Demon Doppelgangers
Reviewed by Tim McCree
January 2006

BOOK: Demon Doppelgangers
AUTHOR:  Greg Elliot
NOTE: This review may contain plot spoilers.

    Well, after that horrible, awful, Charmed “tabloid” book that I had to endure last month, it was nice to get back to a real Charmed book that I could enjoy.  I think this book fit the bill very nicely.

    As the story begins, life is going good for Paige. She has a new temp job at a museum, that she really enjoys, and she’s met a new guy, Chase. All in all, Paige is happy, so something has to go wrong, of course. One day, a stone egg, which is said to be from Ancient Greece,  turns up. It gives Paige the creeps. She asks Phoebe and Piper to come and investigate and soon all three sisters know that
something is lurking in this egg, something evil and dangerous.

    Before long, Chase becomes influenced by the egg. He begins reciting words in Ancient Greek, a language he knows nothing about. These words cause the egg to open and release a Demon, which immediately takes Chase’s form. Once the Demon has achieved full strength, Chase is reduced to a paralyzed state. However, that is not the worst of it. The Charmed Ones soon find out that whenever they attempt to kill the Demon, the Demon not only revives, but multiplies. Also, the Demon doppelgangers are, from that point on, immune to said means of killing it (for example Piper blowing them up). With Phoebe having
premonitions of total Armageddon if the Demon is not stopped, the Charmed Ones soon face a choice of saving the life of one man, or saving the whole world.

    Once again the Charmed Books have given us a well written tale that the series could only dream about. I found this story to be very exciting and well paced. The Halliwell sisters are once again portrayed as caring people, clearly hoping to stop the Demon and save the world.  Although I knew they would win in the end (after all, they always win), I did feel worried for them at times. This author knows how to keep the readers entertained.

    It’s nice to see Paige finally get a good story written around her. The show has pretty much left her in a dry spell lately and I’m glad the books haven’t done that.  I’ve always liked Paige and I think this story does her character justice. Hopefully, we’ll see more of this in the future.

    Also, I should mention that the guys of Charmed, Leo and Daryl, also get good parts in this book. Since the show made the idiotic choice of removing these two
characters, the books are now the only place you’ll get to see them. Believe me, fans of Leo and Daryl will not be disappointed in this book.  At least the authors of the books know how to treat these characters with respect (unlike a certain writer/producer, who shall go nameless). 

    Some other points:

    -once again we have Wyatt, but still no Chris.

    -there is a curious subplot about something being wrong with the books at P3.  Piper investigates. However, this is soon resolved and is never mentioned again.  I wonder why it was included in the first place, since it had no real impact on the overall story.

    -they did take some liberties here with Ancient Greece. However, the average reader probably won’t notice.

    -the Elders are mentioned a few times in this book. As usual, they offer little to no help.  Who needs them!?

    -once again the Charmed Ones are showed not only saving Innocents, but actually caring about said Innocents as well.  Once again the books succeed where the TV series falls short.

    -also, several real locations in San Francisco are used in this story, such as the PanAmerican Building (the tall pyramid-shaped building you’ve seen numerous times on Charmed and any other show set in San Francisco).  A nice touch on the part of the author of this story.

    In closing let me say that I really enjoyed this book.  I give it a 9/10.
 

   HOME