REVIEW: Fair Game by Taylor Keating

So, when we last left River Weston, she was on a post apocalyptic Earth, trying to survive. Hawk was gone. He was back in his own world, fighting a battle to get back to River, in the hope of saving her from Earth before its enforced relegation back to the Dark Ages (Okay, not quite Dark Ages, but without technology it might as well be right?).

Fair Game starts off with a bang, opening with a pretty shocking prologue. From here we follow River and her brother Jake underground, to their new living quarters with the Demons, the local youth group with a difference. River’s Fae nature has kicked in whilst down there, and she has taken on the role of protector. This has lead her to develop a program which allows people to project another version of themselves into the real world, allowing the projector to stay at a safe distance from any danger…something which is prevalent above ground.

Meanwhile, Hawk has finally managed to make it back to Earth, but this time he has his own body for a change. He and his team are there to defuse the planet, stripping it of any and all technology. Add this to the bomb in his head, and life for Hawk just got a whole lot more stressful. To make matters worse, upon arrival, he and his team are met by a monster, and within a very short space of time, discover that people are starting to die from a new strain of virus, which seems to be exceptionally virulent.

The tension between Hawk and River increases exponentially during Fair Game. Both of them are fighting to do what they feel is best for the planet around them; however, this puts them on opposite teams. Hawk and his team believe the best thing to do is to return the people of Earth back to a time where electricity was none existent, leading any threat from the crazy Kaye, and his dream of bioengineered weres, to be nullified. River, on the other hand, is sure that there is a way of shutting the threats down without stripping the planet to its bare bones.

We learn even more about River’s ancestry in Fair Game, and why it is that her life is getting more and more complicated. The question is, did River turn to the dark or the light to save her beloved planet? Heh heh, not saying, so go and read it! I will admit to liking River even more by the end of this, the final instalment of the series. She is gutsy beyond compare, and continues to stand up for what she feels is right. When she realises she has made a mistake, she does all that she can to fix the issue, regardless of what it may cost her to do so.

Hawk continues to do what he does best: strut about being very manly and trying his best to help River solve the problems being there has created, even though she is determined to be very independent, which frustrates the doodads out of him. He is desperate to get her back home to where (he believes) she belongs, but slowly comes to the realisation that this may not be the best thing for her.

The love scenes between River and Hawk are, as ever, nicely written, with the passion building quite quickly between the two…okay, so they struggle to keep their hands off each other for a long period of time when they are in close proximity to each other, but it’s written in a tasteful way so it doesn’t detract from the storyline. I think after that length of time away from someone I had taken more than a shine to, I might want to jump his bones pretty much as soon as I clapped eyes on him too… especially as he is now in his own (much more sexy) body!

The plot flows along nicely, continuing neatly on from where Mind Games left off, and although there are a few twists and turns along the way, we remain with characters we have met already for the most part, which makes for a nice easy read. At this stage of the game I really wouldn’t have wanted lots of new characters thrown into the mix, leaving lots of empty threads to be tied up at the end.

VERDICT

Fair Game was a cracking finale to the Guardians trilogy, tying up all the ends neatly, yet still leaving you with some space to wonder what happens after it’s all over. I was a little deflated with one aspect of the book. I loved how the storyline started out, and it was a particularly clever twist, however the last little bit of the thread was rather disappointing, and felt like somewhat of a cop out. Even so, it didn’t kill the book entirely, and didn’t detract from the enjoyable writing earlier on in the book. A recommended read from me.

PREVIOUS REVIEWS

• Game Over (Guardian #1)
• Mind Games (Guardian #2)