From Publishers Weekly
Like the ongoing Star Trek audio series, this tape is aimed at a television-bred cult audience hungry for ancillary product (this is the first Buffy title to be adapted to audio). Though this original novel is available in print, its dramatic play seems naturally dynamic in its spoken incarnationAthanks, in part, to reader Charisma Carpenter, who works hard to live up to her first name, translating the tale's gothic flourishes into full-on Valley Girl speak. (On the TV series, she plays Cordelia Chase and has a starring role in the spin-off series, Angel.) While the descriptive passages might seem overwrought and ponderous as written, she transforms it all into bubbly good fun. Buffy is a normal teenage girl who moonlights as a "slayer" under the guidance of her "watcher," Rupert Giles. She's recently moved to Sunnydale, a benign-looking Southern California town that in actuality serves as "evil's very own ground zero." Buffy must weigh her love for her mother and school against the grisly tasks she's required to perform. It's a formula that makes for can't-lose entertaining moments, sure to please devoted fans. Simultaneous release with the Pocket hardcover. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Based on the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, IMMORTAL comes off as a mere facsimile of creator Joss Whedon's work, although an entertaining one. Charisma Carpenter's reading is unpracticed, and she's too perky for many of the darker scenes. As a narrator, she lacks the deliciously self-absorbed assurance she achieves on the show as Cordelia. While Carpenter mangles her attempt at a British accent (as Buffy's mentor, Giles), she is more successful with the French-accented immortal vampire and Buffy foe, Veronique, imbuing her with disdainful malice. Whether it's because you grow used to Carpenter's choppy performance or become swept up in the suspense of the story, IMMORTAL does move along, and the final showdown between Buffy's gang and the vampires and demons is tense, dangerous and exciting, with nothing less than the future of the world at stake. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Book Description
Instant Replay During a routine slaying, Buffy encounters a vampire named Veronique who knows the slayer's name and can anticipate her attack. One who doesn't have the proper respect for Mr. Pointy. One who cannot die. If slain, she will reincarnate in a new body. An invincible demon is the last thing Buffy needs right now. Joyce Summers is about to undergo a serious operation, calling up all of her daughter's fears about her own mortality. Angel wants to comfort Buffy, but her mother's crisis underscores the differences between them: he will live forever, while she will grow old...or die young. Torn between her duties as the Chosen One, Buffy needs the support of her friends to help her solve a rash of grave robberies, head off an influx of new vampires, and take Veronique down once and for all. For Veronique is on a mission -- to bring about the unification of her masters, the Triumvirate, into one all-powerful demon that will drink the blood of the last man on earth...

Download Description
Buffy the Vampire Slayer An ancient vampire sorceress named Veronique once bartered with a trio of demons known as the Triumverate for a kind of immortality not shared by her vampire brothers and sisters: upon her death, her demon soul lingers until a nearby human is slain and Veronique can occupy a "new" body. She cannot die. She will rise again. She will bring forth the end of Man. And she'll start in Sunnydale.... Buffy doesn't need an unkillable foe right now. Her mother's in the hospital. And her immortal boyfriend, Angel, is acting distant. She'll need her best buds Xander and Willow, along with Cordelia and Oz, to help her solve a rash of grave robberies, head off an influx of new vampires, and take Veronique down once and for all.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

During a routine slaying, Buffy encounters a vampire named Veronique who knows the Slayer's name and can anticipate her attack. One who doesn't have the proper respect for Mr. Pointy. One who cannot die. If slain, she will reincarnate in a new body.

An invincible demon is the last thing Buffy needs right now. Joyce Summers is about to undergo a serious operation, calling up all of her daughter's fears about her own mortality. Angel wants to comfort Buffy, but her mother's cirsis underscores the difference between them: he will live forever, while she will grow old...or die young.

Torn between her duties as a daughter and as the Chosen One, Buffy needs the support of her friends to help her solve a rash of grave robberies, head off an influx of new vampires, and take Veronique down once and for all. Veronique is on a mission—to bring about the unification of her masters, the Triumvirate, into one all-powerful demon that will drink the blood of the last man on earth...

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Bored by the monotonous 1940s New York City nightlife, longtime lovers and vampires Spike and Drusilla venture to war-ravaged Europe in search of Freyja's Strand, an ancient gold necklace that allows its wearer to shift forms, in Golden's (Immortal) fourth Buffy: The Vampire Slayer thriller. Acquiring the coveted artifact, however, requires doing the bidding of the comically portrayed ice demon Scrymir, who possesses the necklace yet is oblivious of the trinket's priceless powers. In order to transform the world into a realm of darkness in which he will be the ruler, Scrymir instructs Spike and Dru to kill all the Slayers-in-Waiting, a group of 20 or so girls spanning the globe who are trained to assume the role of Vampire Slayer--if and when the current slayer, Sophie Carstensen, should die. A number of suspenseful, gory battles occur as the charismatic Spike and his simpering girlfriend track each potential slayer and finally confront their greatest challenge--Sophie herself. Meanwhile, an impatient Scrymir strikes the Council of Watchers (a group of seers who train slayers) in a frightful yet banal display reminiscent of numerous cartoon battles. Although Golden's characters are only marginally developed and his details at times unnecessarily gruesome, the narrative's swift momentum and engaging action sequences make for breezy entertainment. Avid fans of the series will buy the book, of course, but word of mouth could also bring newcomers to this mysterious world of dark creatures and cruel intentions. Agent, Lori Perkins. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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