BOOK REVIEW for "Mayhem’s Children (Mayhem Wave, #3)" by Edward Aubry

*****(5) out of 5 Stars!

SYNOPSIS:

Eight years have passed since the Mayhem Wave forever altered the world to a blend of science and magic, and since Harrison Cody rescued twenty-eight teenage girls from human traffickers. Now they are disappearing, and he suspects their former captors, followers of an entity of ultimate power and evil, of an elaborate revenge scheme. An assistant director in the New Chicago Security Agency, Harrison puts his government resources to the task of protecting these women, and recovering the ones already lost. But Harrison did not just rescue them from villains those many years ago, he also adopted them, and that relationship holds the key to the true nature of their present danger.

Dorothy O’Neill, another of Harrison’s adopted daughters, though from very different circumstances, has taken five-year- old Melody Cody, Harrison’s only child by blood, under her wing. As the missing persons crisis intensifies, Dorothy discovers she and Melody are targets as well. When the NCSA headquarters are attacked by a dark wizard with a colony of giant bats, the two of them flee into the woods to evade capture.

Separated by hundreds of miles, and with no means of communication, Harrison and Dorothy become entangled in the schemes of a monster who hopes to alter the world once again at the cost of all they hold dear. And as Dorothy finds an inner strength and new abilities she never dreamed of possessing, she comes to suspect Melody may be something more than she appears. 

REVIEW:

I was at first irked that 8 YEARS had gone by in the Mayhem world since the events of the prior installment in this series.  But - much like still just clicking with a dear friend that you haven’t seen for a long time - the storyline soon won me over, and then swept me away!  There were plenty of now familiar (and more mature) characters, and also several new faces.  As usual, all of the players were unique and memorable, carving out individual places for themselves in the events that unfolded.  That is one thing that I really appreciate about this author’s work is how distinctive the different personalities are.  You can just about picture them as specific people, each like an old friend (or at least acquaintance); not just a random group of people thrown in to fill out the plot, like the faceless crowd at a soccer game.

"Then it's someone only you can see, sir."  In the post-Mayhem world, observations of impossible things rarely prompted confusion or the need to lie about them.
"Possibilities?" asked Harrison, eyes still on the man.
"Illusion," said Milton.  "...a curse...a wizard might be able to cloak himself from some people but not others... a mundance hallucination, brought on by stress or drug use... Ghost, perhaps?"
"Oh, shit.  Why didn't I think of that?  I'm going outside.  I think he wants to talk to me."
"Would you like an escort?"
"Bodyguard?"  He looked down at the ghost of his friend.  "No, I'm good."  

I was so glad to have Dorothy back and at center stage in this volume, after her veritable absence from the last book!  This tome was somewhat reminiscent of the first installment, with Harrison and Dorothy portrayed in alternating chapters from their individual points of view.  Much is going on with her even before the intrigue that encapsulates the main plot points.  As things evolve in the story, so too does Dorothy, very quickly becoming much more secure in who she is, and much wiser overall.  And that’s not even mentioning the rather life-altering situations that come to encapsulate who she is!

"You killed six goblins?" said Milton.  "How?"
[Sparky] shrugged.  "A little magic, a little violence.  You know."

There was a LOT that occurs during the course of this book; tons of different moving parts, all seemingly random, but ultimately mostly interrelated; diverse characters and settings and activities.  So much so that a summary of it would not even seem to make sense, but somehow most of the pieces fit together wonderfully, more so as the story progressed and more information came to light about a variety of things.  There were so many twists and turns that it was sometimes hard to keep up!  Many events occurred that were totally beyond the realm of what I would have anticipated.  Once again, the author did a wonderful job of incorporating the feeling of mayhem into this ongoing saga of a world thrust into the middle of it.

"Wow.  I really did not see that coming."
"I think it's fair to say no one saw this coming," said Dorothy."
"I'm happy for you," said Jessica.
"So am I.  Here's hoping we all make it out of here.  If I die two days after finally figuring out what I want, I am going to feel extremely swindled."

In case you couldn’t tell, I really enjoyed this book!  I totally recommend it!  And I can hardly wait for the next installment! 

~

I received a free copy of this title from Curiosity Quills Press 

and have willingly provided an honest review. 

#MayhemsChildren  #MayhemWave