Rating: 
Summary: An Entrancing Page Turner
Review: This book was excellent. If you're a fan of the show it's a must have. It travels alongside Dru and Spike as they commit several heinous crimes. It shows a lot about the characters.. I couldn't put it down! You'll walk away from this book with goosbumps and a new understanding for Spike and Drusilla all together!
Rating:
Summary: Charming to the last
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Most likely because I think the character's of Spike and Dru on television's Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the best villains yet to appear in the show. Naturally, if you don't like the characters, of course you wouldn't like the book as it's based around the two Vampires on a quest to kill with no appearance from Buffy or any other of the main characters in the TV show. If you like them however, then this is the book for you, showing that they were really nasty, brutal, evil and destructive whereas the show has turned them into push-overs. I like the fact that it gives us a more detailed story of Spike and Dru's background. A lot of people I know want to know what they were like before they arrived on the hit TV show, this book explains just that. Of course there are certain flashbacks in the show, but this is very detailed and it's set in World War II, so there's not much of a flash back like in the show where there's one scene and then it gets back to the present. Point is, it's set in the past and doesn't keep changing between time lines. Again, I really did enjoy this book and would recommend it to any Spike and/or Dru fans. If you prefer Buffy or any of the other main characters of the TV show, then don't bother reading, as the title states, it's all about Spike & Dru...
Rating: 
Summary: Stands on its own
Review: I enjoyed this book. The book never extends past WWII, so none of the regular Buffy characters exist yet. It does; however, include Giles' mother (a watcher) and shows some of Spike's jealousy for Angelus. Angel is not in the book. Pretty Maids gives a fantastic veiw into Drusilla's head and it shows demon/vampire interaction. Well worth the time spent to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Shock Me, Shock Me, Shock Me with your Deviant Behavior.
Review: This book made me wonder if Golden hated this past year's major storyline of Spike being seduced by the Light side. There is absolutely NO goodness in these characters. A great way to pass a rainy day. If you like the character of Spike, then you will enjoy this book. However, if you like Spike, you have probably already decided to buy this book, so what are you doing reading this? What else is there to say in this review? It's no classic. Cliffs Notes will not be written on it. (Maybe in a parallel Buffyverse.) If you are a Buffy fan, I recommend it. The Buffy withdrawels you will experience during the summer will be alleviated by this Masterpiece of Golden Spikehood.
Rating:
Summary: Long Live Spike and Dru!
Review: A wonderfully gruesome book told in a marvelous way. While the task that Spike and Dru undertake is a little frightening and the gory deeds they perform are somewhere-way-beyond-scary, I love the way Golden portrays them. They're like kids having fun with dangerous toys, and I for one say let them have their fun! It makes for great reading! Another thing I liked about this book was the look we got of the Watcher's Council--it altered my opinion of those stuffy Watchers. Great book for Buffy fans, even if Buffy is not present. But I don't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like explanations of evil vampire killings, which Spike and Dru have so much fun with in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Expanding Past the Limitations of TV
Review: After having read several of the Buffy books, I can say that this is definitely my favorite by far. Even though there were numerous things about the book that I enjoyed, there are two aspects in particular that I thought made this book a wonderful addition to the Buffy-verse. First, the best part of the book is that it highlights the central theme of the TV show with a bloody exclamation point; vampires are evil, and the Slayer's job is to kill them. Personally, after having watched almost all of the TV episodes, I have had a growing affinity for characters such as Angel, Spike, Dru, and Darla. Because of the way that they are portrayed it is easy to forget that they are evil. For instance, some of the more heinous actions that have been shown on screen are performed by Angel, either before he had a soul, or after it was gone. Think of his brutal killing of Jenny Calendar and the subsequent torment of Giles (Season 2, Episode 7, "Passion"), or the numerous flashbacks and hallucinations caused by the First Evil detailing some of his prior victims (Season 3, Episode 10, "Amends"). Because Angel is usually one of the protagonists, it is easy to brush these revelations aside, and forget how evil vampires and the other demons on the show are: they don't just kill people, they also torture, torment and destroy them. Surely this lack of anecdotal evidence is due to the limitations of what is permissible on TV, and that is why this book hits so hard; through the often brutal accounts of Spike and Dru's attacks on the Slayers-In-Waiting and their Watchers you can begin to force the vampires on the TV show back into perspective. For instance, I find that it makes the dichotomy of Spike and Buffy's developing relationship on the TV show all the more poignant. The second thing that I liked most about the book continues the point that I made above: I thought Skrymir was a fascinating monster, totally unlike anything that has been on the TV show. Reading through the descriptions of his constantly changing forms and his essence, I could picture him clearly in my head, and at the same time appreciate how there is no way that they could ever afford to create a monster like that on the TV show. Major kudos to Mr. Golden for creating such a unique monster, and using the freedom inherent in writing a book to give us something that we would never see on TV. In conclusion, I think that this book more than any of the others has taken the opportunity of using a different medium to wildly expand the Buffy-verse. It has delivered a fascinating nemesis, and added depth to two of the main characters of the show, and in doing so has added additional perspective to the relationships between all of the characters.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book! A Little Off Though
Review: ok, this book was very good, especially if your a spike and dru die-hard fan... but, the information in the book was a little off.. If you know your spike info as well as i do, then if and when you read the book, you'll understand(*think of the slayers the show potrays that spike has killed-1 in boxer rebellion & 2 in the 60s or 70s in NYC). Other than that, the entire book was excellent, and you got to learn about a part of Spike and Drusillas relation ship as well as a bit about the watchers council.. i suggest you read it, especially if you luv the show. -Faith
Rating:
Summary: Big bad is back!!
Review: First off, let me say what a fantastic book this is. If you have never read a Buffy book, or have no idea who Spike and Dru are, you can pick this book up and not miss anything. Golden does that good of a job writing this book. He combines the myth of the Buffy series, and the backdrop of WWII in an interesting and creative story. The char's are incredible. Golden has nailed the char of Spike and Dru down pat. But there is so much more to this book besides Spike and Dru. The plot is increbidle. It's Dru's birthday and Spike wants to make sure he get's the prefect gift. He makes a deal with a unique demon. Spike and Dru must do one thing that this demon aske's the the gift will belong ot Dru. I won't say what the task is, or what the gift is, you'll have to read it to find out. The action and fight scenes are packed with action. The reader will (as did I) have a hard time putting this down, once they get into it. Through Golden's wonderful style of writing, the reader will get a good understanding of how much Dru and Spike love each other. It was interesting to see how Spike was in the past, before he met Buffy. Violent and rulthess, and when he wanted to do something, he did it. If anyone stood in his way, Spike took them out...voilently. This is a must read if you like good fiction or a fan of Spike and Dru. I highly suggest this book. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: What Spike and Dru did during the War
Review: When a Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel appears in hardback youknow it has to be pretty special, even if Buffy herself is never evenmentioned in the book, as is the case with Christopher Golden's"Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All In A Row." The "PrettyMaids" of the title are the Slayers in waiting, those young girlswho have been identified by the Watchers Council as potential Slayerand trained so that when the time comes they can handle theresponsibility. Hitler's Germany is about to invade France and foronce in her un-dead life Drusilla has something in mind for herbirthday: The necklace of the Brisings, known also as Freyja's Strand.Spike has promised her the trinket, which is supposedly in thepossession of an ice-demon named Skyrmir, who is too powerful for thevampires to overcome. But Skymir is willing to make a deal: if thevampires can find out the names of all the Slayers in waiting and killthem, Dru will get her happy birthday gift. The Slayer in thisnovel is Sophie Carstensen, a native of Denmark, who is forced to fleeher country when her Watcher, Yanna, is also a seer. However, withthe outbreak of war on the continent, all of the Vampires in Britainhead for the battlefield where the pickings will be easy, and theCouncil orders the Chosen One to follow them, even though the bulletsthat cannot kill the vampires can certainly kill the Slayer.Meanwhile, Spike and Dru are starting to knock off the pretty maidsone by one. When the Council sends the Slayer after the two vampireswhile the demon Skymir attacks the very stronghold of the Watcherswith his horde, Golden's narrative arrives at a most fatefulconfrontation. I had a little bit of trouble getting into the book,but once the situation was laid out for me I was hooked and theconclusion is as good as anything you will find in any other Buffynovel. Readers have to remember that the Spike they encounterwithin these pages is the Spike of the old days, paired up withDrusilla, and not the character's current persona on the televisionseries. His characterization is much stronger in the second half ofthe book than the first, but it is Drusilla that is really fleshed outin this book. Golden provides an insane sort of logic to her wildvisions and ramblings much more so than the series ever had time todevelop. Sophie the Vampire Slayer is not Buffy to be sure, but sheis certainly a Slayer appropriate to time and place with a very uniquerelationship with her Watcher. Plus she uses the family broadsword tocut off the heads of the vamps when she dusts them. There is even areference or two to the Giles family's association with the Councilfor those who like to see the past tied up neatly with the present. Iam one of those readers who think that the very best Buffy stories arepenned by Golden and Nancy Holder writing in tandem, but each hasproven capable of hitting the mark without the other. "PrettyMaids All In A Row" is certain Golden's best solo effort,richly deserving the hardback treatment. Final warning: do not expectthis story to neatly mesh with the mythology of Spike and Dru'sbackground as revealed on this year's cross-over episodes.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulously True
Review: "Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row" was a wondrous read from page one to conclusion. Not only did it revolve about the history of WWII, but moreover, the history of Spike & Dru. We learn more of their past, their evildoings, their habits, their loyalty. Many questions are answered about the Watcher's Council and Slayers in Training, as we see how they choose waiting Slayers, train them, prepare them, and more. Spike and Dru are fabulously evil, to each other and to everyone else. Two thumbs and two stakes way up to author Christopher Golden for a delightful read and engaging story.
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