Blackout

Nikki wood is the slayer in 1977 and Spike is in New York and on the hunt. Fleshing out the story of how Spike killed his second slayer, bringing the city and Nikki to life. I loved all the chapters and I loved the addtion of Reet and his men to the cast. The 70's slang was funny to read and never seemed forced on the characters. There really wasn't anything I didn't like about the book. It was funny, smart, and perfect for all Buffy fans, keeping the show alive! It is worth a read for any fan of the show. I loved the Drusilla scenes. and Spike's. The plot of the story fit well with the story in "Fool for love". Wonderful book over all.

This book has two major story arcs. Spike visiting New York sans Drusilla for bit, taking in the Punk clubs and eating the punk rock chicks and hunting down the slayer. ( oh but that is fun to read) And Nikki Wood's life as a Slayer. Very intresting facts are learned about her and of course by doing that Robin Woods life as a small child is revealed. Great 1970's history in New York!!!!! It builds up slowly, every so slowly Spike watching and learning about this new slayer. He admires her moves, appreciates how she has different techniques than the other he killed. He is planning to confront her. Dru arrives and once again we see that deep caring and crazy in love guy Spike is.... And then the finale... but it's not exactly what you think, well except he finally does "have one good day." If you like that long leather coat, you'll love the explanation about it in here. If you like the 70's and wondered about Nikki... go for it! I loved hearing about her. If you are a Spike fan( not Spuffy) You need to get this book. I am a Spike fan and I loved this one!!

This was an excellent book. This book did a classic job of displaying Spike's brutality in his pre-Buffy days as well as the cunning of Nikki Wood.

This is one of the best Buffy books yet! It gives us a historical look at New York in the late seventies, while telling the story of what happened between Spike and Nicky, the second slayer he killed. Nicky is portrayed as both tradgic and heroic. Her dedication to both the mission and her young son make the reader dread the end as we know from canon that Spike will kill her. Spike is very much in character with his loose canon, in your face attitude. He is exciting, dangerous, and at times hilarious.

There are quite a few mediocre (and several downright awful) tie-in novels for the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" universe, but "Blackout" by Keith R.A. DeCandido is the best one I've encountered. If only the other fifteen Buffy/Angel novels I've read were this good. "Blackout" is definitely a Spike novel. As a Spike fan, I have no problem with that at all. Buffy appears only briefly at the beginning and the end of "Blackout", which is just as well. There's not much room for her in this story of "evil" Spike in 1970s New York. The Slayer in question in 1977 is Nikki Wood, the only Slayer we've ever heard about who also has a child to raise. Not only does she have to deal with demons, apocalypses and a criminal organization of vampires, she has to deal with Spike coming to town looking for trouble (soon followed by the demented Drusilla). The author is true in his depiction of the character of Spike in that the British vampire constantly straddles the line between bloodthirsty villain and charismatic anti-hero. What elevates this novel above any other Buffy novel I've read is the simple fact that despite knowing the inevitable outcome (Spike stalking and eventually slaying Nikki the Vampire Slayer--also acquiring that awesome leather coat--was depicted in two episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Fool For Love" in season 5 and "Lies My Parents Told Me" in season 7), I was still interested and intrigued enough to read every word as the narrative progressed. Heck, the author revealed the forthcoming results of the few plotlines fans of the show didn't know about within the first six pages and I still wanted to see how it all went down. If you can't see yourself enjoying a book that doesn't revolve around Buffy and the Scooby gang--or one where the bad guy wins--then "Blackout" isn't for you. Too bad, though, since many of the books that do revolve around those folks are poorly written. "Blackout" is also a much stronger work than the earlier Spike & Dru novel, "Pretty Maids All In A Row." So if you want to read one novel set in the "Buffyverse" (and aren't totally devoted to reading about Buffy herself), read "Blackout". You'll be doing yourself a favor.