True to my word, I didn't wait long after finishing The Chaos to dive into Infinity, the third book in the series. I've got to say...it was almost as good as the other two, and definitely another page turner. If you haven't picked up this series yet, you need to. Let me tell you why.

Infinity picks up two years after The Chaos, and Sarah and Adam are living in a tent, roaming about after an earthquake has devastated London. Along with them they have Sarah's two younger brothers and Mia, Sarah's daughter. When they chance upon a community that seems inviting, Sarah, who is pregnant, really wants to stay, but Adam fears he is still being hunted for his ability to see "numbers"--when a person will die. As it turns out, he's got every reason to be worried, because three men on motorcycles show up looking for him, and they take Mia in order to get to him. Taken to an underground bunker, Adam is separated from Mia and Sarah (who has gone after her daughter), and it's obvious that the men are not the kindly souls they are pretending to be--they want something and they're willing to go to great lengths to get it.

My biggest issue with this installment was the fact that I could never truly understand how the men knew about Mia's number swap--I went back over it and even though I could see why they wanted Adam, I felt like more explanation was needed. I do think the way the story is ultimately resolved was brilliant--the author certainly threw a curve I wasn't expecting, and I loved it! I literally raced through this one, and am sad that the series is done. Creative and riveting, this entire series is an absorbing read. Give it a try.

~taminator40

The Half Life of Molly Pierce

Molly Pierce has a secret, but she doesn't know what it is. Everyone else around her does, but they won't share. Oh, and it's about Molly. If she wants to know what it is, she's going to have to peel the layers back and find out for herself.

I have to say, this book kept me guessing. I read it in one day because I needed to know what was going on and how it was all going to play out. There's just enough revealed at a time that you start to glimpse the bigger picture at least by midway, but it's still unclear as to details, right up until the very end. There's death, there's love, there's friendship, there's family, and there's Molly, trying to make sense of it all, just as we are.

I won't give away the secret here, but I will say it's plausible in a lot of ways, and not so plausible in others. The idea that so many people actually know what's going on yet they all allow Molly to figure things out in her own frustrating time wasn't the most realistic experience, in my opinion, but since it works in the book, I could go with the flow. And flow it does; one page leads to another quickly as you just have to find out what's going on. It's not the best writing in the universe, but it is engaging and it is a page-turner. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

~taminator40

Underwhelmed

Don't you just hate it when you wait and wait for a sequel to an exciting book, and then you find it so underwhelming? That's how I feel about Meg Cabot's Underworld, the sequel to the very fun Abandon. So bummed.

Underworld picks up the story of Pierce and her undead boyfriend, John, as they try to escape the Fury currently possessing her grandmother's body. Pierce awakens in the Underworld where John has taken her and where he works as a lord of the dead, sorting souls so they can pass on to their ultimate fate. Pierce quickly realizes John has done this to protect her, but she's worried about her family back in the living world, and her fear only multiplies when she receives a strange video on her cell phone of her cousin Alex trapped inside a coffin, in danger of dying. So she convinces John to take her back to rescue Alex, but of course the mission doesn't go smoothly and Pierce's life--and Alex's--are on the line.

First I'll say I loved Abandon; the pages flew by when I read it and I couldn't wait for the sequel. Unfortunately, the intriguing story of Abandon isn't found in Underworld. Pierce is reliant on John most of the time, and he spends most of the book keeping dark secrets from her, which she excuses. The entire story takes place in about 24 hours but most of it is spent with Pierce trying to decide what she wants...and then changing her mind. The fact that she decides she can't face her parents, knowing if she stays with John she will never be with them again, just left me feeling cold, and her conversation with her uncle was just odd. And while much of the storyline centers on the likeness of Pierce's situation to that of Persephone, a lot of time was spent trying to show just how they were different. I just couldn't get past the fact that John was making the decisions while withholding important information. So not okay...and Pierce comes off as immature rather than independent.

There are good things in Underworld; Cabot's writing, as usual, is fast and fluent and her secondary characters are entirely charming. Kayla, John's crew, and even the dove Hope all shine whenever they are involved, and Mr. Smith and his partner are very delightful. I just felt like I spent 300+ pages not really going very far and watching Pierce go backwards in her personality. What should be a love story is starting to feel like a control story, and I want Pierce to step up and take charge. This is not a bad book, but it is lacking in spirit and personality, in my opinion. Not sure if I'll be back for the final book or not.

~taminator40