meeplemaiden

I've looked forward to this book since finishing "The Twelve" the first time around. It didn't disappoint, at least not until about three quarters of the way through - it had the familiar mix of horror, humanity, love and tragedy I've come to enjoy from the two previous books in the series.There was even an undertone of ecological warning at the end of the book making it more than just an entertaining romp through some post-apocalyptic nighmare landscape. But then Cronin uses one of the worst cliches to get his heroes out of a tight spot: the old I've-tried-everything-I-can-think-of-to-get-this-machine-to-go-now-I'll-just-have-a-fit-with-a-wrench-and-hit-everything-in-sight-because-I'm-so-useless-oh-it-works-now-hooray! Really? I've waited this long for the book, I would have waited another few weeks for you to come up with something less corny. I have taken away one star for your lack of ingenuity, Mr. Cronin (although really I enjoyed it enough for it to be a four star read). And once again I would say stay away from pregnancy and birth, describing it is really not your forte.