With the rather predictable exception of Nancy Holder's effort, Pocket Books' Angel novels have been shaping up nicely, and Don DeBrandt's Shakedown certainly doesn't let the side down.

Doyle's vision of an earthquake that destroys Los Angeles leads Angel Investigations into contact with a couple of interesting demon races.

The first, the Serpentene are a wealthy bunch of demons descended from snakes, whose affluence is able to override Cordy's dislike of all things demonic - not something that Doyle can hope to achieve due to his fondness for bars and gambling.  The second are the Temblors, a race of powerful quake demons.

As usual, Angel Investigations' current case leads Angel to reflect on his past life as Angelus, and we get to see just why he's guilt ridden and brooding.

Cordy and Doyle are also well handled, although like the TV series, the novels don't get the Irish side of things quite right.  Nevertheless, Cordy's acting ambitions and Doyle's gambling - his being down on his luck proves invaluable - are all present and correct.

There was the possibility that both the Serpentene and the Tremblors could have been little more than your average Doctor Who bad guys with a talkative leader and his band of heavies.  Fortunately, both demon races prove interesting, although Cordy possibly seems a little too friendly with one, even if it seems that it could provide her big break.

However, that's not really a problem and Shakedown proves well up the standard of the rest of the range.  It's nice to see Doyle in a few more stories, but after four original novels, perhaps it's time for Pocket Books to start setting their novels post-Hero. 

Back to the top