"Fear" Keeps the Suspense Going

Five books in, Fear retains all the great qualities of the previous four books, even as the red shirt, climatic battle with Drake and death of some other baddie starts feeling repetitive. Clocking in at over 500 pages, this is one of the longest books in the series by far, and Grant maintains the mounting suspense, surprising (and shocking) twists, and realistic character development that has made the series so compelling. However, beneath all the action, horror, and suspense, one can sense that the author was running out of steam, making this book a little more uneven than the first few.

I can never figure out who the kids on the cover are supposed to be...

The looming crisis in this volume is the impending darkness of the sphere, stemming from the gaiaphage and blackening the barrier, eventually obliterating all sky light in the FAYZ. Astrid has exiled herself from the new communities as a form of punishment for her desperate act of the previous book--and she is easily one of the best-written characters in this volume. Sam and his crew have set up a new community at the lake they had found, and enjoyed four months of relative prosperity. Things in Perdido Beach are not as peaceful, however, as one of Quinn's fishermen is sentenced to being tortured by the visions of Penny, who herself begins to plot a coup against "King Caine" when he is pressured by Quinn to get rid of her. Meanwhile, Drake is on a mission for his master: to bring Diana, and her baby, to its lair, and Petey has become a disembodied spirit with the ability to manipulate living things--often with horrific results.

Things go south fast in this book, but not before a good deal of time is taken to catch up the reader on the past four months and spend some time with each set of characters, which slows down the momentum of the book. It's a lot more quiet and pensive in the beginning, which ain't a bad thing. We also get a glimpse of what has happened in the outside world after all this time--and a plot to destroy the sphere forever. The greatest strength remains to be the complex character development, strongly evidenced in this volumes by Astrid, Dekka, Sam, and Brianna--with Quinn and Caine revealing new sides of themselves, as well. Astrid's was by far the most profound, as she had lost her faith and accepts her desire for Sam, rather than try to push it away. We see Dekka and Brianna be hopelessly vulnerable--and Orc, too, come to think of it.

The ending--which was quite cool and surprising--opens up the door for further interesting character conflict, as the world of FAYZ is now open for the adults to see--without the benefit of warm embraces and lengthy explanations. (And imagine the pressure of being seen while going about your business running a run-down world!) For that reason, and not the final demise of the gaiaphage, I am excited to see what happens in the final volume.

In spite of its enduring strengths, Fear had many weaknesses, mainly figuring around the mutant baby of Diana's that the gaiaphage possesses. It was one thing to have the "bad girl" endure a pregnancy, but once it accelerates and the baby is born, I couldn't help but giggle a little bit because it's so convenient that the gaiaphage can accelerate growth, I find the precocious monster baby trope a little silly (as well as precocious babies in general), and I am immature. Even with Penny's quick descent into madness and evil and Cigar's beady new eyes, I found the baby gaiaphage to be the silliest turn that the Gone series has taken thus far.

I found other aspects problematic, as well. While the depiction of violence and madness has usually been handled tactfully in the series, the introduction of Penny as a "pure evil" character as bad as Drake, and Cigar's descent into madness as a result of her own, paints a problematic picture of both. While in a world where survival is prime, the mad and the violent are most often shunned or condemned to death, a sad state of affairs, I still find it terrible that nobody has tried to help them. Mad people need help, not to be euthanized or brutally killed. Another small issue I had was the abrupt reveal of Edilio's relationship with Artful Roger. Though Sam calls him "gay," I doubt that Edilio should have accepted the label so blatantly. Didn't he have a little crush on Lana at first? I would say he's at least bisexual. He just happens to like this guy.

All told, however,  Fear remains a quality installment to the series, with a cliffhanging finish that leaves you beyond excited for the next volume. I give it 3 stars out of 5.