemann" subplot given any new exposition. And no, no sign of Lydecker either. Nevertheless the story is tight, dramatic, and is exactly what Dark Angel's legions of disappointed fans have been salivating for. Bring on the next one, Mr. Collins!

Good - It wraps up some loose ends from the show

Bad - Spends to much time rehashing a lot of the previous happenings wrong, In fact one of the main premises of this book did not happen according to the show. Therefore this book is on shaky ground. Descriptions of most characters sickeningly sweet. No new ideas are introduced. The new character introduced has attributes of another character from a previous episode. Everyone does not have to fall in love with Max. Do they?

I would recommend this to anyone who is dying to know what happened after the end of the show, but I would not be captivated by this if I was not a fan already. The writing seems amateurish.

I am a huge fan of Dark Angel and was terribly disappointed at its cacellation. I looked to this book to answer my questions. It didn't, plus the writer was severly sloppy. There was no mention of the tattoos, and none of Sandeman... it was all left hanging so you have to buy another book! Not only Max Allan Collins started it out fine and was actually on a roll, but he ended it just horribly. Facts didn't add up and its like he just threw together a quick ending because his deadline was running out. Alas...the Dark Angel fans are left looking in other directions for answers!

As a Dark Angel fan, I'm rating "Skin Game" and "After the Dawn", at the least from the perspective that both books tie up the loose ends of the series, giving a good sense of finality that "Freak Nation" didn't.

Skin Game ties up the Terminal City/anti-transgenic issue. After the Dawn ties up the breeding cult, Ames White, the Coming, and the question of what Max was designed to be. A fan should not pass up getting these issues resolved.

On the negative side, the author is incorrect on a few minor points, but I simply overlooked them and enjoyed the story. Firstly, at the conclusion of "Freak Nation", it had been established that Logan had the use of his legs (after the transfusion from Joshua) and was using the exoskeleton for a fighting edge (as shown well during the siege at Jam Pony). The books both indicated that he was still paralysed. Secondly, that they all hated Lydecker. When Lydecker disappeared mid-season-2, they were all on good-working-together terms. But as I said, I didn't hold this against the books. I just felt like doing some creative editing on the book...

While I loved Max Allen Collin's characterisation of Alec and Joshua, I was disappointed in his overall writing style. It's clear he can't write fighting scenes (a couple of punches and the fight is over, there's not enough detail for the reader to 'see'), and certain plotlines were too difficult to swallow. He spent too much time describing the events of Freak Nation which I had an urge to skip (why waste so much of his word count recapping in detail what we've already seen, when he could be expanding more upon the post-Freak Nation story?).

At times it's obvious he's writing for a generation too young for him to really understand, and of characters he really can't get the feel for (asides from Alec and Joshua who I think he nailed perfectly). When Max ponders over her love for Logan his description is stiff and old fashioned feeling - cheesy Mills & Boon even!

Basically, this story left me feeling that nothing had really been accomplished. As someone else has already said, they should've commissioned a younger writer to tackle this novel! In all honestly, I've read much better Dark Angel fan fiction.

Because I needed a Dark Angel fix, I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best and bought the two books. I was very, very disappointed. I felt as though this book (and the other) were nothing more than authorized fan-fiction rather than a professionally written story involving my beloved characters.

It didn't help that the author either overlooked or completely ignored a detail only to use it in the plot here and there (Logan did not require the exo-suit. He regained the use of his legs thanks to Joshua's infusion and still used the exo-skeleton to enhance his ability as Phil did). Also, the descriptions and back-story were too overt, jarring you from the flow of the story.

Although the story was interesting, it lacked depth and since the show's episodes were deep and rich with side stories and info, you would think that a book would have that and more.

Overall, if you're looking for the last two episodes of the series to give closure, don't spend your money. Either borrow this book from your local library or read fan-fic from a fan-fiction site. This way the disappointment won't be followed by resentment for spending money on it!

This book takes up right where the series ended. If you felt like you were left hanging this book will help eleviate your pain. It is a cool story that leads to a nice finish in the final book

Needless to say anyone who watched "Dark Angel" was left with a ton of questions when the series ended. This book helps to answer alot of them and at least free's your minds of the "what if's and how will they?" questions. I highly recommend this book to any "Dark Angel" fan. I also ask that people keep
e-mailing fox until they bring the series back.

While the televison series Dark Angel may be gone, the story lives on in a series of novels by Max Allan Collins. The story of Dark Angel: Skin Game overlaps some of the series finale before diving into a story of its own.

The book alternates between its original plot-a murder mystery of sorts involving a transgenic tied to the early second season's plot-and the continuation of the cliffhanger series finale's plot. And if that sounds like too much plot, you should be warned that this book is full of it. You will find countless paragraphs dedicated to informing unknowing readers of how certain elements of the story came to be in the televison series. Dedicated fans of the show will have no trouble understanding these aspects as they are probably already quite familiar with concepts such as the virus keeping Logan and Max apart and the ominous breeding cult that Agent White is somehow associated with. While the book does often spend time recapping these plot threads, it does not spend so much time as to become redundant to an already informed reader.

The plot of the show is further developed, but the author has taken minimal liberties with it. One issue left hanging in the series is resolved in Skin Game, but not without the possibility of a comeback. Coming from a purist fan of Dark Angel, Skin Game is worthy to carry on the story of the television series. The show's plot is never tinkered with, and the new story feels just like an episode from the series. The one and only drawback to the book is the ridiculous amount of profanity. There is so much cursing that the dialog at times seems uncharacteristic, even for the swanky characters of Dark Angel. However, the well-developed story of the book and the massive pedestal of underlying plot upon which it stands are enough to overshadow the vulgar shortcomings of the writing, making Dark Angel: Skin Game a well-deserved success.

What a wonderful and exciting book! I finished it in one day I enjoyed it so much. It takes off right when the show ended, and wow what a ending!!! I recommend this book to anyone who misses the show. It is very true to the show and its like the show has come back. All of the characters we loved and hated are all in this book. It is so worth reading! I loved it!