Lisa Caskey’s third book in her The Farmed trilogy, The Cured, brings to a conclusion the events of post-apocalyptic United States circa 2085. In her first book, she described the devastating war which left only a few people alive, mostly in San Francisco. Residents live under a brutal regime while in a hidden away facility, a few select are genetically grown. In The Mutated, her heroes travel a great distance to learn more about others who have survived. And now in her stunning conclusion, the plot comes full circle as those who desire freedom (The Enterprise) clash with those in power (The Council).

Minor spoilers ahead if you haven’t read the first two books. The main character, Winnie Kimball, has grown in experience and power while away from San Francisco. She’s living in a free city away from The Council and learning to increase her powers daily. After the events in The Mutated, the city is recovering and deciding how to deal with their losses. An attack by enemies from California spurs Winnie and the Enterprise to make an important decision—will they declare war on the Council ruling San Francisco?

From there, the heroes begin a journey with one significant detour and many twists and turns. Their odyssey will lead to the inexorable finale between Winnie and her enemies with multiple cliffhangers interspersed with various action-packed sequences.

To review this book apart from its trilogy is a disservice. Certainly, anyone interested in the The Cured should invest the time and read the first two. While small details help to catch the reader up, they don’t serve as a true summary of the first two books, and I suspect someone new to the series would be lost. Nonetheless, on its own terms, this novel contains thrilling scenes, consequences of past decisions, and a number of fresh ideas. The Cured starts with an exciting action sequence and makes sure the book moves along at a good clip. Between the chapters with Winnie are a few chapters are written as journal entries from Winnie’s ancestors point of view.

But this reviewer enjoyed the big ideas the most. Two or three chapters come to mind which I thought were truly imaginative and worthy of the blockbuster movies that come out during the summer. In particular, I thought the encounter with the mutant blockade was very creative. And the heroes march into San Francisco will be an image burned into my mind for a long time. These large, innovative passages set apart The Cured from the prior works in the series.

I’ve complimented the pacing of the first two novels and this one excels in that too. While I could have used a bit more variety in sentence structure, I like the crisp style of the novel and it’s direct-to-the-point details. The author picked exactly the right mood for a science-fiction action book.

The Cured is a worthy conclusion to The Farmed trilogy. I can honestly recommend all three novels. Each book presents its own conflict at the start and resolves it within its pages but each is also true to the overall arc. The third novel both resolves its own arc and the series’ conflict, and it ends with a nice denouement. The Farmed is a trilogy you want to pick up.