The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

Title:  The Reckoning
Author:  Kelley Armstrong
Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date:  April 2010
Format:  Hardcover, 400 pages
Age Group:  Young Adult
Series:  Darkest Powers (Book 3)

Chloe Saunders and her friends think they have finally found a group of adults willing to help them escape from the Edison Group, the scientists who genetically altered their supernatural abilities.  However, things become more complicated as they struggle to figure out who they can really trust as they try to rescue their friends who were left behind.

The Reckoning is the final book in the Darkest Powers trilogy.  This is NOT a series that can be read out of order as each book picks up essentially where the last one leaves off and it is a continuous storyline throughout the three books.  All three of the books are filled with non-stop action as the teens must contend with a variety of obstacles to their freedom.

Just looking at this book individually, I loved it.  Chloe and her friends all continue to grow as they learn more about their powers and how they were altered.  They learn a bit more important information about their larger role in the experiments and who is really behind the Edison Group.  Their relationships within the group continue to evolve as each teen takes on new roles as necessary.  There were a few times when I thought I knew something that was happening only to find out a bit later that it wasn't exactly the way I thought.  This kept me a bit off balance which is exactly how the teens felt most of the book.  The things they thought they understood were constantly shifting.

However, as much as I loved the book, I did not think it was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.  There were many loose ends and unanswered questions.  After reading a bit more on Kelley Armstrong's website, I do now understand why she left things this way.  The Darkest Powers trilogy is actually the first in a series of trilogies.  While the next set of books will focus on a different group of characters, Armstrong says we will see Chloe and her friends again at some point in the series.  The next trilogy is called Darkness Rising and will begin with The Gathering (Spring 2011).  I can see how using another set of characters will be useful for approaching information about the Edison Group from a different direction.  I do have one question about Chloe specifically that I wish had been answered because there was an obvious significance to another character but it is never explained fully.  Knowing that Chloe and friends won't show up until at least the third book in the next series is an awfully long time to wait and I hope this question won't get lost along the way.  (Yes, I'm being intentionally vague because I don't want to give away anything in the story.)

I borrowed The Reckoning from my local library and no one anywhere had any expectation of a review.

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