Thus I bid this series farewell. It's not that the Phoenix Chronicles are bad books; in fact, I prefer the writing here as opposed to Ms. Handeland's Nightcreature series. I just can't take anymore of the brutal metaphorical (and not so much) wounds main character Liz and her first love Jimmy Sanducci are constantly required to inflict on each other in order to fight the coming apocalypse. A person can only take so much emotional wear and tear, with no resolution in sight, before throwing in the towel.