Sully

"On a related note, this is the most effed-up thing I've ever heard."
"Stick around," Lia told her.  "The puppies and rainbows come after the murder and mayhem."

"On a related note, this is the most effed-up thing I've ever heard."
"Stick around," Lia told her.  "The puppies and rainbows come after the murder and mayhem."

The gang is back for one more time at the rodeo.  With the knowledge that her mother is alive, Cassie has hope even though the people holding her mom are more messed up than anything else the Naturals have had to deal with before.  Add in the next round of Fibonacci murders, and Cassie and gang are pretty darn busy throughout this book.

While I adore this series, I thought this final installment could have been done better.  There is so much going on with so many new players and so many old players brought back to light that it is difficult to keep track of everyone.  Also, the plot is a little everywhere.  Barnes certainly attempted to go out with a bang.  We have a kidnapping of someone's old friend who turns out to be something more, we have the murders that hit a little too close to home, we have the Nine and the Masters and the Pythia.  And a cult to boot.  You can definitely tell that Barnes is well rehearsed in psychology and psychiatry (if I remember correctly, schizophrenia even pops up somewhere in the mix).

I liked the ending, though I thought the major twist/plot reveal of certain members of the Masters left a little to be desired.  Considering their involvement in the series, I feel like Barnes could have dropped a few more cookie crumbs along the way instead of just pulling their identities out of left field.  Though to be fair, it's been a while since I read the other books in the series.  Perhaps a series reread is required to see if I can find the crumbs if I'm looking for them.  I also thought the emotion after the climax could have been done a little better.  People seem to just accept and move on instead of question and agonize like I would expect.  It almost felt a little clinical in some areas.

Overall though, I still love this series.  This one was a little more far reaching and expansive than the others, but still.  Well done.  I'm gonna buy them all.