CRASH

This final novel in the Game trilogy finds Miki and Jackson fighting evil forces mentally and interdimensionally.

Middle-volume Push (2014) found the alien nemesis, Drau, crossing dimensions and entering Miki’s real life. Now, in the aftermath, Miki is anguished by her father’s hospitalization and her best friend’s coma. Her existence is ruled by the will of the omniscient and eternal Committee. They can control both time and space and pull her without warning into the deadly live-action cybergame, ostensibly to save humankind. Miki’s boyfriend, Jackson, also a pawn of the Committee, is always reverently at her side but can do little to alleviate her guilt and terror. Her entire perspective changes in a one-on-one death match that ends with a Drau begging her for mercy. As the Committee, bored and bloodthirsty, looks on like Romans in an arena, she begins to comprehend the true villains. Silver’s message becomes clear as Miki and Jackson come to understand that unity brings power and emotion can trump intellect. Although the battle scenes feel like reruns at this point, Miki’s chaste and deep love for Jackson gives continuity to the story as it reaches its satisfying conclusion.

Leveled up and out, this is a terrific, multifaceted finish to a sci-fi trilogy tailor-made for gamers.