Helpful Score: 1
In this most satisfying conclusion to the Felix Brooke trilogy (though each book stands on its own, really), 19-year-old Felix is asked to go on a dangerous mission - to rescue the children of Dona Conchita, cousin of his friend Juana. The children have been kidnapped by their father, a political prisoner who has managed to escape from jail. Though the whole thing could be a trap, Felix hopes to be able to see Juana again as he has not been able to contact her in the convent where she had retired to after the death of her father. Aiken's adventures are harrowing and do not shirk from showing death and calamity. The political strife of the time is also excellently portrayed, and the characters very real, wonderfully fleshed out with all the annoyances and foibles of real human beings, as old friends who can occasionally exasperate and anger us even as we still remain loyal and close. It's a great closer to a great series.
