Endangered Species is entertaining and action-packed fun. Not surprisingly, its very high on the action and fighting, but pretty low on the character development. But in this story, it seems like it doesnt really matter.The gang is out patrolling one night when they are cornered by mutated demons... and soon rescued by their creator, Chaz Escobar. Chaz reveals that he was on his private island with his wife, Marianna, who was recently turned into a vampire. The two loved to hunt; they sponsored special gatherings in which a breed of demon, or even human, would be the prey. Marianna, however, escaped from the island and Chaz believes she may be in Los Angeles fulfilling her deepest wish: to capture and then hunt a Slayer. The Slayer in question is Faith, who is still serving her sentence in prison.
Chaz soon reveals, though, that he is searching for a way to cure his wife of her vampirism. To do so he needs the Book of Interregnum, the most evil book ever made. But the way he plans on curing Marianna isnt whats expected: he wants to destroy all vampires. And hes not the only one after the Book... another vampire (incidentally sired by Drusilla) is looking for it to raise the Beast of the First Blood... AKA the first vampire.
Endangered Species has several high points: the return of Faith, who was been absent from the Buffy-verse for years now, several flashbacks to Darla and Angeluss past, and a wonderfully written Hawaiian character who comes to Angels rescue. There are also a fair share of low points: Faith is actually hardly in the novel, the final battle drags on for too long, and most of the outcomes are very predictable.
Overall, I would recommend Endangered Species. If youre a die-hard Angel fan, you might want to get it right away. If youre just a reader who enjoys the novels, you may want to wait until this ones available in paperback.
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