My Thoughts: The Lost, By James Patterson

• Age Range: 12 and up 
• Grade Level: 7 and up
• Series: Witch & Wizard (Book 5)
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (December 15, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316207705
• ISBN-13: 978-0316207706

"Whit and Wisty Allgood have fought and defeated their world's most pernicious threats: the evil dictator, The One Who Is The One, as well as his wicked father and son. But just as the heroic witch and wizard start to settle into their new roles in governance, a deadly crime wave grips their city, with all signs pointing to a magical mastermind every bit as powerful and heartless as The One.

 Now the siblings find themselves persecuted as the city turns against all magic users, and questioning everything, including each other--and, for the first time, their abilities. Can they confront the citizens' growing hostility and their own doubts in time to face the new enemy barreling toward their gates? " -Goodreads

• _____
• My Thoughts:

When I heard James Patterson (or whoever ghostwrites his books) was releasing another Witch & Wizard novel, I was cautiously optimistic. Surely there had to be some morsels of "meat" left on franchise? Surely James wouldn't repeat the same novel twice, after the fiasco that was Maximum Ride...

I was wrong. So Very, very wrong.

The Lost, though embellished by being in the W&W world, is a unorthodox re-hash of the previous books, that in spite of a structurally sound narrative, fails to be something new.

"'You know the phrase - power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,' Terrence Shouts. 'Its time for us to be all equal, and to build our community on traditional human strengths"'

Things like the excision (Forceful removal of Powers, a la X-Men: Last Stand), and the weird anti-magic sentiment gripping "the city", serve only as a backdrop for Darrius. An enigmatic new villain trying to destroy Whit's sister.

"Sybil simply crumbles. her beautiful face dissolves, her skin turns Gray and shrivels into cinders. In a matter of seconds, there's nothing left of her but a small, silvery pile of ash."

Perhaps the only engaging aspect of The Lost, lies in its graphic writing style, which (thankfully) treats it's audience with respect & Maturity. There's no doubt James Patterson has one of the best descriptive talent out there - its just its sometimes used on lackluster endeavours.

If You're a HUGE fan of the series, you may want to own a copy of this book; but otherwise, it'd check out your local library.

My Rating: 2.9/5