The Ask and the Answer
by Patrick Ness

After running for weeks to reach Haven and escape Mayor Prentiss and his men, Todd carries the wounded Viola into the town square of Haven, only to find the Mayor waiting there for them. So ends Book One of the Chaos Walking trilogy.  The intensity never lets up in Book Two, The Ask and the Answer, as Todd and Viola are separated, manipulated, and deceived by the Mayor and others with their own agendas.  Viola finds herself aligned with a rebel group of women called the Answer, led by Mistress Coyle, a healer and adept strategist for planning terrorist attacks on the city.  Meanwhile, Todd is a virtual prisoner of Mayor Prentiss, and is made to do increasingly cruel and immoral acts.  He doesn't have the will to resist because he believes Viola has left him alone on purpose.  His means of enduring is to turn off his emotions entirely and refuse to think about the pain he is inflicting on women of the city and the Spackle, natives of the planet.  As the Answer steps up their terrorist attacks, Mayor Prentiss responds with his own brand of evil cruelty in the Office of the Ask.  Both groups are trying to solidify their own power before the arrival of Viola's people in their space ship.  The final agonizing scene of this powerful story finds the Ask and the Answer racing toward a final battle on the outskirts of the city, the spaceship nearing arrival, and Todd finally gaining a tenuous control over the Mayor inside the now destroyed cathedral, when out of the hills a totally unexpected conquering force marches toward the city.  This is the epitome of a "cliff hanger."  As with the first in this trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go, I found this story incredibly painful to read, but once begun, there's no stopping. This saga is so much more than science fiction.  --reviewed by Mrs. Sams