Review: Stunning Finale to Sizzling Series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 20, 2014
<blockquote>With more lives at stake and games in motion, Ellie, Camden and Javier form an uneasy alliance that will take them from the treacherous streets of inner-city Mexico to the wilds of the Honduran jungles in order to find their freedom. But with liberty just on the horizon, the cost might come at their own redemption.</blockquote>Ellie, Camden, and Javier form a bizarre alliance after the plan of Javier's for Ellie to poison Travis Raines ended in total disaster. Both Javier and Camden had come to rescue Ellie once they learned that her dinner date was actually being held at Raines' Veracruz estate. It was her mother that actually blew her cover at the party, so shocked to see her daughter next to Travis that she called her by name, dropping the serving tray she'd been carrying. Ellie took advantage of the momentary confusion to run like hell, straight into the headlights of the Jeep Javier had parked in the jungle, right up to the edge of the estate lawn. Ellie was sure she was dead until Javier and Camden called out to her and hustled her into the Jeep, taking off almost before everyone was in the car.The problem was that Gus, who'd come down with Camden to rescue Ellie from Javier, had been shot in the stomach. Javier told Ellie that Travis Raines now had Gus. But before they could go rescue Gus they had to go get his youngest sister to safety, as she was too vulnerable to a rival cartel. But Violetta lives in Mexico City, which isn't too close to Travis Raines' compound in the middle of the Sierra de Agalta National Park, which was located in the middle of the jungle in Honduras. A compound that could only be reached by helicopter of hiking through the Honduran jungle.Hiking in, their small group finally stops to rest for the night. Ellie sits between Camden's legs and leaning back against his chest. When she wakes she discovers that she's completely alone, completely alone in the jungle. Everyone and their equipment - all gone. No one answers her yells. Terrified for herself and Camden she heads off in the same direction they'd been going the day before, when she suddenly spies a bloody, shredded canvas. A few feet away she spots Camden, flat out on the ground. She manages to rouse him and he tells her what little he knows, which matches what she's already figured out; they've been abandoned in the middle of a jungle in Honduras.With Gus and her mother still Travis' captives they have no choice but to go on and do their best to rescue them. Eventually they locate the estate. Once inside the compound they set out to rescue Gus and Amelie, though they know their odds have gone from slim to virtually non-existent. They locate and free Ellie's mom, only to learn that Gus was not, and had never been, at the compound. Javier had lied to them, again.If faced with it, would Ellie save Camden or her mother? Would any of them make it out of this trap alive? And if they did, how would they find Gus and rescue him? If they pulled that miracle off how would they get Ben away from his mother? So many risky things to do, but they loved each other and that would have to be enough to see them through. . .Ellie's slow belief that she could be good was enjoyable to watch. Even though she made mistakes, she learned that she could forgive herself the past and let it go. Especially if Camden still lived her and believed in her, which at times was a giant question mark, for she had destroyed him over and over again through the years. Ellie has become a more and more sympathetic character as the series progressed, which made Camden's devotion to her more believable. Would his love for her outweigh her mistakes as she learned that she was worthy of being loved, and of loving in return? Watching her discover the truth of what Gus had told her, that love and obsession are not the same thing, was both painful and liberating.Meanwhile, Camden has slowly revealed more layers and depth as the story has developed. He also has a dark side, which I think he possessed before Ellie shattered his heart in high school, and again later on. It was a relief seeing him let that anger and rage lose on appropriate targets, as no one can contain that much suppressed violence without eventually snapping. His dreams in this book were interesting, because the darkness he saw could easily have been Javier or at part of himself. The question is, did he recognize that, or was he seeing the easy interpretation? Could Ellie and Camden overcome the overwhelming odds stacked against them? You'll just have to read this final book in the series to find out.