Soul Trade

This is a really good story that tugs at your heart, mainly because there's a child involved and someone has taken her soul. Angel and the gang were awesome in their pursuit to right this wrong. Highly recommend.

This has been a happy time of year for Buffy and Angel addicts. New novels keep appearing about both heroes, and even a new series starring both. Now, turning this surfeit into an embarrassment of riches, comes yet another foray into Angel’s Los Angeles, written by Thomas Sniegoski, noted for his comic book narratives.When Doyle has a vision of a young girl under attack, Angel and his team speed to the site. In a calm, suburban neighborhood they find a comatose child and her distraught mother. When hospital staff is unable to discover what has happened to little Aubrey Bentone, but Angel fears the worst. A small container, dropped by the assailant, provides a vital clue. The soul of an innocent child has tremendous value in the underworld, and someone has ripped Aubrey’s from her once vibrant body.Angel, Cordelia and Doyle race against death or worse, for they must restore the child’s soul before the empty shell left behind withers and dies. For Angel, haunted by visions of his young sister, a victim of his vengeful hunger centuries before, the search becomes a personal quest for redemption. Doyle struggles to come to terms with his demonic nature. And, on the lighter side, Cordelia struggles to make ends meet while taking on a master magician, countless homunculi, and a very, very overweight demon who is the last of his soul-eating kind.Sniegowski starts out a bit slowly, but then catches fire as he develops his characters and tells the story of the innocent child who is the victim of the predators. Dialog is well crafted, and "Soul Trade" has a dimensionality which is often lacking in this kind of fiction. Once into the story I was unable to keep from reading the novel in a single sitting (well, I did take a break for lunch). This author displays considerable talent, and I hope we see more from him soon.

Souls are brought and sold like drugs on the streets of LA, a business which remained a secret, until they take one soul too many. A beautiful soul of an innocent child is used to pay off a gambling debt. Doyle's vision brings Angel to the rescue. But the path is difficult, Angel is troubled by memories of his sister, the sister who loved him, the sister who thought him an angel right before he took her life. Angel is driven to succeed to find redemption in the act of restoring the child's soul. The author has woven humor and action into a lovely story of dark magic and innocence. You will never look at a garden troll the same way again. Set in the early part of the first season it is refreshing to see Doyle moon over Cordelia again. Harry, Doyle's former wife makes an appearance. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy Angel, the Television Series as well as newcomers who like horror fiction.

Doyle's latest vision leads him, Angel, and Cordelia to a little five-year-old girl named Aubrey. They discover that Aubrey has mysteriously slipped into a deep unconsciousness - and that the one who did this to her was someone the child trusted. As Angel, Doyle, and Cordelia investigate to find the source of Aubrey's mysterious condition, they discover that her life force has been stolen and is being held captive by a sorcerer named Meskal, who is running a "soul trade" on the black market. Such a priceless soul as one belonging to an innocent child will fetch a high price. Angel has helped many people, but he feels especially that he must save Aubrey, who reminds him of his own little sister, Katherine - one of his first victims when he was turned into a vampire. Now he must fight a race against time to save this little girl before it is too late. This was one of my favorite Angel novels. I reccomend it to all fans of the television series.

Of all the books so far written connected with the Angel TV series, this one is the best! Angel is the vampire with a soul and the story focuses on the collecting and selling of souls for various nefarious purposes. In order to pay off a gambling debt, a father sells his daughter's soul to a sorcerer. The now-comatose child reminds Angel of his own long-dead sister and what he did to her once he became Angelus. The baseline is that a human wants to live forever and has a demon partner that has showed him how by distilling a life-extending drug from the life-energy of souls. The demon, on the other hand, feeds on souls and Aubrey's soul, so pure and innocent, is a precious commodity that bidders only dream of but the demon wants it for itself. Of course, that one-of-a-kind soul possessed by our hero is even more appealing. And this demon, a Kurgarru, is really on the disgusting side with the parasites and game show addiction. Then there is the drug called Uforia, which is a by-product of the life-extending drug, used by demons to make them fearless which is used in two short instances. As a written narrative, this book moves right along. There are places where it could have easily bogged down but Sniegoski just keeps it running. This takes place in the first season and is welcome addition for anyone wanting another story with Doyle involved and a short appearance of Harry. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that the writer deliberately disregards the opportunity for Angel to think about the precious gift his own soul is.