CURSE

Wisconsin teen Daniel Byers continues to have strange visions in the conclusion to the trilogy that began with Blur (2014).

Daniel’s visions, or “blurs,” have helped him solve a few crimes, but that doesn’t mean he wants to make a career out of it. Daniel still hopes to get a basketball scholarship to college, and a prestigious basketball camp in Atlanta has offered him a free ride. Daniel and three of his friends head south to the camp, but it doesn’t take long for Daniel to get sidetracked by mysterious agencies that hope to recruit him for a specialized task force crewed by other teens with gifts. Periodic cutaways from Daniel’s story give readers glimpses of these shady maneuverings and then of Daniel’s friends’ efforts to reunite with him. Despite these attempts to raise suspense, plotting is dull and cumbersome, and characterization is slight. Conversations among Daniel and his friends drag out the proceedings. This is seemingly the final book in James’ trilogy, but it comes with none of the pomp and circumstance most finales have. Things just tidily end themselves, leaving readers with the most frustrating feeling of all: the feeling of wasted time.

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