Book Review: THE FINISHER

Author David Baldacci has stepped away from his normal contemporary crime novels and into a fantasy world aimed at the Young Adult market. Since Baldacci is one of my regular authors and I firmly believe that some of the best books being published are in the Young Adult section of any library, I had to check out his THE FINISHER 

Vega Jane is fourteen sessions old. She lives with her younger brother in the village of Wormwood, an isolated village surrounded by the densely forested Quag, an area full of blood thirsty beasts. It is a known fact that to enter the Quag is certain death. Vega works as a finisher at the local factory putting the fine touches on decorative and useful objects to be bought by the wealthy villagers. Although, there seem to be very few of them.

One night Vega watches an old family friend being chased by members of the Council and their dogs.  His escape into the Quag changes Vega's life. She learns that Wormwood is not what she had been taught it to be and that she, particularly, is in danger.

Vega is a heroine worthy of any hero in literature today. She is honest, loyal, and able to think and move quickly. All of these traits serve her well as she fight the bullies and the supernatural forces lurking in her village.

I was often reminded of The Giver and The Hunger Games series as I got lost in Wormwood. The young protagonist fighting an evil system has been fairly standard plot material, especially in youth literature. What the author does with it makes for the stand out book.

Baldacci is an action author who can develop characters to go along with his fast moving plots. The Finisher is not an exception. His talent puts THE FINISHER up there with any fantasy/action being published. There are times when I get weary of the "Oh, the poor heroine is having problem after problem after problem" type of plot, but when an author can have that heroine save herself by using her wits, I am captured. Vega is a finisher, not only at her job but in her attitude toward life as well.

The Finisher is the first in a series. It has an "ending", but there are still so many unanswered questions that I will be getting The Keeper at my next library visit.