Customer Reviews
Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All In A Row - By: Cecily McMahon, 08 Nov 2006 
This is by far the best Buffy read I have come across. It delves into the lives of Spike a.k.a William the Bloody & Drusilla, the insane seer turned vampire before our beloved show came about.
It is alot darker then most books might read, but it has a certain quality, as I'm sure is a tribute to the writer, that is captivating, making this book a must-read for all Buffy fans.
The journey with which the two vampires set themselves on, is a long one, but time does not matter to them as they are immortal. Spike, who has always felt desperately inferior to Angelus, although he would never truly admit it, wants to give Drusilla the Necklace of the Brisings, which will allow her to take on any shape she chooses, as well as give her a, albeit faint, reflection.
The necklace is for her eightieth year as a vampire, & it is a tradition that is begun by Angelus, backin the days when he was soulless. But what begins as a simple quest for a present for his beloved, turns into a murderously bloody journey, that ends with many casualties on the side of good.
If you are a Buffy fan, particularly a Spike fan, this is the book for you. You cannot continue loving the show, until you've read this, as it gives some insight into the background of everybody's favourite vampire.
Highly Entertaining and Very Well Written - By: Gemma Crowley, 30 Aug 2004 i have read many of the other books from the buffy the vampire slayer series & have had my different opinions on all of them,but i always preffered reading of the past (e.g 1880).
i saw 'Spike & dru-pretty maids allin a row' advertised on the interenet & wanted to buy it striaght away as Spike+Dru are my favourite characters from the buffy series. i was glad to see that it was writtenin the past of 1940 & hoped it would be as good a read as i was expecting it to be.
I was first glad that many main buffy characters were notin the book at all, as i don't really find them much of an interest to read about, as i always seem to get bored of reading about Buffy's battle scences.
Once i read this book, i was glad that it had been as high as my expectations for it were.
Now, i'm just 13, but i have to say, i'm not really of the faint hearted & enjoyed this book & its horror scences very much.
i was very glad to see Spike & Dru together & the way they had been writtenin was very good & detailed by Christopher Golden, who i very much agree is an amazing author.
i would highly recommend this book to any Spike & Dru fans who love a bit of horror to read about, but it is not really recommended to Buffy fans who prefer reading of modern day & Buffy's battle scences.
it is very well written & strechs well from day to day & scence to scence.
Definatly a 5 Star Book :)
Gemma Crowley xx
Unrelenting - By: Marc Ruby, 20 Mar 2004 
Before I settlein to critique, I want to say that this is a very well written book. Golden's talents are well showcased here. However, the book is plagued with problems which writing cannot conceal. To my disappointment, this really isn't a Buffy book. Other than the appearance of Spike, Dru & the Watchers there is no real Buffy presence. Which makes sense, all the actionin the book takes placein World War 2. Nowadays, with Spike become the hero that he has, he is a popular subject. But this isn't the complicated hero Spike, or the archly evil Spike - It's the basicly unpleasant & gruesome Spike. Ditto for Dru, who lacks all her usually chilling charm.
If it weren't for the slayer mythos that it borrows, the this volume could be any occult serial killer book that has ever been written. And serial killers are what we have here. Spike & Dru are remarkably unsympathetic characters. At first their antics add a bid of humour, but as the grotesque body count mounts Spike's nastiness & Drusilla's evil hippy princess act lose their luster.
For the most minor of reasons they set out on a slay ride of horrific proportions. As is often the case with the serial killer genre, the book presents an unrelieved picture of violence against women. There were points where I felt that Golden was using female people as plot gimmicks to make Spike & Dru look worse. We tolerate the violencein Buffy's books because it often serves a purpose. In this book the violence is sadly unanswered.
As such this is truly noir writing. The plot gets grimmer & grimmer, with no letup or relief. Just about everyone dies, & few, if any, of the deaths serve a purpose other than to upset our digestion. While Buffy herself is a difficult heroine, mixing violence & anti-intellectualismin with her positive traits, Spike & Dru are simply Hannibal Lecter without class. Hopefully this is a short term aberration.
Good, but not great. - By: , 29 Apr 2003 I enjoyed this book. I pretty much enjoy anything to do with the Buffy-verse. It's a decent (albeit rather contrived) storyline, the characters are pretty cool (well Spike is anyway) & I read itin a couple of sittings.
On the flip side though, there are inconsistancies. Most notable Spike's constant braggingin the TV series (well up until he fellin love with Buffy anyway) about his killing of two former slayers. This story kinda uses that idea then blatently forgets about it. If Spike & Dru had really done everything this book claims they had then surely Giles would have known more about them from the Watcher's records when they first showed up backin Sunnydalein series two?
Anyway, quibbles aside, it's still a good read, especially for someone not too hung up on details.
A Dane (pleased with reading about a Danish slayer) - By: , 28 Mar 2003 I found it pleasantly surprising, i.e. some of the action takes placein my country, yeah....The detailsin the killings make it entertainment for non-squeamish readers. I look for anything with/about Spike, so it was nice to spend a few hoursin "his company"in this book. You're welcome to write more with Spike as the main character, Mr Golden!!!
