Amazon Review
The third Buffy the Vampire Slayer hardback novel, The Book of Fours, is an adult horror novel, an action-packed adventure spanning several centuries and continents. It's set during season three of the series; floods and hurricanes are wreaking havoc in Sunnydale, while a major forest fire rages nearby. When earthquakes begin to hit, Giles realises that all four of the primal elements--earth, air, fire and water--are involved. Willow and Buffy both dream of previous Slayers, who warn that the Gatherer, an ancient entity that feeds on souls, and has a special taste for Slayers, is on the way to Sunnydale. Each Slayer is associated with one of the elements--Faith is fire and Buffy is air ("No airhead jokes," says Buffy), Kendra was Earth, and Buffy's immediate predecessor, India Cohen, was water. Together, the combined power of the two living and two dead Slayers may be able to stop the Gatherer. Nancy Holder's complex tale of unfolding evil spans the centuries: from the Arabian desert of AD 1200, to the Watchers' Council headquarters in London, to modern Jamaica where Kendra's Watcher reminisces about her battles with a voodoo master, then back to Sunnydale as the Gatherer's consort, the almost immortal Cecile Lafitte, prepares for the final ritual that will allow it to walk the Earth. All the plot-lines draw together into a major finale that is a fitting climax to the story. This is a strong entry in the series from the now seasoned pen of Nancy Holder. --Elizabeth Sourbut