by Mary Anne Barker
Details on how to win a copy of Crucible Zero at the end of this review along with a link to purchase the book where a portion goes to help support KRL and indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy.
This is the third book of a trilogy, and I’ve been waiting for it, because at the end of the second book, Infinity Bell, Matilda went back in time to fix a mistake made by her ancestor—but she returned to a completely different world. For some reason the twist caught me off-guard. The first two books, House Immortal and Infinity Bell, have been setting up this world and people. Even though the second book was set up as “we have to go back in time to fix things,” the ending of the book was a bomb. The whole world was changed by what Matilda did in the past.
The beginning of the third book, Crucible Zero, takes off from the end of the second book, and the wild ride is on, with Matilda (and us) trying to learn all of the new rules—on the go. Plus, Matilda has not been present for 13 years, the girl who fell asleep at the time experiment (Evelyn), has been awake in this world and everyone knew her. So they are just getting to know Matilda, surprise!
But there is at least one other person who retains memories of the other world. Unfortunately he’s a power-mad crazy man, and he wants to be in charge of everyone and everything. His main goal is to kill Matilda. He wants the original time stream to be the world, because he has killed many people to rule over his world. He wants total control.
But also there are strange flashes of the world she came from, as if time were not completely settled into this new stream. And things could go back to the world where Matilda’s friends and family are gone. She will do whatever she has to, to keep that from happening.
This is a marvelous book. I will admit that at the beginning of the series I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy the ride or the destination. But I have very much enjoyed this book and the series. The heroine Matilda is great as a gritty and loving person. But do start from the beginning with House Immortal and then Infinity Bell, because this is definitely a series. And the first book leads to the second and finishes with the third. And this one was a thrill ride.
To enter to win a copy of Crucible Zero, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Zero,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen November 14, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.
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