What a mood change. This book didn't fit with the general feel of the previous two books of the series even though it still had some spook factor and it felt so out of place. There was also a lot that was confusing and felt poorly constructed, explained, and tied up. Even less awkward teen dialogue in this one, but it's still there and the characters are still pretty one-sided. Dan hasn't changed in the way that he feels like a middle grader instead of a teenager, but at least the newer characters had a bit more to offer.

There isn't much to say about this book. It felt so unnecessary and heavy to introduce the conspiracy aspect into it and to have it end so simply cheapened it. Jordan's long-distance relationship with Cal was also laughable. From what we were shown of the man, he would not have given up a grudge so easily and have gotten with him so it really cheapened his character and made it seem like the author only wanted to pair him with someone - as if Dan's point of the story was his family heritage (I still don't know the ins and out of that), Abby's was about living the stereotypical artist life, and Jordan's was all about being gay and trying to find somewhere to fit in and be happy. It makes them so one-sided and there could've been so much more to them.

I'll reference one point of the plot (out of many) that didn't make sense to me and it was Micah contacting both Dan and Oliver near the beginning of the book. Unless it was someone pretending to be him (which is likely but it wasn't clear) then it wouldn't make sense for Micah to tell the couple where Dan was then to tell Dan to go because they were after him (that in itself also didn't make sense since Micah was supposed to be Oliver's friend). I felt like Micah's involvement in this story was cheap, also. The author could've done more with his ghost but in the end he was just used as a communication tool to add drama and conflict - and if that was his only purpose, it really ruined his character. Another point was when Jordan's uncle was injured soon before Dan was caught; from a plot perspective, it seemed so unnecessary. As for the group, it felt so unnecessary to even have them there. It was just an excuse for Dan to end up in that city and the other two played barely any part in it all, being overshadowed instead by a couple of characters that only appear once to fill their plot role (one-use characters is yet another thing the author has a problem with). I don't even want to mention how Dan's mom plays into this plot pretty pointlessly (really, what was she doing all those years?) and the epilogue was so terribly done. It would've been better if she had actually died and someone else had done her tasks (her being alive wasn't even necessary for Dan to bargain with since no one knew the truth if they weren't paying attention to his birth date happening long after her apparent death) because it felt like yet another point added in to the story after the fact.

One thing that has bothered me throughout the series is Dan's condition. I don't recall it ever being explained, and while I don't like using 'gimmick' to describe things like this since it's such a toxic sounded word for something that can be done well that's exactly what his condition felt like. It wasn't explained how he got it (was he born with it), his medication looked like it barely did anything, and it wasn't clear if the nightmares and the blackouts were part of the same condition. So much just didn't make sense throughout this series (also, I don't think Jordan's lip piercing would make a scraping noise if he played with it with his tongue - a tongue piercing would've made more sense, although the piercing in general felt out of place) and I can't stand it because it feels so sloppy and disjointed. At least Dan had to sacrifice a little something, but for what we were given through these three books (like his laughable relationship with Abby) it didn't 'repay the debt' of having to put up with so much amateur work.

There simply wasn't anything worth giving this book a third star and the entire series was a waste. I honestly believe there was some potential and that it made it through the doors of the author's home (not even the publishing house - it shouldn't even have reached there) far too prematurely. A firmer grasp on the entire plot before writing book one would've helped a lot and relying more on good work than appealing to the nerdy youth out there would've made this into something decent. As it turned out, the photos throughout were pointless, the characters barely got any better, and the plot suffered until the very end. The journey was pointless (hey, what happened with Felix?) because the characters ended up not that far off from where they were at the start of the series and I just can't congratulate such a waste of my time in the hopes that things would get better as the story progressed because it never really did. I doubt I'll ever pick up anything by this author because of what I was shown here. I wouldn't recommend this series at all to anyone.