The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

I don't know why I put off reading this book for so long. Maybe I was just a bit tired of Percy and the gang, or, more likely, it just got lost in my TBR pile. Anyway, I FINALLY pulled out The Battle of the Labyrinth this month to read. Once I got started, it was difficult to put it down. The action of one scene flows smoothly into the next one. Before you know it, you've read 100 pages!

Percy and the gang continue to look for ways to defeat Kronus and his plan to destroy the Olympian gods and take over the world. This time, the group must descend into the labyrinth (of the Minotaur fame) to ward off Kronus' army led by their former friend-turned-traitor, Luke.

I worried that the story would be one of those set-everything-up-for-the-last-book ones and while you'd have to read it, it wasn't that great of a story on its own. Not so here. Yes, it does set everything up for the last book, but it's a well-crafted story on its own. There's plenty edge-of-your-seat action that have you groaning when your reading time is interrupted. The reader is teased with more clues to some of the series-long questions, and I hope all is revealed with the conclusion of the series. I was sad to see the end of the book and I know I'll be turning to the next Percy Jackson book soon. I definitely won't be leaving it on my TBR shelves for another year!

I give this one an A -- Highly Recommended!