The end? Hardly...

Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers ....the place to be when you're looking for a deliciously bookish treat that will whisk you away to world's of which you may only dream.
Today as opposed to yesterday (yeah....life got busy but I don't think you guys minded the contest now, did you?), we draw a conclusion of sorts to the week long feature of a spooky dark Young Adult series you've got to read to believe.  This final review will be short and sweet not because an alien has abducted me and is controlling all I say and do but simply because the US edition of said title doesn't release til November this year and if things go according to plan, I may be revisiting it again at that time (*fingers crossed*).  Anywho....today's on the go featured title and final installment in the series of awesome is...
ESCAPE FROM FURNACE, BOOK 5:
EXECUTION
by
Alexander Gordon Smith
The cover to this one probably strikes you as off compared to the others seen this week....am i right?  That's one of the differences when reading from a different edition of a novel. You get use to one look and BAM, you've got a different image now to contend with. Doesn't sound like a big issue, I know...but it can make a difference depending on the reader.  This one for example...not certain if the person in white is a wheezer or one of the army henchmen working for  Colonel Panettierre.  Oh wait...my bad. You don't know who that is yet... *-* ...trust me when I say it's much better for YOU that way. Then we have the baldy guy in the corner...the Warden perhaps?  But then again, he's suppose to be dead now...?? Too many questions to ponder I suppose, but I will say the creepy house image does peak my curiosity.  Moving on...
The beginning of this book treats us to a recap of the final scenes from book four....a furious recap for someone that REALLY wants to know what happens next!  Whether or not this is because of the edition remains to be seen as the others I've read of the series were US editions.  Once we've painstakingly gotten on the same page, the battle continues for Alex and his remaining friends putting more than just their lives as risk but the fate of the entire world. Furnace is still a force to be met and reckoned with but perhaps even more blood stallingly cold is the realization that those who seem to be the good guys, there to help them out....are really after the very thing that started it all, for their own malevolent purposes.  I mean we've run across black suits, skinless dogs, wheezers and berserkers and a HUMAN that's lost her ever loving mind (and humanity) is a thing to be feared most. Trust me....she is. Moving forward...
Alex's journey is far from over as is that of his friends  both new and old. They make some startling revelations along the way about themselves, each other, and the world around them. Foes become friends (sorta), friends become sacrifices (unfortunately but in a save-the-world self sacrificing way) and everything you thought you understood about Furnace's motivations will be questioned...especially when you meet the man himself...or what's left of him anyway. (He won't be on the cover of GQ anytime soon to put it mildly.) The circumstances are terrible and the consequences of Alex's actions or lack of action, unthinkable...but a stronger person, a stronger team has not been seen when it comes to what they've been through and what they'll do to make sure it doesn't happen again.  Will they succeed?  Hard to say....but if I was a betting girl, my money would be on them.
All in all, a satisfying conclusion to a series that started out as a mere curiousity and grew into a must-read-now desire at a rapid pace.  It's a story about man's atrocities against man and how evil begets evil...most of the time.  It may give one pause when considering how much of our actual past is in the book; hopefully it gives us just as much pause when considering how we can change our futures.  Recommended read for older teens and beyond. It was look dark and twisted (and it is) but there's a heart of gold beating just beneath the surface if only you take the time to see it....
Review copy borrowed from Mom. (Yup...again. Thanks Mom!) Stay turned for its release stateside this November from Farrar Straus Gireoux / MacMillan Children's Publishing. If you've already raced through the series and can't wait for more, be sure to check out the official website for a special Epilogue that brings things to an even more satifying end.
Until next time....happy reading!