The Suicide King

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

THE SUICIDE KING

Robert Joseph Levy (2005)

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Second Season

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Angel, Xander, Willow, Cordelia, Giles, Spike, Drusilla, Snyder, Jenny Calendar, The Mayor, Jonathan, Sheila Rosenberg, Willy the Snitch

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Diana Fitzgerald (student), Douglas Teal (grief counselor), K’adolh (demon), Anna & Ilon (cultists)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: “A rash of student suicides sweeps through Sunnydale High, jolting the community. When the newly arrived grief counselor ends up killing himself, Buffy and the gang begin to suspect there’s something supernatural to blame. Soon one of their own begins to show signs of debilitating despondency, and it becomes a race against time for the Slayer to defeat the ancient threat known as the Suicide King.”

REVIEW

The Suicide King is the first in the new “Stake Your Destiny” series of Buffy choose-your-own adventure books. For those unfamiliar with the format, the story is told as if the author were speaking to Buffy (“You race down the hallway, knowing vampires are right behind you”). Every few pages the reader has to decide what Buffy should do next, and is then directed to certain pages to continue the story (“Do you stake the vampires? Go to Page 42. Do you keep running? Go to Page 95”). With the anime-style cover, high school setting, and choose-your-own adventure format, the series is obviously aimed towards a younger demographic than the show drew near the end of its run. However, that doesn’t mean it’s tame: the story starts out with a girl plunging a knife into her own skull!

The plot is original and interesting, something many of the standard Buffy novels lack. Why are so many students and teachers killing themselves? Who’s behind it and why? The answers take Buffy into conflict with (depending on the reader) cultists, demons, and even old friends like Spike and Drusilla. The story is well written and contains good humor and characterization.

Perhaps my only complaint is how hard it is! The first time I tried it I got killed very quickly. A friend suggesting I needed to think “What Would Buffy Do?” I tried a second time, and ended up getting arrested and shipped off to live with Dad. On my third and last try, I got killed again! Indeed, flipping through the book, there are far more bad endings than good (or even mediocre) endings. Still, the book was fun, light reading and I’m looking forward to checking out other ones in the series.

(c) 2005 Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com)