Review: Epic Finale to a Spectacular Series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 28, 2014
What can I say about the Signal Bend series that I haven't already said in my last 6.5 reviews?Ms. Fanetti has created a world that was as strikingly real as the characters who inhabited it.  I feel as if I'm leaving behind close friends and a tight knit community that I've been vacationing with since October.In my review of Alone On Earth, I expressed my trepidation over being able to connect with Bart as he was much younger than Isaac or Showdown (although I did because his true maturity shined with his selfless actions).  For some reason, following Show The Fire, I had no such worries heading into Badger's story.  Though much younger, he came across as an 'old soul' wise and mature beyond his years.  Because of the traumatic circumstances he and several other Horde members endured in Show The Fire, Badger had suffered as well as aged in mind and spirit.  Gone was the pimply-faced, scrawny prospect who took a shine to Shannon's daughter, Adrienne, in Into The Storm.  In it's place was a young man hardened by an unspeakable act inflicted by a club enemy who had fallen into the trap of pain that consumed his mind and body because of it.What makes this final story of two people finding peace with each other is that Badger and Adrienne have an established friendship.  She comes to Signal Bend where she finds a bond she had never felt in her privileged life, but also wanting more than a friendship with Badger.  Instead of the sweet young man she had come to know and text with over the years, she finds someone tormented by a memory which haunts every waking moment of his life.  The beginning of the book is truly a journey of patience and unconditional love as Adrienne helps Badger through the painful process of exorcising the demons from the torture he, Len, Havoc and Showdown suffered at the hands of Julio Santaviera.We then witness the transition from friends to lovers as well as Badger's constant maturity in standing up for what he believes in.  Adrienne was his 'good memory' during that dark time and he wasn't going to lose her now that she helped bring him back to life - even if it meant having to endure the wrath of Showdown who doesn't want his step-daughter involved with the club.But as with all of Ms. Fanetti's books, a love that runs deep conquers all and Showdown isn't the only obstacle which may separate the young couple.  These books aren't just about the couple in question, but the Horde MC as a whole and there needs to be payback for what happened in Show The Fire.  This is where Adrienne must question the choices she made to the life she now wants with Badger - a life that may be shrouded with danger.Although the club gets satisfaction, it comes with a hefty price which will further test the limits of the love between the two people which started this entire journey - Isaac and Lilli.  After Badger and Adrienne's story ends, Ms. Fanetti segues into a separate vignette which explores the true meaning of unconditional love.  Every emotion is on display as Isaac and Lilli navigate through one of the most difficult times in their life.  We watch this couple cling to that love as they are brought forth from the consequences of decisions made for the sake of the club.  From that moment in Move The Sun when these two first shared french fries at Tucks until the final sentence is written, the reader has journeyed their ten year relationship right along with them.  I cannot even believe I have found the words to convey how I feel about these two people or the series in general.  It is simply superb.Ms. Fanetti's writing and her ability to put the reader smack in the middle of the action and the character's personal lives is flawless.  To say I will miss Signal Bend and it's inhabitants doesn't do justice to how I really feel about not being able to go back.  I can only look forward to whatever fictional world she decides to create next.  Whatever it is, I'll be there.