The Plague Forge

The final installment of Hough%E2%80%99s Dire Earth Cycle (after The Exodus Towers) maintains the rapid pace of its predecessors. A new alien ship appears in orbit above Earth, and three teams of heroes race around the globe to retrieve the five "keys" to the ship. There are cliffhangers to keep things interesting as plucky humans battle souped-up subhumans and contend with assorted bad guys along the way, and the action soon overshadows the alien mysteries that lie at the heart of this story. While fans will undoubtedly be sorry to see the series end, readers who hoped everything would fall into place will be disappointed. For example, there is no explanation for why retrieving the alien artifacts is in humanity%E2%80%99s best interests, or why the heroes eventually have to be forced, under threat of violence, to do what they planned to do all along. The long-awaited explanation for the motivation of the alien Builders, who gave Earth both highly advanced technology and a plague, feels like an afterthought, rendering the finale wholly unsatisfying. (Oct.)