The Legendary Scarlett and Browne, Book 3

What worked:
Scarlett and Albert Browne are outlaws. Albert has the brains and voice of reason in the pair, while Scarlett is the muscle. Scarlett is athletic, a crack shot, and always carries a knife. Characters know that when she makes a threat, she’ll follow through. Albert has supernatural abilities; he can read minds and use telekinesis to move objects. He knows what attackers plan to do before they do it and can hurl objects and destroy structures by thinking about it. However, the telekinesis often takes a physical and emotional toll on him. An early scene describes Scarlett and Browne robbing a bank, but it reveals a few things about the characters. One, they steal very little money, as Scarlett is mainly looking for records of slave transactions to help find her little brother. Second, Albert is reluctant to harm others and allows the hostages to escape. And third, they are daring and calculating, as they allow themselves to be surrounded and “trapped” inside the bank. The banter between them and Scarlett’s swear jar provides levity to the seriousness of the plot.
The Faith Houses and High Council are cast as the bad guys, as evidenced by a barber being sentenced to execution for speaking out against them. Scarlett and Browne come to his rescue to remind readers that they aren’t common criminals and have good intentions. The High Council has new leadership and is aggressively spreading its influence to new regions. Slaves are commonly sold everywhere, and slavery is rampant throughout the story. The Faith Houses have created the White Hat Company, which acts as enforcers and intimidators. They are taking slaves from markets to be used for a secret mining project at the Devil’s Mouth. The White Hats carry devastating weapons powered by rock shards, and Scarlett and Albert wonder what they are still searching for that might be more powerful than that.
The author adds another surprising character named Mallory, whom Albert thought he had killed earlier in the series. This character adds intrigue because he tried to murder Scarlett and Albert on several occasions. They question his motives and sincerity, and another character named Joe is the most suspicious. Mallory used to work for the Faith Houses until Albert dropped a whole building on top of him. He used to share Albert’s abilities, but he can no longer summon his telekinesis. Despite his questionable loyalties, Mallory’s knowledge of the Faith Houses is invaluable, including the location of Stonemoor. The scientists in the facility did countless, painful experiments on Albert, and he’s always dreamed of returning to learn more about his early life. Will he find answers to his questions, or will he uncover new nightmares?
What didn’t work as well:
The story is more violent than many middle-grade books. Scarlett doesn’t have a problem shooting people who threaten her or harm others, and the White Hats are ruthless intimidators. Their weapons fire a blue light that can blow a hole through someone.
The final verdict:
The author is a master of description, as he brings the characters and their emotions to life. Readers will form connections, especially with Albert, as the author shares the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and dreams. I recommend you try this series by starting with the first book, The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne.

The Legendary Scarlett and Browne live up to that name in the third and final book in the trilogy. Two years have passed, and Scarlett and Browne are still thieves, but they have more intentions than just getting rich. They target places that hold slave records to try to find what happened to Scarlett’s brother, Thomas, eight years ago and the thievery serves as a distraction as the friends they have made along the way help break slaves out of their pens at the auctions. They have a community hidden in the forest and all around are more mature and focused on their goals. Due to their antics, rebellion is brewing with the faith houses in the towns they have crossed paths with.
These themes are dark and heavy for the upper MG target audience, but perfect for YA audiences. The author does not shy away from terrible things happening along the way giving this book a realness into the dystopian future depicted. I thought it would end with the brother being found and safe, but there are many times I started to doubt how far the author may push the suspense. Thomas has been a driving force in the other books but we’ve never met him until now when there are breakaway viewpoints expanding on what has happened to him in his life of slavery for the last eight years.
Albert has always been haunted by Stonemoor and feels guilty for leaving others behind. Thanks to an unlikely alliance with his enemy, Mallory, he revisits the place for answers and closure. There is a resolution to that story arc but due to time constraints it is not the focus and the survivors have some freedom but not in the expected way.
The most amusing comedic swagger comes from Joe in this book providing much-needed levity in some of the action-packed danger they get into. I used an audiobook with part of the story which helped the characters come alive. The narrator did a great job with the different inflections for the characters although Alberts wasn’t my favorite to listen to even though it does fit his character.
Overall, our characters must come together to face their most ambitious and dangerous feats yet. With swagger and humor, we delve into a darker-themed book and emerge out the other side into the possibility of a better world. It is well worth the read and a keeper for your home library.