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Average Customer Rating: 
After Image (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #1:
"Im not stupid," Cordelia interrupted.
If I hadnt just read Spark and Burn, I would say that Afterimage boded well for the future of Buffy as a book series. Pierce Askegren wedges this story into the time period just as Xander and Cordelia are about to become an item. Its Buffys junior year during that brief but magical time when things seemed to be going well. Well, as well as slayage ever gets. As stranger (Balsamo) comes to town with a plan to resurrect the Sunnydale drive-in in true 50s style and suddenly waves of strange events haunt the worlds most haunted town.
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lt;br /gt;On patrol Buffy and Angel find themselves confronted with werewolves and nightmarish bikers who disappear into thin air when injured. Books disappear from Giles library with the aid of new school nurse and a cheerleader garbed in pink. Both of which also disappear. The Bronze gets a new visitor or two, and suddenly people are taking extra long naps. It takes a while to pin the source of the problem down, but it should be no surprise that Balsamo is not a good guy and that all the ectoplasmic weirdness has something to do with his real identity. The Scooby gang to the rescue, of course.
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lt;br /gt;Askegren does an excellent job of recreating the characters. He handles Cordelia especially well, emphasizing her better qualities. The story borrows its location from other chronicles of the Buffiverse, but it is by no means a slavish effort to simply repeat the same old stuff. As a result the story manages to maintain its freshness. Not at all a bad effort, especially for someones first try at a Buffy story. It lacks the drama of some of the other novels, but Im sure most fans will enjoy this visit to the hellmouth.
After Image (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #2:
 Good Solid Fun Read
Im suprised that some other reviewers, who basically liked this book, only gave it 3 stars. This isnt American Idol, you dont have to be so exacting. Ive read practically all the Buffy books and this isnt the best, but I still gave it 5 stars. Why? Because its GOOD. The author captured the characters, dialogue and the fun aspects of the show well. Also, I thought the whole drive-in concept was pretty clever and original with some funny moments. I loved the whole Inga/Giles bit too! Some parts lag a bit with some spotty writing here and there, but lighten up folks. Wouldnt you all rather have this guy write another book then some of the hacks theyve had in the past? At least Askegren knows what hes doing, Marie Celeste flub, aside. My 5 stars indicate to other Buffy fans that Afterimage is worthwhile and a fun read, nothing more. Whats the best? Thats debateable. Lets try to encourage the publishers to keep the good writers, like this guy, going. Who knows maybe his next one WILL be the best.
After Image (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) >
Customer Review #3:
 Jhaemans Review
Afterimage
lt;br /gt;Pierce Askegren (2006)
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lt;br /gt;RATING: 3/5 Stakes
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lt;br /gt;SETTING: Season Two (ambiguous)
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lt;br /gt;CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, Giles, Xander, Joyce, Angel, Harmony, Aura, Jonathan, Principle Snyder, Xanders Dad, Xanders Mom
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lt;br /gt;MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Balsamo (Caliogstro, evil alchemist); Amanda (Magic Box employee)
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lt;br /gt;BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Sunnydale, California, hosts more than its fair share of action and horror. Its understandable, then, that news of the long-closed Sunnydale Drive-Ins grand reopening with a scheduled night-long festival of classic action and horror movies is met with disinterest or disdain by Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia. Only Xander, who has been spending his afternoons on the drive-ins work crew, is eager to enjoy the rewards of his effort. Buffy is too distracted to sit and take in a movie, anyway. A frightening encounter with a werewolf ends with its vanishing-not into the woods, but evaporating like a ghost before her eyes. Suspicious people in dated clothing and hairstyles are spotted throughout town but dont appear to be the usual vampires. And most disturbing, a sleeping sickness begins to sweep over town, leaving those affected in a state of extreme drowsiness-or a coma. Its no wonder no one notices the distinguished-looking gentleman of indeterminate age. His name is Balsamo. At least, thats what hes calling himself this century. But Xander simply knows him as `Boss and has been promised a prime parking space for the upcoming evenings spectacle. . . ."
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lt;br /gt;REVIEW
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lt;br /gt;With such a thorough back-of-the-book summary, I almost dont even feel the need to recap the plot, but here I go anyway: Sunnydale has a new drive-in movie theater and you can bet something bad is gonna happen when it opens (anything new in Sunnydale is almost automatically evil). The man with the plan is a centuries-old schemer better known as the evil alchemist Caliogstro, and the magic crystals that power his movie projector make some of the screen characters become real. Oh, and if you go to see a movie? Good chance youll fall into a coma real quick.
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lt;br /gt;Afterimage is well-plotted and paced, with a good lead-up to the mystery and one of the better demonstrations of how the Scoobys do detective work. Although the dialogue is only average, the action scenes are enjoyable and theres a very sweet scene when Xander, unable to convince anyone to go to the drive-in with him on opening night, decides to ask Jonathan. All in all, an average but satisfying offering.
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lt;br /gt;Simon and Schuster has continued to focus most of its recent Buffy books on the high school years-wouldnt it be interesting to see them try a more intense, hard-edged, high-stakes novel geared toward adults?
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lt;br /gt;Jhaemans Buffy Reviews: www.geocities.com/jhaeman
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lt;br /gt;(c) 2006 Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com)
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