Operation: Endgame

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Eliza and Wellington continue their pursuit of Jekyll. They start things off with the most exciting opening to one of these novels since we first met the duo in Phoenix Rising. From there, they get in a little official trouble, and get sent packing. They're brought off of their suspension because Jekyll is leaving a path of corpses throughout Europe to draw them in. Yeah, it's terrible, but it's a fun story. While on the hunt, the couple make a new friend who I'd enjoy getting a book/series of her own, frankly – but first she's a whole lot of fun to read and helps Eliza and Wellington out a bit, too. About halfway through the book (maybe a little longer), this story takes the turn it needs to and fully explores what Jekyll and Father Books were up to. This takes everything up a notch and really helps sell this finale. I can't go further without ruining the book – but from here out this is the best thing that Ballantine and Morris have done yet.

Meanwhile, we continue the subplot of Agents Bruce Campbell and Brandon Hill chasing the House of Usher around trying to find out more/stop Operation: Ragnorak. Following their exploits in Russia last time, they're primarily in the US and Italy for this book. They cross paths a few times with the always entertaining (for the reader, not the Ministry's agents) Sophia del Morte. This was probably my favorite use for these two agents yet (although, I really did like the Russia stuff), and I thoroughly enjoyed everything but the very end of this storyline. I found the conclusion to this particular storyline disappointing – and maybe I'm supposed to, maybe we're going to see the actual conclusion to it in the spin-off series (or in one that hasn't started yet). I'm not saying that there wasn't an ending to this, but it felt off somehow, like there's more to be said.

This installment probably did a better job of tying the entire series together than the previous books did – not that there were continuity problems (at least not that I noticed), but books 2-5 built on each other and little else. Operation: Endgame helps you see the way that book 1 led to something in 3 and 6, etc. Which is probably easier to do when you know that you're bringing everything to a close. The other two main stories (particularly the Books and Braun) also had a sense around them that this was it – do or die time, and no, “Oh, rats, they got away! I guess we know what we're doing in the next novel!” It gave a heightened urgency, a heightened sense of import to everything that happened – or maybe it was the other way around. Or maybe it's just me, because I knew it was the last book so that. I don't think so – I think I'm going to credit Ballantine and Morris for writing that way.

A minor gripe: this really could've used one more copy-edit pass – there were too many sentences missing a word, and that kind of thing.

Operation: Endgame did everything it needed to do: it told a compelling story and it brought a series to a satisfying end. Not every series finale can do both, so it's always a relief when one does (especially when it's a series you really enjoy). I enjoyed the book on its own merits – a fun chase through, well, most of Western Civilization for Books and Braun; some nice stuff for Campbell and Hill – some chuckles, a little romance, a lot of excitement, some goofy Steampunk tech. The kind of thing that these Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences books have been delivering for years. I also enjoyed the book as a finale – the story of these two agents is over, but it's not done in such a way that there's nothing more to be done in this world. The door's open for more adventures for the surviving characters, the Ministry as a whole, etc. but there's no need for it – which is a nice bonus. I've got the first novel in the spin-off series (and hope to get to it soon), so I know we don't have to say goodbye to everyone, just Eliza and Wellington (which is bad enough). If you haven't read any of this series, I really do recommend it from start to finish.