In a futuristic world, technology rules all. A fully immersive mind-body experience that is almost exactly like real life becomes the epitome of gaming. The hypnotic, almost addicting experience captures the time and money of the majority of citizens in this futuristic world. Then the games became much too real. People experience true death within the game. The world is made up real people and artificial intelligence or tangents who exist only with the construct of the game.

Michel was an expert programmer so, he was sent on a mission to defeat Kaine by the VNS
(VirtNet security). Him and his two best friends Bryson and Sarah find Kaine but fail to defeat him and
his powerful tangent army. Following that Agent Weber (a VNS agent) tricks the teens into destroying
the VNS and then takes the opportunity to rise to power within the VNS. Then she and Kaine battle for
world domination as Michel, now joined by his own army manipulates the both of them to get
information and resources. Ultimately the three battle it out until only one prevails at the end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The futuristic setting created an open forum for the author to
be creative and he thoroughly took advantage of this. It also allows the reader to become inventive and
make use of their own imagination in order to fill in some of the details that the author did not include.
The main characters are relatable for both male and female readers. They are heroic and smart but they
also make mistakes, become selfish, and face tough decisions. Readers can really enjoy getting to know
the characters. Additionally, I found the plot of this story very enticing as there are multiple antagonists.
The characters are dynamic and I found my viewpoint changed often. This book is the final book of the
mortality doctrine series written by James Dashner.

I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy sci-fi or dystopian novels. If you cherish
longer books with many plot changes and cliffhangers you will undeniably enjoy this book. If you have
read (and enjoyed) the Maze Runner series (also written by James Dashner) you will appreciate the
similar aspects of this book. Plot similarities such as untrustworthy characters, all-powerful governments
and futuristic societies are shared between the two series. I would definitely recommend reading the
first two books of the series before reading this book. It really allows you to understand the plot and
character on a much deeper level that you would otherwise. I would not recommend this book to
someone who likes simpler plots with less characters. Changing points of view followed by an unclear
antagonist can make the book difficult to follow for younger or less experienced readers. I would
recommend this book for teens and young adults. Any reader younger than that may find it difficult to
follow the plot and understand the book. This was one of my favorite books by one of my all-time
favorite authors. I hope that other readers would enjoy this book as much as I did.