Monsters of Men(Chaos Walking #3)by Patrick Ness

WAR!

The Spackle are determined to get revenge on the humans(The Clearing). Spackle 1017 has a personal agenda to kill Todd. In 1017's eyes Todd helped the humans kill 1017's partner. The Spackle have a weapon of destruction that the humans had never seen before. A weapon that shoots flames that will incinerate whomever and whatever is in the line of fire. The humans are also significantly outnumbered by the Spackle.

Mayor Prentiss has been waiting for this war. It is almost like he craves destruction. Todd is keeping close tabs on the mayor. Todd has never wanted war with the Spackle. He desires peace. Todd also knows that Mayor Prentiss is getting into his head. He has given Todd the ability to quiet his noise. No longer can people hear every thought that Todd has.

Viola is with the scout ship that has just landed. There are 5000 more people coming to land and Viola is afraid that what they will land into is a planet destroyed by war. She and the pilots of the ship are trying to negotiate peace with the Spackle. But Viola is extremely sick from the band that the Mayor had put on all women. It is eating away at her arm, causing pain and sickness.

Mistress Coyle is determined to be the leader of her own band of rebels. Still bent on destroying the Mayor she enlists the help of several other mistresses to enact terrorist acts upon the Mayor and his army.

When Mayor Prentiss realizes that Todd will never consciously take the place by his side as his son he sets off a string of events that could mean the destruction of all.

Monsters of Men is the last book of the Chaos Walking trilogy. It was a bit hard to read with everyone being so bent on destroying each other. It shows that it only takes a couple of power hungry individuals to break up peace talks. I found it really paralleled "real life" wars. And it is hard to negotiate peace when there is so much bitterness buried deep in a persons soul. I liked Viola and Todd's continued loyalty and love for each other. Both determined to protect the other from the destruction around them. I have to say I was very unsatisfied with the ending. I was left with wanting just a little bit more closure. For the most part though Monsters of Men was an exciting ending to the series and I'm glad I was finally able to read it.

Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren

Gabi, Lia and their mother return to the time before their father dies in order to save him. They then race back to the 14th century. A year has passed and Fortino is still being held prisoner. Negotiations to gain his release have failed. The only way Firenze will agree to his release is a trade, the She-Wolves of Siena for Fortino.

Once again Gabi finds herself in Lord Greco's care. Only this time she is being forced to marry him in order to gain peace between Siena and Firenze. Will Marcello be able to rescue Gabi once again? What about Gabi's confusing feelings for Greco?

The third installment of the River of Time series is every bit as exciting as the first. When I turned the last page I found myself wanting more! When first Lord Greco was introduced I wasn't sure if I liked him. I couldn't understand what the hype was when I read about everyone swooning over him! But after finishing Torrent I must say I am a HUGE fan! Marcello, Greco and Luca prove to be swoon-worthy, hunky, chivalrous knights and I'm looking forward to reading more about them.   I was just looking at Lisa T. Bergren's website and it looks like there is a 4th book planned. Tentatively called Tributary. Lisa has a chapter posted for us to read. I don't know when it will be released, but I can't wait! Check out Lisa's website here for more books that she has written.