The end of this part of the series. Whirlwind ride. Picks up a while after the disney cruise book. This one starts with Tia Dalma blowing up a frakking rig in South America and comes to a climax with the destruction of Disneyland. ( )

Great series. Hope there will be a new series one day. ( )

Fun as usual, the crowd funded aspect was entertaining because they hit Pearson's style so well. For a finale, though, I didn't like the ending. I get the idea of a sequel trilogy but would it be too much to ask to not end on a clifhanger?

A nice fun short read ( )

Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider is the finale to the Kingdom Keepers series. Set 3 years after the events of book VI, the Keepers are seniors in high school. They have matured, for better and for worse. The pre-teen crushes have turned into romances, yet they are slightly hostile and sarcastic to each other-- at the beginning, anyway. The Overtakers (OTs) are on the rise, with Tia Dalma and Chernbog being released from their Mexican jail and they return to Disneyland. Along with the rest of the OTs (who include Cruella and the Evil Queen), plot to destroy Disneyland, the entire Disney franchise and southern California. The Keepers are on their most dangerous mission yet, to battle the OTs while finding the lost icon who can restore Disney: Mickey Mouse.

This book was a fast-paced read. I found the beginning slightly awkward with the slight hostility between the Keepers. Once that fell away, the rest of the book was fine. I was slightly disappointed in the ending. While there was the trademark battle between good and evil, the ending didn't feel final; it felt as if there was more to come.

Pearson also used this book to introduce the publishing industry to a new phenomenon: crowd-sourcing. Through the Kingdom Keepers app, users wrote sections of the book. This shows how much faith Pearson has in his fans (and how many talented writers exist). ( )