I'm going to go ahead and put this on par with book 1 of the series. The plot thickens and links back to book 1 with Naryssa being somehow links to the strange events. The relationship between Cole and Joss are defined and Section 13 makes a bit of a stand against the Order. I didn't like the subtle hints that there maybe something between Staffelbach and Cole in the future. I also felt the ending was too abrupt. Another problem I had with the book was that I didn't feel like it was as exciting a read as the previous books. I usually take a couple hours to read a book not 5 days...it really says something to me that it took me this long to finish.