This was by far the most absurd book of the series. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. At first, I think this is ridiculous. Melanie and Phoebe are products of genetic manipulation, two eggs split at conception in a petri dish, then somehow forced back together in one egg, birthed in one body! Crazy right? It doesn't stop there. Phoebe, the bad side of this equation killed Stryker's mentor in battle, but now Stryker is in love with Melanie, the good side. But, they're still in the same body! And Melanie is considered a virgin because she hasn't mentally had sex yet, although Phoebe (once again, the same body) has had sex with every Tom, Dick, and Susan.The crazier the plot gets, the more I start to like it! What is wrong with me? I'm mesmerized by the sheer creativeness of it all. Trying to write a novel myself, I see how difficult it is to keep the plot not only creative, but interesting as well. Very difficult to pull-off. I assume the two authors sat down and said to each other, let's make the most absurd, erotic series possible with the most unbelievable characters and most unbelievable sex scenes. And it works. Their writing styles complement each other quite well.Then, there's the sex scene between Oz, Gabe, and Devin. WTF! In case you didn't read the previous novels, Oz is dead. So....how? Still not sure how to take that scene. Was it good, bad, gross? I'm just still in awe of how they even did it together! Then, there's my favorite subplot couple-Annika and Creed. We learned from the previous novel that one of them would die when Annika had the baby. And it happens, but if things didn't work out in the end, I would've given the two authors a stalking the likes of a really, really insane person. I would've made it my life's goal to haunt them until the book was changed and rewritten. But, oh well, I don't need to do that, so all is well.I get the feeling this is the end of the series. And if it is, I'm cool with that. I see another portion of the series, a .5 version due to arrive this year, but I probably won't read it because I'm satisfied with the ending of the main series. However, if, and only if I don't read another series, I will go back and read the .5 books of this series. Especially, when I need a lot of absurdity in my life. Taken by Fire is an excellent end to the ACRO series. This book is Stryker, an ACRO employee and Melanie Milan's story. Melanie shares her body and brain with her twin sister Phoebe. Phoebe is an evil Itor Corp operative who murdered Stryker's best friend in the previous book. Stryker has vowed revenge but when he begin is to get to know the other twin, Melanie, things start to get complicated. This isn't just a mission of brining an Itor operative into ACRO to get intel, this is the start of the end and only one company is going to come out winning.Taken by Fire has everything that you would expect from Ms. Croft and the ACRO series. There is passion, steamy sex scenes, lots of action and humour. Being the last book this does tie up all the stories that have been bubbling along behind each main story. These stories involve many of the much loved characters that make the ACRO series what it is and they do not necessarily finish how the reader would expect them to. I really enjoyed this series and hope that Ms. Croft will create another series that will grab readers attention as much as this one did. Some say that you can read each book individually but I would recommend starting from the beginning because not only will you understand the essence of the ACRO world but enjoy seeing each of the characters develop and grow as the series goes along.
What do You think about Taken By Fire (2011)?
Another great read.......I hope they can keep this up!
—Bee
