Pied Piper
Reviewed by Tim McCree
November 2004

BOOK: Pied Piper
AUTHOR:  Debbie Viguie
NOTE: This review may contain plot spoilers.

You’ve probably heard of the legendary Pied Piper, who lured the children of the village of Hamlin to follow him with his music. Well, in this book, Piper Halliwell becomes a magnet for children, and she is clearly not happy about it.

As this story unfolds, Piper suddenly finds herself swamped with children, who keep showing up at the Manor for no apparent reason. She, Phoebe, Paige, Leo, and Daryl are run ragged, returning the children to their homes, only to have said children return to Piper’s side once again. While all this is going on, candidates for the job of conductor for the new children’s orchestra are being killed off, one by one, and no one knows why. Finally, Paige becomes infatuated with Dale Allen, who is one of said candidates, his music seems to entrance her somehow. Can the Charmed Ones figure out what is going on and stop it before it’s too late?

I really enjoyed this novel, it was a very good story and it looked at Piper and Leo struggling with the decision to have children. Of course, we all know how that turned out in the end, but still it was interesting to read how the couple tried to reconcile having a child with their magical duties. At this point, Leo is more into the idea of having kids than Piper is, but as the story progresses, she slowly realizes that she would like a child of her own.

Paige also shines in this story as she explores her feelings for Dale. She really likes him, and wonders if this relationship could work. After all, Paige has not had many long term relationships lately. You can’t blame her for wanting to give this one a try. However, the question is how can she maintain this relationship without compromising her status as a Charmed One? Not an easy question.

Phoebe does some leg work in this book, trying to fit everything together. She looks into the murders of the two candidates, in fact, she is present when they are killed. Phoebe is anguished at being unable to save them and is determined to find out why they died in the first place. Unlike the show, where they now lose Innocents all the time without batting an eye, Phoebe actually cares about those she cannot save in this story and it is a welcome sight.

Daryl also gets some good scenes in this book. He is so underused on the show that sometimes I wonder why he is on it at all. At least the books seem to give his character some decent lines, something the show is sadly lacking these days.

Some other points:

1. Once again Cole is MIA. He is not even mentioned in this book.

2. Paige is still working at the Social Services Center in this story, placing it before the beginning of Season Five. Since Piper is not pregnant yet, this story must take place late in Season Four.

3. Once again I must beat this dead horse. When the Innocents in this story died, Phoebe was right there, yet she saw no spirits. *sigh!*

4. There is a subplot involving Leo looking out for one of his other charges which eventually fits into the main story. It was good how the author tied it all together.

All in all, this is a very good Charmed book and I highly recommend it. I give it an 8/10 rating.

Since this is the last Charmed book to come out in 2004, I guess I’ll wish all the readers of this review a Happy New Year. See you all in 2005!

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