"THE GUARDIANS OF THE FINISHER'S FURY: Guardians, Vol. 3," by Frank Cole, Cedar Fort, $16.99, 266 pages (f) (ages 13 and up)
“The Guardians of the Finisher’s Fury,” by Frank Cole, brings the Guardian trilogy to a climactic close.
Instead of attending an elite summer school, Amber Rawson, keeper of the Tebah stick, and her friend, Trendon, take off for Egypt courtesy of a summons and plane tickets provided by their archaeology instructor, Dorothy.
The search for the final Weapon of Might takes Amber and her friends to St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai, where the weapon lies hidden in the heart of Mount St. Catherine.
Their mission is to find and destroy the third weapon before the three Weapons of Might are united and the world is destroyed.
Amber must once again face the Shomehr, monstrous creatures whom she can control through the power of the Tebah stick, and Baeloc, leader of the Architects, who now controls Elijah’s fire.
When the third Weapon of Might is unearthed, the weapons come together in a most unexpected way. Kendell Jasher, an enemy encountered in a previous adventure, holds the final clue to destroying the Weapons of Might in the Codex Sinaiticus.
Once again, Cole has skillfully woven a fictional tale around an incident from the Bible. This time, a little-known encounter between King David and Araunah, the Jebusite, mentioned in 2 Samuel.
The story is fast-paced and coherently put together. In addition to the main characters featured in previous adventures, Cole seamlessly introduces several new personalities to bring the tale to an end.
Although there is no sexual innuendo or inappropriate language, there is a great deal of violence and death. Dorothy and Amber say their final goodbye at a funeral.
Born and raised in Winchester, Ky., the author now lives in Utah with his wife and three children. He blogs at "The Writings and Rantings of Frank L. Cole" (online at franklewiscole.blogspot.com) and the first two books in the series are “The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter” and “The Guardians of Elijah’s Fire.”
Rosemarie Howard lives in a 100-year-old house on Main Street, Springville, Utah. She enjoys creating multimedia projects. Her website is at dramaticdimensions.com.