THE KILN

An exciting if thin conclusion to the Fire-us trilogy. The headlong flight that concludes The Keepers of the Flame (2002) has led the children to “grandmother’s house”—also known as The Woods: A Golf-Centered Retirement Community. There, a group of inexplicably surviving elderly women thrives, with a herd of goats and a fleet of solar-powered golf carts. Mommy, Hunter, Teacher, Angerman, and Cory are understandably wary after their near-escape from the deranged Keepers. But the grandmas seem sincerely kind, if occasionally senile. Though they have found a comfortable and protected place to be, the children know they must finish their quest to find President and learn the reason for the Fire-us plague. In a drama-filled journey, the children learn answers to questions that have worried them since they began. What was the reason for the plague? Why did they (and the grandmas) survive? And what is wrong with Angerman? Even Angerman’s name is discovered, in a revelation of his history that resolves his traumas and leaves him sane. This adventure is jam-packed with thrills, narrow escapes, and grief, and the answers will satisfy fans. But the evil responsible for the near-destruction of life on earth (as well as a few more personal and gruesome horrors) should be frightening or hateful. Since this trilogy has endowed only the protagonists with any character depth, the villains are mere stage dressing. Suspense and resolution, but not much more. (Fiction. 11-13)