Redemption

Buffyverse Novels #48

by Mel Odom

Angel A widely adored actress named Whitney Tyler is so good at playing a vampire on a popular TV series that a cult of viewers seems to think she's the real thing. After they make attempts on her life, Angel and his friends come into investigate. Angel learns that the perpetrators are linked to someone he knew over a century ago.

Genres: Vampires, Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

aka Jordan Gray

Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a media tie-in based on the television show. This takes place early in the first season. In this one Angel is hired to take care of a tv actress who plays a vampire. She is being attacked as she is believed that she is actually a vampire. This same actress seems to be out of Angel's past.

I am not expecting much with these type of novels. I expect to be entertained and to hold true to the established characters. This book did that. I will give the author credit as I believe this was written early into the series. He did not have a lot of information to go on but with what he had he made it work and this fits in with this universe. The characters reminded me of what I see on the screen and there was a touch of mystery on what is actually going on here. Throw in the use of flashbacks (this universe loves using them) and I got a sense of being back in the series. The story is not the strongest with some plot holes. But it made up for it with it breaking the fourth wall and other winks at easter eggs. I do think some of them was unintentional and happened because of good fortune. It did not matter as I enjoyed them.

This book is not going to win literary awards or praised by all the critics and it knows that. It is meant to be one more adventure with established characters and to provide entertainment for fans of the show. It does that with aplomb and I enjoyed my time back here. I would have liked to see this as an actual episode especially with the flashbacks. It would have been a good filler episode.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Redemption was the second original novel in Pocket's long-running series of Angel books, the television series spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's set early in the first season chronologically with the original crew of Doyle and Cordelia as sidekicks. (Kate has some good moments, too.) It's an interesting story that flips back and forth from L.A. in the present to Ireland in the late 1750s, as Angel's new client appears to be a woman he knew in that setting. It's a little hard to follow in places, but all comes together at the end with an interesting twist. Parts of the plot seemed to me to perhaps have been an inspiration for an episode that appeared on television in a later season that featured Wesley.

[gremlinkitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enh. The plot sounded good, and it could have, but it just didn't quite get there for me. And I know Angel is over 250-years-old, but we don't always need flashbacks, at least not the overabundance of them that were used in this book. There were actually shows, many shows, in the series that didn't have a one, shocking as that may sound. I'm really starting to dislike flashbacks now. The characterizations were generally good, although a few times I had the thought: "Angel would never say that." But overall, when it got back to 'present' times, it was fairly interesting. And it was nice to have Doyle back again. A decent book, but not great.

[Jenni Noordhoek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really felt like glorified fanfiction. Not that well written either. =P

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Mark Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

left you wonting moor.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second original Angel tie-in novel is a pretty good book that it would have probably been a really great episode of the show proper.

Some parts of the book drag on a little bit with the exposition but other than that, Redemption is a worthy representation of the characters we know and gives them a little more inner thoughts to bring out their personalities.

The newest client to Angel Investigations is an actress named Whitney Tyler even though it is her producer from her television show that does the hiring. On her show, Whitney plays the character of Honor Blake who just so happens to be a vampire. There are lots of stunts and it has a pretty big fan base yet it seems...some viewers can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy.

Whitney keeps having people coming after her and trying to kill her thinking that she is an actual vampire. It's a dream job for Cordelia as she wants to try and become an actress so it seems just a normal protection job from Doyle's standpoint which is fine with him. Angel, being the strong silent type he is, doesn't tell tell Cordelia and Doyle straight away that Whitney looks familiar.

We get some flashbacks to Angel's time as Angelus where he and Darla are still together around the time she sired him in his birthplace of Galway, Ireland. Whitney bears a very strong resemblance to a woman who was quite handy with a sword and part of a group wanting to kill vampires, her beauty and strength a turn on for even the most merciless vampire.

After a few encounters where this woman of the past named Moira should have been dead, present day Angel knows that she couldn't have been human. The thing is that Angel can sense that Whitney is of course human...so why would anyone want to kill her?

A simple case of protecting a television star soon becomes far more rooted in the world of the paranormal when people around Whitney...start dying in gruesome ways. Angel turns to Detective Kate Lockley to find some answers and sends Doyle to check for any information on symbols that turn up at the first brutal attack.

Cordelia keeps close to Whitney and soon discovers that the man who is a sponsor of Whitney's show seems to also have a rather uneasy obsession with the actress yet Doyle also finds that her producer may not be as protective of his star as he seems once he gets close to the supernatural underground of L.A. looking for clues.

Angel is seeking his own atonement for his past but what possible connection could Whitney have to a woman that Angel knew two hundred years ago?

There of course is a little romantic tension or attraction between Angel and Whitney but it is clear that in the past, Angelus kind of had a thing for the woman Moira who looks just like her so that part is rather interesting...

Cordelia is her normal Cordy self in being honest and working her charms to gather information but she does treat Whitney like a person and not a pass just to get in with the Hollywood bigwigs so it shows her growth as a person. Doyle is of course his normal finding some way to be in trouble self but does prove very useful in the information he finds, an asset to the team in his own fashion.

We do find out just who the people are that are after Whitney and discover the true reason for their suspicions of her being a creature of the night. The ending is a sort of positive one depending how you look at it which is a normal way the Angel format goes with another soul to save yet still not the one of a formerly evil vampire.

Score one for the good guys yet many more victims of the dark side of the night...

[Terese · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually my favorite Angel book so far, I thought it weaved past and present plotlines well and I thought it was fun to see Angelus as a "2 year old" vampire with very similar bravado and characteristics to a young Spike. I like getting insights into events that have been part of the characters changes and maturation.

The plot is essentially that a young actress is being hounded by a group of zealots intent on killing her for being a "vampire", this young woman looks an awful lot like a young woman Angelus met back in 1758, so is she a vampire? Dun dun dun....

....no, no she isn't.

She's actually possessed by a banshee and is indeed the same woman from back when, it gets a bit convoluted and the exposition is clunky as all that, but it was still a fun ride.

There were some cute Angel and Kate moments that I enjoyed.

Darla is on point. The other characters feel just like themselves.

The ending is rushed and clunky, so is the exposition for what's really going on, but things always tend to rush towards the ends of these books. It's like it's an episode and they run out of time.

The one thing I didn't like was Angel's perspective towards the end, where he kind of seemed to want a woman to go on the run from the law? Which seemed uncharacteristic of him. It just seemed like someone had to think it was unfair so we could get the character herself to volunteer to do time, thus starting her redemption.


Being a vampire in the modern world:
One thing that I found funny is that in "Not forgotten" Angel is stopped for speeding and gets a ticket, it specifically mentions that he hands over his license and registration. This book they have Angel visiting a jail, and he's not let in because now he doesn't have ID and no last name....

...but why doesn't he have a last name? He was human, he can remember his father's name no? Surely to sign any papers he can't just sign them "Angel" and have that be enough?

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the TV show before reading this book and in this instance it was okay because their practically identical. I'm not missing a whole lot by reading first and watching second since the books came after haha kinda odd to say that as when does that happen?

I love the characters. In the TV show Doyle was my favorite after Angel of course. The storyline was a little hard to follow but all came together in the end. The devil was in the details because I feel I missed something. There was a scene by the warehouse and then there's water. Where did the water come from? Why did they choose to dive in the water? Is it connected or an ocean or what type is it? Is it directly next to the warehouse or where?

Maybe it makes more of a difference to read them in order but since they're based on the show I'm not sure.

[Sidney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angel, Cordy, and Doyle are hired by a TV producer to guard a starlet against “people” who have been stalking her. Said starlet is a blast from the past. Angel, as the evil Angelus, once killed this woman when she was a demon hunter back in 1738 in Galway. Full circle: both Angel and this woman are working on redemption, trying to right the wrongs of the past.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.25 stars ⭐️] I’ve been enjoying diving into the Buffyverse novels this year and I decided to give the Angel books a try since I’m planning on rewatching Angel.

I found myself very engrossed with the plot and the characters bounced off of each other really well! (Another reason I decided to read the books. I wanted more of this trio 🥰) can’t wait to read more!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was surprisingly enjoyable, for the most part. I liked the TV actress element of the story, and also liked how it tied into Angel's back story. I could have done with a few less Irish Pirate flashbacks, though.

[Amanda Stanzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I was reading an episode of Angel. I nice quick read.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one a lot. So much more than the previous novel. The characters were true to themselves and the writing was solid. Excited for the next entry in the series.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Redemption is the first book in the 'Angel' tie-in novels that wasn't written by Nancy Holder. While I love Nancy and have respect for her as an author of BTVS/Angel novels, she does have the tendency to have some canon mistakes in her novels.

Mel Odom, creates a story that doesn't make me want to stop every couple of chapters and not pick it up for a while. Redemption has a very 'Hollywood noir' plot going on, and it's hard to not like it. While the characters that we are introduced to in this novel seem a little thin, the plot is great, and Odom seems to know how to write for Angel, Doyle & Cordelia.

The only problem I had with this novel, is the ending. The plot, like I said, was very interesting and drawn out, maybe it was too drawn out, because it only took a chapter to wrap everything up. It felt rushed, and that was a bit of a let down. I felt like I had invested myself big into this plot only to have one chapter to wrap everything up.

All in all, the book itself was a great read, and it did read like an actual episode of the show. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a story with the Angel Investigations gang and not want to watch the TV show.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Ceejay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's another enjoyable story about Angel, the vampire with a soul, and the early crew. That would be Doyle and Cordelia. If you enjoyed the show, I'm sure that you'll enoy this novel. I don't want to give anything away. Basically the story goes back and forth between modern times, and the 1700's. Why? Because there is a woman who looks very familiar to Angel. A woman he knew back in the day!

[Noah Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the third in the Angel series. In his quest for redemption Angel is visited by an actor who resembels someone from his past needs his help. She plays a vampire on tv and some people seem to believe she is one.

[Refia || Rhea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out fairly good, but ultimately didn't maintain my interest thoughout. 2 and a half stars.

[Liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's deja vu time for Angel when he takes on a TV star as a client. Cordy about wets her pants. She is so thrilled....at the onset.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was actually not too bad. I almost considered keeping it. Definitely a solid read. =)

[♡ Jeri's Book Attic ♡ Jeri the Romance Bibiliophile ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]