Ok so I read this book (407) pages in 4 nights. That is how completely engrossed I was. So first I think im going to start by giving a bit of backround on why I chose this book and what it is about yada yada. So in my parents earlier years together they went to the musical Phantom of the Opera. Bought a cassette of the music and would play it for my sister and me whenever we would go on long car trips. years pass I forget about it then christmas 2001 my dad buys my mom the soundtrack to the new movie version of the musical. We play it in the car and i am completely creeped out at how familiar the music is. My mom explains the connection so thats done with. I then go see the movie LOVE IT. and once again years pass and I sort of forget about it. 2 summers ago my mom, cousin haley, aunt denise and alex go to see the musical up in the cities at the orpheum. Once again I am completely in love with it and have kinda been on a Phantom high ever sense. I know better now than I did years ago that the movie version is COMPLETE CRAP! and neither of the 2 leads are good singers and the musical has its issues too. Instead ive stuck to book. The original by Gaston Leroux is fantasic and should be read before you read any other spin off. The first spin off novel that I read (wich is my absolute favorite) is Phantom by Susan Kay. Having read that version first I realized that Progeny is almost more a spin off of the Kay book than Leroux original. Im only saying this b/c it may come up later in the review. Well know that that is out of the way, ill actually start to talk about the book. Progeny by Becky L. Meadows.

The first thing that I really love about this book is that each section of the book is told by different characters. Christine, Erik (for all of you strictly Andrew lloyd webber fans, This is the Phantoms real name)and Christian (Christines son, wich can get kind of confusing because of the name similirities)thank the lord we never hear it from Raouls perspective. Why? Well frankly because everyone hates Raoul and wants him to fail! :) Anywhy the frist chapter is in Christians point of view and it sets him in the cellars of the Opera house, chasing a strange man that he has seen hiding outside is dressing room every night (Christian is a musical prodigy and plays piano to warm up the crowd at the oepra) He tracks the man down and confronts him and is shocks to find the many strangely alluring. Not only because he is charming yet somewhat crazy, complementary yet very threatening, but he wheres MASK! ooh spooky. Now another thing I really like about phantom novels vs. musicals is that the phantom always has a full mask. not the stupid half face one. Good job Kay and Meadows! The phantom confesses he knows Christians mother and then dissapears. Christian want to learn more so when he goes home and tells his mother, christine completely freaks out claiming this cannot be true and he must have imagined the whole thing. couple chapters on christine meets the phantom again and follows him to the lake underneath the opera where his house is, and see his mother walking along the shore. Shes very depressed, crying, and yelling about how Erik must be dead, and Christain must never know....Christine leave and christian sneaks on the phantom and over hears him having a conversation with a character call the Persian (another Leroux character who was kept out the the musical.) The Persian tells Erik that he cannot go to Christine because he promised him that he would let her go. christain returns home and again like the pushy young man he is finally gets somewhat of the truth out of his mother.
We then switch to Christines point of view and she tells christian the story behind her and the masked man. but leaves out certain details to him. These details mainly focus on how she stayed withve him Erik after he let Raoul go. Christine marries Erik and for awhile they live happily together but Erik thinks that Christine will start to hate him if she stays underground with him. So Erik Fakes his own death so Christine can goes back to Raoul and livea happy life above ground. In a couple of months she has a baby! But whos baby is it........???NOT RAOULS! This is the one vital piece of information Christine keeps from christian thinking that he will got mad somehow if he knows who his real father is. After that whole confession is done christine returns to the lake and manages to find Eriks house where surprise surprise HES ALVIE!!! Christine is thrilled and angery. Theres alot of crying that im not even going to start to get into but basically She and the Phantom are reunited. While she still lives at her house with Raoul she spends as much time as possible at the Opera house with Erik. In this time She finially fesses up to Erik that christian is His son not Rouls. Throughout the book there are alot of physical characteristic comparisons between Erik and Christian so they reading knows they are father and son from right off. With this confesssion we move to Eriks point of view.
Of course Erik is over joyed to learn that chrisian is his son instead of Raouls wich was the only thing keeping him from liking the boy. But of course we cannot let christian know that because if his did he would just go crazy! :S So skipping over alot of crying and ranting, christian starts to trust Erik after Erik gets him off the hook for murdering some muggers. chrisian also meets and falls in love with a girl named Madaline. When christian tells Erik her name, its written that Erik "gives a slight twitch" wich annoys me because I believe this is a refference to the Susan Kay novel in which Eriks mother's name is Madaline. But this is really all thats said about the subject and it might just be me being overly read.
The last sections are mostly in Christine and christians view and this they consist alot of Christine crying about how she doesnt want Erik to kill Raoul, Christine tends to be kind of a whinning selfish baby in any version of the story you read. This always turn out for the best when Raoul dies. Also there is alot of christian wondering why he doesnt look like his father and why he feels more connected to Erik...blah blah but ill skip to the end. Being the Fop that he is Raoul has had no clue what has been going on until he finally starts to notice that Christine has been missing from the house for the past couple nights and she is in a better mood than she has ever been thier entire marrige. He ends up telling Christian that he is not his son but Eriks. christian has a momentary freak out but nothing really all that bad. So Raoul follows Christine to the cellars of the opera house one night and who should he meet? ERIK!!! Despite her pleas, Erik pretty much beats the crap out of Raoul and finally kills him (YES!) UNTIL Raoul whips out a gun (guns ruin everything in phantom spin offs)and shoots a blind shot at Erik. Thankfully it doesnt not hit him. BUT IT HITS CHRISTINE!!!! I cannot express how angery I was when I read this I almost threw my book across the room. But she doesnt die right then and there. No, I must read through another agonizing 5 pages until Christine actually dies. Somehow Raoul survives and is saved by Christain. Christian is extreamly depress by his mothers death and begins to build a stornger relationship with his real father although he still lives with Raoul. GAAG. Sadly this only last for about 3 pages and is just told to the reading by christian thinking about his chats with Erik and how Erik is becoming more drawn and speaks of conversations with Christine and how she comes and visits him very day. Its all a downward spiral until Erik finally dies. :'( (wheter it be from a broken heart or the heart condition he has wich is mentioned in the book) With both of its main charcters death in the last 15 pages, and the fact that Raoul is still alive, I dont see how the story could have made me any angrier but then skip ahead a year or so after Erik and Christines death and we come into a scene where Christians wife Madaline is giving birth to their child. Christian worries that the child could possibly have a face like Eriks so we are all kept on pins and needles. The baby is born and neither Christian or Madaline can see it yet. The doctor holds it saying "oh my God" then Raoul burst in laughing like a freaking maniac and the book ends with the words "HE SHALL BE CHRISTENED ERIK!" BOOM END BOOK.This is where I had a breif spaz attack actually lettting out a frustrated RAHHAJSDKFAHAHHA!!! He is disfigured or not? Is Raoul laughing because the child is disfigured like his real grandfather or is he just coo-coo for coco puffs???? WE dont know! and We (as in I) will not know until my copy ofthe sequal "Phantasy" gets here. Wich I ordered as soon as I finsihed with this one. Now how Becky L. Meadows wrote a sequal in wich its main character are dead I have no idea. But with a cliff hanger like that I dont see how I could not read it and live.
Now mind you this is a very dumbed down review of the book wich is sooo good and addicting. It has so much more depth and backstory that I could have hoped for but I got in as much as I could without copy and pasting the entire novel on here. So sorry if there is some confusion at some parts. Like I said before. This is a spin of the Leroux Novel, not the Musical. Hopefully my book will get here soon so I can stop tossing and turing over how the book could possibly end. And Mr. Kray sorry for how long and probably utterly boring this reveiw was!