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Supernatural #7
One Year Gone
Dean believes that Sam is in Hell so he is trying to keep his promise to his brother and live a normal live with Lisa and Ben.
When he realizes that a spell in the Necronomicon could raise Lucifer and therefore Sam, he convinces his new family to travel with him on vacation to Salem.
Meanwhile Sam is not as far away as Dean thinks and is determined to protect his brother from the Salem witches...
A Supernatural novel that reveals the untold events of the missing year between seasons 5 and 6!
When he realizes that a spell in the Necronomicon could raise Lucifer and therefore Sam, he convinces his new family to travel with him on vacation to Salem.
Meanwhile Sam is not as far away as Dean thinks and is determined to protect his brother from the Salem witches...
A Supernatural novel that reveals the untold events of the missing year between seasons 5 and 6!
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
110 people are currently reading
5813 people want to read
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December 1, 2015
A longer review is coming when I'm on my computer. All I can say right now is thank gods that's over!
Later:
To be absolutely honest, the only reason I finished this book is because I paid for it, and it took me over three months to get through it. If it had been fanfic I came across on the web, I would have stopped reading it right after Dean came up with the bright idea to raise Sam from Hell using the Necronomicon. You know, that book mentioned by HP Lovecraft, the guy that Dean knew nothing about in aired canon? That might have been excused if there had been some reference to him hearing about it in some of the OTHER media that refer to the book, but there wasn't one.
Now, keep in mind, I could be judging the author a little harshly because of the glowing forward written by Kripke (show creator) where he goes on about how much she knows about the show... However, considering that show facts (like Sam's birthday -- MAY, not March) are not the only thing she gets wrong, I'm not all that sure I'm off base here.
First, there's the anachronisms. I sincerely doubt the colonists in Salem, MA would have been using the meter as a unit of measurement. Flintlock pistols require a bit more to fire than just picking one up, pointing, and pulling the trigger. And firing a "two-handed barrage" and a jammed gun mean entirely different things with flintlocks than they do with modern pistols! Ben's jammed gun would have probably blown his fingers off at best, and quite likely done much worse.
Second, the writing is amateurish and flat. There's really nothing to connect you to the characters, to make you really worry about them or empathize with how they're supposed to be feeling. Lots of 'Dean did this, then he did this, then blah, blah, blah.' In addition, some additional characters are handled so badly that they're flimsier than cardboard cut-outs, and what should have at least been a slightly emotional scene at the end is blown off in about two paragraphs.
Third, the author honestly seems to be more interested in writing historical accounts of other members of the Campbell family than she is in writing a real Supernatural book. This is the second tie-in novel of hers where more effort has been spent writing about the Campbells in the past, and this one had an even higher percentage of it than the last one did. If that's what she wants to write, that's what she should write. She's not doing herself a favour trying to write Sam and Dean if she can't get their voices or characterization right.
And that's the thing that bothered me the most and that I've saved for last. I'm okay with soulless!Sam waterboarding a witch for information. It's something he would have done, and since the boys weren't fans of witches when he HAD a soul, I can see it. Though I honestly want to know how tiny this woman was if he could drag two chairs into the bathroom of a hotel at the same time, with her TIED TO ONE OF THEM. Really? I know Sam is abnormally tall and strong, but... really? But still not the worst thing. That, I reserve for her treatment of Dean. I can't really remember one sentence in the book where I actually felt like he was hurting because Sam is gone, or truly worried about Lise and Ben, and although show!Dean tries to hide his emotions, he feels them very deeply. This wasn't evident at all. And there is no way that someone who takes the risks he takes to protect the innocent would blow up a storefront using C4 as a distraction! Even if he COULD get some from Bobby, and even if he had some reason to bring it along on his 'get the Necronomicon to raise Sam from Hell vacation' he wouldn't be blowing up a store front! It took all of my willpower to keep from throwing the book across the room at that point.
Do yourself a favour -- if you're a fan of quality writing, historical accuracy, or of the Supernatural characters you see on TV, avoid this book. You'll just end up with a headache if you don't.
Later:
To be absolutely honest, the only reason I finished this book is because I paid for it, and it took me over three months to get through it. If it had been fanfic I came across on the web, I would have stopped reading it right after Dean came up with the bright idea to raise Sam from Hell using the Necronomicon. You know, that book mentioned by HP Lovecraft, the guy that Dean knew nothing about in aired canon? That might have been excused if there had been some reference to him hearing about it in some of the OTHER media that refer to the book, but there wasn't one.
Now, keep in mind, I could be judging the author a little harshly because of the glowing forward written by Kripke (show creator) where he goes on about how much she knows about the show... However, considering that show facts (like Sam's birthday -- MAY, not March) are not the only thing she gets wrong, I'm not all that sure I'm off base here.
First, there's the anachronisms. I sincerely doubt the colonists in Salem, MA would have been using the meter as a unit of measurement. Flintlock pistols require a bit more to fire than just picking one up, pointing, and pulling the trigger. And firing a "two-handed barrage" and a jammed gun mean entirely different things with flintlocks than they do with modern pistols! Ben's jammed gun would have probably blown his fingers off at best, and quite likely done much worse.
Second, the writing is amateurish and flat. There's really nothing to connect you to the characters, to make you really worry about them or empathize with how they're supposed to be feeling. Lots of 'Dean did this, then he did this, then blah, blah, blah.' In addition, some additional characters are handled so badly that they're flimsier than cardboard cut-outs, and what should have at least been a slightly emotional scene at the end is blown off in about two paragraphs.
Third, the author honestly seems to be more interested in writing historical accounts of other members of the Campbell family than she is in writing a real Supernatural book. This is the second tie-in novel of hers where more effort has been spent writing about the Campbells in the past, and this one had an even higher percentage of it than the last one did. If that's what she wants to write, that's what she should write. She's not doing herself a favour trying to write Sam and Dean if she can't get their voices or characterization right.
And that's the thing that bothered me the most and that I've saved for last. I'm okay with soulless!Sam waterboarding a witch for information. It's something he would have done, and since the boys weren't fans of witches when he HAD a soul, I can see it. Though I honestly want to know how tiny this woman was if he could drag two chairs into the bathroom of a hotel at the same time, with her TIED TO ONE OF THEM. Really? I know Sam is abnormally tall and strong, but... really? But still not the worst thing. That, I reserve for her treatment of Dean. I can't really remember one sentence in the book where I actually felt like he was hurting because Sam is gone, or truly worried about Lise and Ben, and although show!Dean tries to hide his emotions, he feels them very deeply. This wasn't evident at all. And there is no way that someone who takes the risks he takes to protect the innocent would blow up a storefront using C4 as a distraction! Even if he COULD get some from Bobby, and even if he had some reason to bring it along on his 'get the Necronomicon to raise Sam from Hell vacation' he wouldn't be blowing up a store front! It took all of my willpower to keep from throwing the book across the room at that point.
Do yourself a favour -- if you're a fan of quality writing, historical accuracy, or of the Supernatural characters you see on TV, avoid this book. You'll just end up with a headache if you don't.
January 18, 2019
One year gone
Sam said yes to Lucifer and Dean is living a normal life.
Dean is living with Lisa and her son Ben and having a normal life and mainly loving it. But a case comes to town and Dean cant help but want to solve it... for old times sake.
I really enjoyed this, i thought it was cute seeing Ben again because i loved their short loved relationship on the show and getting to see Dean happy made me happy.
Sam said yes to Lucifer and Dean is living a normal life.
Dean is living with Lisa and her son Ben and having a normal life and mainly loving it. But a case comes to town and Dean cant help but want to solve it... for old times sake.
I really enjoyed this, i thought it was cute seeing Ben again because i loved their short loved relationship on the show and getting to see Dean happy made me happy.
August 3, 2011
My boys how I love you ... these knock-off, tie-in novels not so much. If the publishers behind these books had any sense, they would mine some of the stellar fanfiction that exists out there for this series: yeah, some fanfiction is painful and embarrassing dreck but there's an impressive amount that's written with love, passion and talent. Those stories are so much more there. They don't feel forced or gimmicky but natural and real. There's depth and emotion (inspired by what show delivers on a consistent basis). By comparison, these sanctioned "official" novels feel like a bad imitation, like a weak pastiche.
I can't help myself though, I keep coming back for more. These are the desperate measures taken when show is on summer hiatus. September 25th can't get here fast enough. And why oh why do these books have to be so very PG-13???? C'mon, it's a book ... do you still have to worry about advertisers and censors? Boo! The day this show moves from the CW to HBO I will die a happy woman. I watch it for the plot (of course!), but a little full-frontal is a beautiful thing.
What snagged this book 2 stars (SPOILERS FOR SE06):
I can't help myself though, I keep coming back for more. These are the desperate measures taken when show is on summer hiatus. September 25th can't get here fast enough. And why oh why do these books have to be so very PG-13???? C'mon, it's a book ... do you still have to worry about advertisers and censors? Boo! The day this show moves from the CW to HBO I will die a happy woman. I watch it for the plot (of course!), but a little full-frontal is a beautiful thing.
What snagged this book 2 stars (SPOILERS FOR SE06):
August 25, 2013
SPOILERS for season 6 of Supernatural, but not for the book!
This book can be judged by its cover. I always hate the Supernatural promos/covers/etc., and usually it's a matter of ignoring the cover and knowing the glory inside, but this one really is cheesy. (Sam and Dean are beautiful and wonderful but the cover is still terrible)
As a big fan of the series, I wanted to check to see if any of the books were any good. This one stood out to me as the one with the most potential. (A whole book of Dean/Lisa and Ben? And soulless!Sam? Yes please! So much potential for angst, drunk!Dean, soulless!Sam murdering people, and whatever else) I went in with low expectations, but even those were failed. I tried to like it, I really did, but it lacked in every area. I actually cringed a few times at its failures. I don't exactly regret reading it, but if anyone asks about it, I can't see myself ever answering that it should be read.
Much of it is just laughable. Too many coincidences, stupid decisions from the characters, and occasionally pure lameness (Pirate scene, anyone?). I have to wonder if the author actually expected certain scenes in it to be sad. (They weren't.) Let us never even speak of the gang members and how awkward that all was.
The character development was contrived. I didn't like any of the new characters, and barely even cared about the old ones (and I have a lot of emotions swirling around those people, so for those emotions to actually get blocked like that...) One could say that technically they were in-character, but really, they lacked everything that made them them. They became stereotypes. Lisa was classic concerned mom and patient girlfriend, Ben was classic brave-but-young boy, and Dean was classic something or other. Any of his 'wit' lacked actual wit and felt unnatural. Even soulless!Sam, being unnatural and blank anyway, was faulty. He had flickers of actual care, which he shouldn't have had, and certain things didn't strike me as things he would actually do or say. He and Samuel had the most in-character moments out of anyone, though. Speaking of Samuel, I actually liked him more in this. (It's an easy accomplishment. He's one of the few characters I really dislike in the series) It's a really minor thing that doesn't justify actually reading the book, but it was a pro. Fortunately, the other Campbells in season 6 were not present.
A very minor thing that ticked me off was a line that said Crowley 'cackled'. Maybe I'm being too much of a perfectionist about this, but I can't for the life of me see Crowley 'cackling'. The guy barely chuckles. He gives people the 'are you really so dumb' face, and he smirks for sure, but... cackling? No.
I can't accept this into my idea of Supernatural canon. The tone is too different from the impressions we get of that year from Dean and Lisa. I think if this had all happened, Lisa may have kicked Dean out, and a lot of us wouldn't have blamed her.
The best scenes were all near the beginning. Pre-vacation was tolerable to me. Not good, but tolerable. Soulless!Sam and Samuel were tolerable through the whole thing. Also not good, but tolerable.
I already said I didn't like any new characters, but my complete dislike for the Nathaniel/Thomas/Caleb/Hannah/etc. gang is worth mentioning. I hated that the author just pulled another 'two brothers' thing, and just threw a sister in there for variety, seemingly as an afterthought. A sister that of course gets left out of everything and doesn't actually matter in the equation. They throw her compliments to try to counteract that, but it amounts to nothing. I gave no craps for any of them. I didn't like that ancestors were brought up like that at all. They were an attempt and a failure at adding emotion. All they did was make the book longer and introduce a really stupid coincidence. Also, with how important that story was, I felt like Dean needed to hurry and get to the end. If needed he could skim, but honestly, he just conveniently waited to read the end until he was reaching the climax in the present story. And so he could have found out what was going on a little earlier, and didn't.
I didn't feel the Dean/Lisa/Ben love very much, or even the Dean and Sam love. (Except for maybe a little at the beginning) This was a dry husk of a story and it made me feel nothing, whereas I cried about the series it comes from as recently as the night before last. (Re-watched the end scene of Swan Song, then listened to Americana.)
Dean's endangerment of Lisa was outrageous. If I was thoroughly convinced of his emotionally compromised state it might get a pass, but the author did not convince me, and he just came off as a jerk. (Minor spoilers) The fact that he lied AFTER Lisa almost died the first time was unacceptable to me. A simple "I'm looking for a book that could possibly help with Sam, and I stumbled onto witches" would have been sufficient, but no.
I don't see why you would, but especially don't read this if you haven't watched the series. (Then again, maybe it wouldn't be so disappointing to you, then...?)
Back to the world of fanfiction I go-! (Seriously, so many of my fellow fans, to me, create better stories than the 'official' ones I've read)
Rating: R
Generic fighting and violence, and a brief, somewhat gory nightmare. A single line in a nightmare that alludes to the possibility of a character being raped. Moderate language. Some crude humor. Some religious people may be uncomfortable with all the talk about Lucifer/demons/Hell/etc., but it's a book based off of Supernatural so probably no one's concerned about that going into this book. SPOILERS: A certain character lacking a certain soul puts a child's life at risk and harms him to kill a comparatively harmless creature, and continues to do similar things throughout the book.
This book can be judged by its cover. I always hate the Supernatural promos/covers/etc., and usually it's a matter of ignoring the cover and knowing the glory inside, but this one really is cheesy. (Sam and Dean are beautiful and wonderful but the cover is still terrible)
As a big fan of the series, I wanted to check to see if any of the books were any good. This one stood out to me as the one with the most potential. (A whole book of Dean/Lisa and Ben? And soulless!Sam? Yes please! So much potential for angst, drunk!Dean, soulless!Sam murdering people, and whatever else) I went in with low expectations, but even those were failed. I tried to like it, I really did, but it lacked in every area. I actually cringed a few times at its failures. I don't exactly regret reading it, but if anyone asks about it, I can't see myself ever answering that it should be read.
Much of it is just laughable. Too many coincidences, stupid decisions from the characters, and occasionally pure lameness (Pirate scene, anyone?). I have to wonder if the author actually expected certain scenes in it to be sad. (They weren't.) Let us never even speak of the gang members and how awkward that all was.
The character development was contrived. I didn't like any of the new characters, and barely even cared about the old ones (and I have a lot of emotions swirling around those people, so for those emotions to actually get blocked like that...) One could say that technically they were in-character, but really, they lacked everything that made them them. They became stereotypes. Lisa was classic concerned mom and patient girlfriend, Ben was classic brave-but-young boy, and Dean was classic something or other. Any of his 'wit' lacked actual wit and felt unnatural. Even soulless!Sam, being unnatural and blank anyway, was faulty. He had flickers of actual care, which he shouldn't have had, and certain things didn't strike me as things he would actually do or say. He and Samuel had the most in-character moments out of anyone, though. Speaking of Samuel, I actually liked him more in this. (It's an easy accomplishment. He's one of the few characters I really dislike in the series) It's a really minor thing that doesn't justify actually reading the book, but it was a pro. Fortunately, the other Campbells in season 6 were not present.
A very minor thing that ticked me off was a line that said Crowley 'cackled'. Maybe I'm being too much of a perfectionist about this, but I can't for the life of me see Crowley 'cackling'. The guy barely chuckles. He gives people the 'are you really so dumb' face, and he smirks for sure, but... cackling? No.
I can't accept this into my idea of Supernatural canon. The tone is too different from the impressions we get of that year from Dean and Lisa. I think if this had all happened, Lisa may have kicked Dean out, and a lot of us wouldn't have blamed her.
The best scenes were all near the beginning. Pre-vacation was tolerable to me. Not good, but tolerable. Soulless!Sam and Samuel were tolerable through the whole thing. Also not good, but tolerable.
I already said I didn't like any new characters, but my complete dislike for the Nathaniel/Thomas/Caleb/Hannah/etc. gang is worth mentioning. I hated that the author just pulled another 'two brothers' thing, and just threw a sister in there for variety, seemingly as an afterthought. A sister that of course gets left out of everything and doesn't actually matter in the equation. They throw her compliments to try to counteract that, but it amounts to nothing. I gave no craps for any of them. I didn't like that ancestors were brought up like that at all. They were an attempt and a failure at adding emotion. All they did was make the book longer and introduce a really stupid coincidence. Also, with how important that story was, I felt like Dean needed to hurry and get to the end. If needed he could skim, but honestly, he just conveniently waited to read the end until he was reaching the climax in the present story. And so he could have found out what was going on a little earlier, and didn't.
I didn't feel the Dean/Lisa/Ben love very much, or even the Dean and Sam love. (Except for maybe a little at the beginning) This was a dry husk of a story and it made me feel nothing, whereas I cried about the series it comes from as recently as the night before last. (Re-watched the end scene of Swan Song, then listened to Americana.)
Dean's endangerment of Lisa was outrageous. If I was thoroughly convinced of his emotionally compromised state it might get a pass, but the author did not convince me, and he just came off as a jerk. (Minor spoilers) The fact that he lied AFTER Lisa almost died the first time was unacceptable to me. A simple "I'm looking for a book that could possibly help with Sam, and I stumbled onto witches" would have been sufficient, but no.
I don't see why you would, but especially don't read this if you haven't watched the series. (Then again, maybe it wouldn't be so disappointing to you, then...?)
Back to the world of fanfiction I go-! (Seriously, so many of my fellow fans, to me, create better stories than the 'official' ones I've read)
Rating: R
Generic fighting and violence, and a brief, somewhat gory nightmare. A single line in a nightmare that alludes to the possibility of a character being raped. Moderate language. Some crude humor. Some religious people may be uncomfortable with all the talk about Lucifer/demons/Hell/etc., but it's a book based off of Supernatural so probably no one's concerned about that going into this book. SPOILERS: A certain character lacking a certain soul puts a child's life at risk and harms him to kill a comparatively harmless creature, and continues to do similar things throughout the book.
November 2, 2020
This Superntural novel takes place between seasons 5-6, with Dean trying to live a domesticated life with a woman he knew from years before and had eventually helped on a case, while Sam has cast himself into Hell to keep Lucifer locked there. The story begins just fine, with Dean preoccupied with finding a way to spring Sam from Hell, when he comes up with the idea of going to Salem, MA in search of witches who may have access to the Necronomicon. So far, so good. He, the girlfriend and her son go up on the pretext of a vacation while dean surreptitiously searches the town.
But, suddenly things go from a nice, slow burn SN episode to full blow chaos. Dean takes the boy, Ben, on a tour of a clipper ship, one that has been grounded and tied to a dock. Only they and a tour guide are aboard when suddenly they notice, Wham! they're out to sea. And double-Wham! ghost pirates appear and start attacking them. And now it's up to Dean to MacGyver a bunch of junk found aboard the ship in order to keep the ghost pirates at bay. And yet, this is all done with relative calm by not only Dean, but also Ben who has never encountered ghosts before.
The great thing about SN is the no matter how whacky or bug nuts crazy the creatures or the plot was, every episode always reigned in the cray-cray enough to leave reasonable suspension of disbelief. In this book, drom the ghost pirates on, sensibility and reasonableness rare frequently out the door. At least it was relatively short, quick read, although easily 100 pages could have been clipped and it would have read more like an episode than a novel.
But, suddenly things go from a nice, slow burn SN episode to full blow chaos. Dean takes the boy, Ben, on a tour of a clipper ship, one that has been grounded and tied to a dock. Only they and a tour guide are aboard when suddenly they notice, Wham! they're out to sea. And double-Wham! ghost pirates appear and start attacking them. And now it's up to Dean to MacGyver a bunch of junk found aboard the ship in order to keep the ghost pirates at bay. And yet, this is all done with relative calm by not only Dean, but also Ben who has never encountered ghosts before.
The great thing about SN is the no matter how whacky or bug nuts crazy the creatures or the plot was, every episode always reigned in the cray-cray enough to leave reasonable suspension of disbelief. In this book, drom the ghost pirates on, sensibility and reasonableness rare frequently out the door. At least it was relatively short, quick read, although easily 100 pages could have been clipped and it would have read more like an episode than a novel.
March 3, 2012
Unfortunately, this was one of the worst books I've read in quite a while. I love Supernatural and it's stunning to me that someone who works on the show could screw it up so badly. Almost every word of dialogue coming out of Dean's mouth was a bad joke - it was truly bizarre. Never once did I actually laugh at these "jokes." And the idea that Samuel and Sam are working in the same town as Dean and somehow Dean never picks up on the giant white van following him around everywhere is ridiculous. I feel like I have to quickly read another Supernatural book just to try to erase this awful one from my memory.
October 5, 2014
I've learned by now that TV tie-in books, especially while the show is still on air, don't take any chances or enrich the characters' stories. Despite that, I read this book because it claimed to tell us about Dean's "lost" year in between seasons 5 & 6.
I found it groan-inducing and all too often representative of the worst part of the show -- the misogyny. I mean, the term "female trickery" pretty much says it all.
I found it groan-inducing and all too often representative of the worst part of the show -- the misogyny. I mean, the term "female trickery" pretty much says it all.
June 24, 2017
Very put-downable. Not just an uninteresting "Supernatural" story but an uninteresting story all together. Full of typos, too. I have never read a book with so many typos.
January 21, 2025
Continuing my way through the Supernatural TV series tie-in novels, One Year Gone is a book that I was admittedly worried about before I even started it, because I noticed it shared the same author as War of the Sons, which had been the worst of the Supernatural tie-in books that I had read so far. The worst one, until this one that is. Yup, sadly it seems my fear was warranted, and what's sad is, it almost wasn't.
I want to be clear, I WANTED to like this book, in fact, I wanted to like EVERY book in this series, since Supernatural is my favorite TV show of all time. But, unfortunately, the author has yet again failed to understand the characters or tone of this world, despite apparently having worked on the show itself and that is mind boggling to me.
I want to be fair, this book actually started off somewhat strong, albeit with a weak narrative. The characters did indeed feel much more like themselves in the early chapters, when compared to their portrayal in War of the Sons, especially Sam who at this point, is soulless, as this book takes place between the finale of season 5 and first episode of season 6. I specify "in the early chapters", because Dean in particular has a MASSIVE character assassination moment, in which he cuts a teenage boy's throat, who was only in the situation in the first place to try and help him. Under no circumstances would Dean EVER do something like this, ever.
Aside from Dean though, the depictions of most everyone else were consistently spot on, with Sam, Ben, Lisa, Samuel and Crowley all very much feeling like they should at this point in the story, and I found Dean's struggle in the early section to have a life with Lisa and Ben to be fairly true to character, believable and human, even though we didn't get nearly enough of it.
Where this book really falls apart though is... Well, its entire premise. I don't even mind having some small spoilers for this one, because I don't recommend anybody even read this book. So ready? Here goes.
Okay, a lot of ground covered here I know, but out of spoiler territory now, I do want to compliment the extension of the Campbell family history, that was a fun time and did build upon the lore in the show in a solid way.
We see more inconsistences, such as use of language that isn't consistent with the show, shotgun shells being referred to as "bullets", even though shotguns don't fire bullets, they fire dozens of BBs (except when using shells), and she even refers to salt rounds as "salt bullets". Dean having an iron knife when he thought he was hunting witches, against whom iron is just as useless as steel, and iron knives not even being made anymore. A depiction of a werewolf later in the book that's physically inconsistent with the show's depictions. Burning bones without salting them or using an accelerant. Ben just manifesting machetes out of nowhere. Dean leaving his father's journal behind in a library so he could steel another book. Stating Sam was born in March when he was actually born in May, and so on and so forth.
I'm not going to lie, I had fun with this book, mostly because I was laughing at it. It was campy and that made it entertaining, but as a tie-in piece to my favorite show of all time? Yeah no, this was terrible. It had SOME good elements, so it won't get a 1 star, but it's only a 2 out of 5 star book in my opinion, skip it folks, it's not worth your time or your money.
Wanna check out my other Supernatural book reviews? Check em out below!
Nevermore: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Witch's Canyon: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Bone Key: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Heart of the Dragon: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Unholy Cause: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
War of the Sons: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Men of Letters Bestiary: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I want to be clear, I WANTED to like this book, in fact, I wanted to like EVERY book in this series, since Supernatural is my favorite TV show of all time. But, unfortunately, the author has yet again failed to understand the characters or tone of this world, despite apparently having worked on the show itself and that is mind boggling to me.
I want to be fair, this book actually started off somewhat strong, albeit with a weak narrative. The characters did indeed feel much more like themselves in the early chapters, when compared to their portrayal in War of the Sons, especially Sam who at this point, is soulless, as this book takes place between the finale of season 5 and first episode of season 6. I specify "in the early chapters", because Dean in particular has a MASSIVE character assassination moment, in which he cuts a teenage boy's throat, who was only in the situation in the first place to try and help him. Under no circumstances would Dean EVER do something like this, ever.
Aside from Dean though, the depictions of most everyone else were consistently spot on, with Sam, Ben, Lisa, Samuel and Crowley all very much feeling like they should at this point in the story, and I found Dean's struggle in the early section to have a life with Lisa and Ben to be fairly true to character, believable and human, even though we didn't get nearly enough of it.
Where this book really falls apart though is... Well, its entire premise. I don't even mind having some small spoilers for this one, because I don't recommend anybody even read this book. So ready? Here goes.
Okay, a lot of ground covered here I know, but out of spoiler territory now, I do want to compliment the extension of the Campbell family history, that was a fun time and did build upon the lore in the show in a solid way.
We see more inconsistences, such as use of language that isn't consistent with the show, shotgun shells being referred to as "bullets", even though shotguns don't fire bullets, they fire dozens of BBs (except when using shells), and she even refers to salt rounds as "salt bullets". Dean having an iron knife when he thought he was hunting witches, against whom iron is just as useless as steel, and iron knives not even being made anymore. A depiction of a werewolf later in the book that's physically inconsistent with the show's depictions. Burning bones without salting them or using an accelerant. Ben just manifesting machetes out of nowhere. Dean leaving his father's journal behind in a library so he could steel another book. Stating Sam was born in March when he was actually born in May, and so on and so forth.
I'm not going to lie, I had fun with this book, mostly because I was laughing at it. It was campy and that made it entertaining, but as a tie-in piece to my favorite show of all time? Yeah no, this was terrible. It had SOME good elements, so it won't get a 1 star, but it's only a 2 out of 5 star book in my opinion, skip it folks, it's not worth your time or your money.
Wanna check out my other Supernatural book reviews? Check em out below!
Nevermore: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Witch's Canyon: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Bone Key: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Heart of the Dragon: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Unholy Cause: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
War of the Sons: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Men of Letters Bestiary: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
June 6, 2012
Well I am rating this in terms of other tv tie in type books, knowing full well that they are not literary masterpieces.
This book could have been a 4 star if only the author did not put in so many unbelievable pop culture references. I just can't imagine Sam or Dean spouting all of those lines. I also think that the characterization of Lisa was way off. The one other thing that bothered me was the horrible editing job. There were words misspelled and added where they were not supposed to be.
Otherwise, the story, going to Salem and running across the ancient coven of witches had its merit. I enjoyed the story. The differing perspectives were done well. I liked the story shown from the past, and seeing the lineage of the Winchesters expanded was a bonus too.
This book could have been a 4 star if only the author did not put in so many unbelievable pop culture references. I just can't imagine Sam or Dean spouting all of those lines. I also think that the characterization of Lisa was way off. The one other thing that bothered me was the horrible editing job. There were words misspelled and added where they were not supposed to be.
Otherwise, the story, going to Salem and running across the ancient coven of witches had its merit. I enjoyed the story. The differing perspectives were done well. I liked the story shown from the past, and seeing the lineage of the Winchesters expanded was a bonus too.
January 2, 2017
MWUAHAHAHA. IT'S MINE. ALL MINE. Well, the library's. BUT MINE TEMPORARILY. The lost year. The most tragic year there ever was. Well, sort of, ish, not exactly, BUT STILL QUITE HEARTBREAKING.
Later:
Okay, well. That was a disappointment. I've read far, far better fanfic. Plus, I'm not sure anyone goes into an SPN novel - about the MISSING YEAR, no less - wanting to know anything about Campbell ancestors. I skipped over those portions because I just wanted Sam and Dean angst. But since Sam and Dean aren't allowed to meet, there's not really... much to it.
The Dean/Ben relationship earned it its two stars. In the end, though, I didn't care enough to check it back out from the library once it was due.
Later:
Okay, well. That was a disappointment. I've read far, far better fanfic. Plus, I'm not sure anyone goes into an SPN novel - about the MISSING YEAR, no less - wanting to know anything about Campbell ancestors. I skipped over those portions because I just wanted Sam and Dean angst. But since Sam and Dean aren't allowed to meet, there's not really... much to it.
The Dean/Ben relationship earned it its two stars. In the end, though, I didn't care enough to check it back out from the library once it was due.
December 9, 2012
This was actually the first "Supernatural" tie-in book that I read. It nearly kept me from reading the rest of the series because the writing itself was so poor. I was intrigued by the thought of finding out how Dean spent his year without Sam. The plot did turn out to be interesting, but the actual word craft of the story itself is easily the weakest of the tie-in series so far. For fans of the television series this is an interesting aside if they are already reading the tie-in novels, but it will not win the book series or the tv show any new fans.
June 8, 2011
I don't read novels based on tv series I like, and this book illustrates almost all of tbe reasons why. The plot is all over the place and the characterization is thin. Instead of fleshing out the characters, the author depends too much on the fact that I know them from the show. I was attracted to this book because it dealt with the year that Sam and Dean were apart AND the Salem witch trials. I wont be reading any more of these books.
January 18, 2014
Ugh, another "I couldn't finish it".
Even for soulless!Sam it was OOC in my opinion and I can't believe that Dean would raise Lucifer in order to save Sam. Not in the way it seems to be happen in this book. Sorry. Once again the book written by an insider of the show is the one that feels the most OOC to me.
Even for soulless!Sam it was OOC in my opinion and I can't believe that Dean would raise Lucifer in order to save Sam. Not in the way it seems to be happen in this book. Sorry. Once again the book written by an insider of the show is the one that feels the most OOC to me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2012
Clunktastic writing style, or maybe its more accurate to say it lacked any style whatsoever. No tension, no rhythm, nothing. It was like reading a book report from a high schooler. Sorry SPN, I <3 you but not that much.
July 31, 2019
This one definitely kept my interest.
September 27, 2025
I’m so angry? It was such a useless book.
At first I guess it’s cool to see that this is based on the year where Sam is out but soulless and Dean with Lisa, but honestly it did nothing to explore the brothers in those areas. We barely see soulless Sam in action (and when we do, he makes dubious mistakes which analytical and series Sam would never) and the whole “vacation” with Dean putting in danger Lisa and Ben just for the sake of it, makes zero sense, considering how in the series he becomes like John.
Such a poor characterization, and the plot is basic and boring. Super witches which are stupid, (spoiler) resurrection of a Prince of Hell which is burried before he says something, Dean’s driven desire to get the book Necrominon is out of the blue (and then it disappears with the same energy), Sam and Samuel looking for Dean in between lies and Crowley knowing about Dean’s goal just because? It’s all too blurry and poorly introduced and developed.
Also I didn’t care about the Campbells. Lots of chapters for some characters that I do not know and do not care, and who didn’t helped in the plot.
I really have nothing positive to say.
At first I guess it’s cool to see that this is based on the year where Sam is out but soulless and Dean with Lisa, but honestly it did nothing to explore the brothers in those areas. We barely see soulless Sam in action (and when we do, he makes dubious mistakes which analytical and series Sam would never) and the whole “vacation” with Dean putting in danger Lisa and Ben just for the sake of it, makes zero sense, considering how in the series he becomes like John.
Such a poor characterization, and the plot is basic and boring. Super witches which are stupid, (spoiler) resurrection of a Prince of Hell which is burried before he says something, Dean’s driven desire to get the book Necrominon is out of the blue (and then it disappears with the same energy), Sam and Samuel looking for Dean in between lies and Crowley knowing about Dean’s goal just because? It’s all too blurry and poorly introduced and developed.
Also I didn’t care about the Campbells. Lots of chapters for some characters that I do not know and do not care, and who didn’t helped in the plot.
I really have nothing positive to say.
October 11, 2021
Can’t say I was impressed with this one. It started off okay but went way off the rails. Dean didn’t quite feel right and Soulless Sam, while accurate, was hard to read. Still love the tie-ins, but this one was a miss for me.
Merged review:
Can’t say I was impressed with this one. It started off okay but went way off the rails. Dean didn’t quite feel right and Soulless Sam, while accurate, was hard to read. Still love the tie-ins, but this one was a miss for me.
Merged review:
Can’t say I was impressed with this one. It started off okay but went way off the rails. Dean didn’t quite feel right and Soulless Sam, while accurate, was hard to read. Still love the tie-ins, but this one was a miss for me.
January 28, 2023
Why is it so hard for these books to push past three stars?
Side note: It turns out that Dessertine was Eric Kripke's personal assistant. Which is really cool, but also... kind of surprising how not-amazing this book (and the previous one, which I gave a 2.5) is coming from an author who knows the show so well.
Okay but, I honestly did enjoy this one quite a lot. The plot was interesting and put together very well. I also liked that Sam and Dean are separated throughout the entire story. It makes for a different dynamic and gives other characters like Lisa, Ben and Samuel some extra screen time, which is rare in the show and even rarer in these books. Characterizations were good (not great, but good), maybe aside from all of the new characters, who were... a little stereotypical. Both the lore behind and the pacing of the story were pretty fantastic. The history of the Campbells was a little bit too "convenient coincidence" for me, but I still liked their story on its own.
Everything considered, this book probably would have earned itself four stars if not for a couple of issues (ah yes, there are issues). First of all, did this book have an editor? The SPAG errors seem to suggest the contrary. Aside from that, there are quite some instances where the things that happen just... aren't logical? But they happen anyway because otherwise the story couldn't continue as planned? They're not even plot holes necessarily, more like convenient laziness. Some examples:
- At one point, a witch tries to kill Dean. He lives but goes to find her at her house later. She captures him but instead of killing him, just throws him out. Why?
- Another witch kidnaps Ben. Dean and Lisa find him and Dean points a gun at her face, but instead of just shooting her right away, he actually waits for her to approach Ben so that she of course can use him as leverage and the whole scene is dragged out. Why?
- That same witch, when meeting Sam, tells him that he can't kill her with a gun. (The other witch has said the same thing to Dean earlier, so at least that's consistent.) Yet, when Sam points a gun at her and threatens her two seconds later, she just listens and does what he says? WHY?
I could go on but I think I've made my point. It's just a shame, considering how clever this book is in other regards.
Also, since when does Dean hesitate about killing evil people just because they're theoretically human?
Also also, you cannot have Soulless!Sam being a power-hungry maniac one minute and feeling a tiny-but-still-real hint of positive emotions the next. Especially when neither is canon; he's just an asshole who doesn't care about anything and is probably only still hunting because he's bored.
Side note: It turns out that Dessertine was Eric Kripke's personal assistant. Which is really cool, but also... kind of surprising how not-amazing this book (and the previous one, which I gave a 2.5) is coming from an author who knows the show so well.
Okay but, I honestly did enjoy this one quite a lot. The plot was interesting and put together very well. I also liked that Sam and Dean are separated throughout the entire story. It makes for a different dynamic and gives other characters like Lisa, Ben and Samuel some extra screen time, which is rare in the show and even rarer in these books. Characterizations were good (not great, but good), maybe aside from all of the new characters, who were... a little stereotypical. Both the lore behind and the pacing of the story were pretty fantastic. The history of the Campbells was a little bit too "convenient coincidence" for me, but I still liked their story on its own.
Everything considered, this book probably would have earned itself four stars if not for a couple of issues (ah yes, there are issues). First of all, did this book have an editor? The SPAG errors seem to suggest the contrary. Aside from that, there are quite some instances where the things that happen just... aren't logical? But they happen anyway because otherwise the story couldn't continue as planned? They're not even plot holes necessarily, more like convenient laziness. Some examples:
- At one point, a witch tries to kill Dean. He lives but goes to find her at her house later. She captures him but instead of killing him, just throws him out. Why?
- Another witch kidnaps Ben. Dean and Lisa find him and Dean points a gun at her face, but instead of just shooting her right away, he actually waits for her to approach Ben so that she of course can use him as leverage and the whole scene is dragged out. Why?
- That same witch, when meeting Sam, tells him that he can't kill her with a gun. (The other witch has said the same thing to Dean earlier, so at least that's consistent.) Yet, when Sam points a gun at her and threatens her two seconds later, she just listens and does what he says? WHY?
I could go on but I think I've made my point. It's just a shame, considering how clever this book is in other regards.
Also, since when does Dean hesitate about killing evil people just because they're theoretically human?
Also also, you cannot have Soulless!Sam being a power-hungry maniac one minute and feeling a tiny-but-still-real hint of positive emotions the next. Especially when neither is canon; he's just an asshole who doesn't care about anything and is probably only still hunting because he's bored.
April 18, 2021
Okay. The concept was interesting. The story is set between two seasons. However it required a fair amount of knowledge about the beginning of season 6, so you couldn't read the books and watch the episodes together in order, if that is something you're interested in. The plot was okay, and the book could have been good if the team had tried. Maybe hiring an editor would have been a good start.
November 15, 2013
I am not going to lie, I bought this book purely because I am a fan girl.
Ignoring the fan girl in me, the book was okay. Not great, but not terrible. The characters were the ones I have known and loved for years, and the storyline wasn't awful. Didn't match with the television show, but not awful.
The whole idea of Dean looking for the 'Necronomicon' was weird, considering he had no idea that it existed in Season 6, and the book is set after Season 5. However, the idea of the Campbell family in Salem during the witch trials was interesting. I enjoyed the characters of Nathaniel, Caleb and Thomas. I really think the book should have just been about the Campbell family, instead of involving Sam and Dean, it would have been a lot more interesting and could have explored the family a lot more.
Sam and Dean were nearly the same. There were a couple of times where I felt that Dean was out of character, but many of his smart-a** comments make me smile, and reminded me of the show.
Soulless Sam make me giggle. I have always found Soulless Sam fun, and this book just reminded me of that point (in all honestly, this was the main reason I bought the book).
So, the book was neither good nor bad. Would I read it again, sure. Would I suggest it to other people, probably not, unless they are Supernatural who could get a laugh out of it. Will I buy the rest of the Supernatural book series....most likely, but I have fan girl issues.
Ignoring the fan girl in me, the book was okay. Not great, but not terrible. The characters were the ones I have known and loved for years, and the storyline wasn't awful. Didn't match with the television show, but not awful.
The whole idea of Dean looking for the 'Necronomicon' was weird, considering he had no idea that it existed in Season 6, and the book is set after Season 5. However, the idea of the Campbell family in Salem during the witch trials was interesting. I enjoyed the characters of Nathaniel, Caleb and Thomas. I really think the book should have just been about the Campbell family, instead of involving Sam and Dean, it would have been a lot more interesting and could have explored the family a lot more.
Sam and Dean were nearly the same. There were a couple of times where I felt that Dean was out of character, but many of his smart-a** comments make me smile, and reminded me of the show.
Soulless Sam make me giggle. I have always found Soulless Sam fun, and this book just reminded me of that point (in all honestly, this was the main reason I bought the book).
So, the book was neither good nor bad. Would I read it again, sure. Would I suggest it to other people, probably not, unless they are Supernatural who could get a laugh out of it. Will I buy the rest of the Supernatural book series....most likely, but I have fan girl issues.
June 25, 2012
Believing that Sam is in Hell, Dean tries to keep his promise to his younger brother and live a normal live with Lisa and Ben. However when he realizes that a spell in the Necronomicon could raise Lucifer and therefore Sam, he convinces his new family to travel with him on vacation to Salem. Meanwhile Sam is not as far away as Dean thinks and has his own reasons for hunting the Salem withes...
Pros:
» The story reveals what happened between seasons 5 and 6 and it's written by Kripke's assistant, so that's probably what "really" happened (I know it's a tv show and it's not real, but you know what I mean).
» The book was interesting and easy to read.
» In Supernatural ties-in there are always some original characters. I don't usually like chapters with their stories, but this book is a big exception. Dean finds a journal of the ancestor from the Campbell side of the family and it turns out hunting has always been in his blood. It was very interesting to read.
Cons:
» I am not a native English speaker, but I noticed some typos, some bad grammar, but itdidn't really bother me.
» Sam!girls might be disappointed, because this story focuses mostly on Dean.
» Lisa's reaction didn't feel very realistic. Dean put her and Ben in danger and she didn't even get mad.
Pros:
» The story reveals what happened between seasons 5 and 6 and it's written by Kripke's assistant, so that's probably what "really" happened (I know it's a tv show and it's not real, but you know what I mean).
» The book was interesting and easy to read.
» In Supernatural ties-in there are always some original characters. I don't usually like chapters with their stories, but this book is a big exception. Dean finds a journal of the ancestor from the Campbell side of the family and it turns out hunting has always been in his blood. It was very interesting to read.
Cons:
» I am not a native English speaker, but I noticed some typos, some bad grammar, but itdidn't really bother me.
» Sam!girls might be disappointed, because this story focuses mostly on Dean.
» Lisa's reaction didn't feel very realistic. Dean put her and Ben in danger and she didn't even get mad.
March 29, 2019
I couldn't even finish this book. It was absolutely boring. My reading goal is now screwed up because I just wanted this off my shelf, and I wanted to go ahead and rate this so that others don't fall into a trap. Its terrible. Don't buy it.
Edit: I forced myself to finish this book. Rebecca Dessertine should be ashamed of herself. I have a feeling that the episodes that she wrote for the show are the ones that were absolutely terrible and almost made me quit watching. The book she wrote before this one, I only finished because the other author (David Reed) took over and actually turned the last part of the book into something good. He deserves an award, by the way, for saving that book. I thought I'd give her a second chance and read this one. All it did, was confirm that I will pass on anything with her name on it. This woman needs to find another career because writing isn't it.
Edit: I forced myself to finish this book. Rebecca Dessertine should be ashamed of herself. I have a feeling that the episodes that she wrote for the show are the ones that were absolutely terrible and almost made me quit watching. The book she wrote before this one, I only finished because the other author (David Reed) took over and actually turned the last part of the book into something good. He deserves an award, by the way, for saving that book. I thought I'd give her a second chance and read this one. All it did, was confirm that I will pass on anything with her name on it. This woman needs to find another career because writing isn't it.
December 22, 2011
I've read good Supernatural books. This isn't one of them.
Rebecca Dessertine clealy can't write and she's really bad at story-telling. And don't even get me started on that horrible, weird end. Absolutely no. Don't read it if you can avoid it.
The only good thing I found in it is that at least the beginning made me like Lisa. If Dessertine wouldn't have transformed her into something utterly stupid in the end I would even have started loving her. But no. For someone who should know the characters - all characters - by heart she's really not good enough.
Oh and don't read the book before you watched the 6th season. The book's full of spoilers.
Rebecca Dessertine clealy can't write and she's really bad at story-telling. And don't even get me started on that horrible, weird end. Absolutely no. Don't read it if you can avoid it.
The only good thing I found in it is that at least the beginning made me like Lisa. If Dessertine wouldn't have transformed her into something utterly stupid in the end I would even have started loving her. But no. For someone who should know the characters - all characters - by heart she's really not good enough.
Oh and don't read the book before you watched the 6th season. The book's full of spoilers.
September 30, 2011
The story of this one is rather weak. You'd think that someone who works for Eric Kripke and who has written for the show would be able to write a halfway decent book, but you'd be sadly disappointed. I'm not a fan of soulless Sam and having to read about him just slowed the story down too much. Also, I find it highly unlikely that Dean would take Lisa and Ben on a hunting trip that would potentially endanger them. The last book Dessertine wrote wasn't great, but it was better than this one. I recommend giving this one a pass, unless you're a hardcore fan of the show.
July 18, 2014
If there was a zero star rating, I would have given that. I wasn't expecting much, but this fell short.
I looked forward to reading about Salem, an area I know well. Clearly this author has never been there because her spacing of sites was so off. Write what you know, if you don't research it, please just leave it out.
The boat fiasco was unforgivable and as out of place as every Batman movie with too many villains. I could go on but honestly, it's not worth it. I'm not even sure why I finished this book.
I looked forward to reading about Salem, an area I know well. Clearly this author has never been there because her spacing of sites was so off. Write what you know, if you don't research it, please just leave it out.
The boat fiasco was unforgivable and as out of place as every Batman movie with too many villains. I could go on but honestly, it's not worth it. I'm not even sure why I finished this book.
March 8, 2012
Read this a while ago and let me just say... there is so many things wrong with this one. The characters don't read as the characters, Lisa comes off as flat... and the random jumps the author makes just to try to move the plot along are forced. For being the companion book between season 5 and 6, I feel like a great opportunity was missed by miles and am sad to have seen this book get approved.
October 12, 2024
So today is finally the day: got the book delivered yesterday.
So after reading some books of this series i start with this one today.
Since i finished season six a few days ago, i really need to read this book because of the missing year. I will update this Review when i started reading and can give a honest review
So after reading some books of this series i start with this one today.
Since i finished season six a few days ago, i really need to read this book because of the missing year. I will update this Review when i started reading and can give a honest review
May 18, 2012
In my opinion what makes this supernatural book so good, is Rebecca (the author) knows the Supernatural series and characters inside and out, which makes every sentence feel like watching an episode of the show.
Witches and Winchesters now that's a combination.
Witches and Winchesters now that's a combination.
August 27, 2020
“Why don’t you come back to my room? I have a six-pack and another one in the fridge. We
could get to know one another better.” Sam ran his hand down his stomach, indicating one of the six- packs." This line literally made me wish I was the witch he waterboards a page later.
could get to know one another better.” Sam ran his hand down his stomach, indicating one of the six- packs." This line literally made me wish I was the witch he waterboards a page later.
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