Venom's Wrath (Spider-Man) [Paperback]

Keith R.A. DeCandido (Author), Jose R. Nieto (Author), Joe St. Pierre (Illustrator), Tony Harris (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Ann Weying, ex-wife to Eddie Brock--aka the super-villain Venom--has been kidnapped, along with Daily Bugle editor Robbie Robertson and a police captain. Spider-Man must work with the NYPD to find the kidnappers before Venom carves a bloody swath through New York City to find his beloved!

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425165744
• ISBN-13: 978-0425165744
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,637,501 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good, but the title is misleading, March 12, 2001

By 

Diana Nier (Ithaca, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Venom's Wrath (Spider-Man) (Paperback)

This book should not be called "Venom's Wrath." Venom does appear, and he is angry, but the focus of the story is elsewhere. People expecting explosive fights between Spidey and Venom will be very disappointed. Unfortunately, the cover art and the back-cover blurb both focus on Venom, and wax enthusiastic about his violent tendencies and his role in the book, while DeCandido and Nieto present a police procedural that happens to involve superheroes.

Imagine, for a second, that you're a police officer in the Marvel Universe. How would you feel about costumed superheroes? Especially one whose face you never see, whose voice is muffled, and who almost never stands and walks like a normal human being. One who interrupts crimes, leaving people webbed up with no evidence and no witnesses, then vanishes and lets you deal with the resulting mountains of paperwork. DeCandido and Nieto have asked those questions, and written a book about them.

On Wednesday morning, three people are kidnapped: Joe Robertson, editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle; Frank Esteban, a police captain; and Ann Weying, Venom's ex-wife. There appears to be paranormal involvement, and Venom will almost certainly cause damage trying to find Ann. The police and Spidey work together, trying to crack the case, which soon involves the FBI and a group of Puerto Rican separatists who have turned to terrorism. It's nice to see that while Spidey has amazing luck with supervillains, he needs the help of the police for more realistic crimes; it's also refreshing to see Spidey from other points of view. It's very easy for readers to forget that most people in the Marvel Universe know nothing about him, since we know about Peter Parker, his job troubles, his family, and so on.

To sum up, this is a good police story, and a good Spidey story. It is NOT a Venom story. If you read superhero comics for fights and explosions, this is not the book for you. On the other hand, if you like some thought put into your superheroes, along with a healthy appreciation of how silly it is for people to run around town in long underwear, you could do a lot worse than "Venom's Wrath."

(I'm taking away a star for four reasons. First, there are a lot of police officers, and they can be hard to keep straight. Second, Venom's characterization is slightly off. Third, MJ isn't quite herself; she plays the policeman's faithful wife, though she does make a good point to Peter in the epilogue. And fourth, the cover and blurb attract people who will probably be disappointed by a lack of action, and drive away people who might like this as a police story and meditation on identity.)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully done...., August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Venom's Wrath (Spider-Man) (Paperback)

I liked this book very much. The loss of the fifth star is fault by WAY too many policemen/women in this book. True, the men in blue were necessary to save the hostages, but I really didn't think precints are that large. It literally gave me a headache keeping their names straight, with a few exceptions. I really enjoy the concentration between the Spider-Man/NYPD relationship as being rocky. As for the villain, it's a nice change for Venom to become the antagonist instead of the half-protagonist he was in Duane's novels. Good book, overall.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Spider-Man/Police story, February 18, 2000

By 

E.D. M. (AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Venom's Wrath (Spider-Man) (Paperback)

I guess it was kind of a cross between a Spider-Man novel with elements of Law and Order. Spidey and a cast of NYPD officers attempt to rescue some kidnapped victums including Venom's ex-wife, Ann. Good useage of police crime solving was used here, Keith and Jose did their homework on this one. The final battle between Venom and Spider-Man was a bit disapointing. However this book was a good read for the most part.