Well, that was...anticlimatic.And sloppy.And rushed.And pretty much a waste of my time and my Kindle's storage space.I rarely give books one stars. If the author manages to obey most of the rules of English grammar and spelling, I give him/her an extra star.But this? While the English language wasn't mangled -- well, the sentence, "And he only distantly felt, but for a tremble of time, the end of him that came next" excepted -- this is such an obviously spit out and published before its time piece of work that sorry, no extra stars for you. Pages upon pages of the usual Howey exposition of Juliette Sue fixing the underground pump for...what, exactly? She doesn't seem to know. Solo doesn't know. The only possible answer is that Howey had to fill the blank screen on his computer with some combination of words in order to fleece readers out of their dollars.So Juliette Sue finds the kids...for what plot purpose? Does she set up a new society? Is it a chance for Juliette to remake - or reenact - the mistakes of her previous silo community? Is humanity doomed to repeat the same patterns, or can we change? Don't be silly. That would be, like, expecting themes and subtext and literary conceits. No, Juliette Sue finds the children because, again, Howey's computer screen had to be filled with words. And meanwhile, back at the ranch silo, Lukas continues his transformation into literature's most annoying, passive, drippiest "hero" ever. He is a true mushroom character: he literally sits in the dark and is fed bullshit that he willingly eats up. Wishy-washy doesn't even begin to convey how problematic his characterization is. Here he is, with empirical evidence that Juliette is alive and in another silo, and yet he listens to Obvious Villain with slack-jawed acceptance. It would be one thing if Lukas pretended to be on Bernard's side while secretly gathering information to help the others and/or Juliette. But no, he sits in his little room, listens to the rebels being killed and rounded up, and does...nothing. (OK, technically he reads a lot, but since Lukas doesn't appear to have any critical or analytical thinking skills, it's all lost on him and consequently the reader.) Oh, and he's a bit remorseful over killing someone during the storming of IT, but even that doesn't ring true - because Lukas won't take a side. Words cannot express how much I truly despised Lukas. Actually, despised is a strong word that denotes I felt some sort of emotional connection to the material. How hard I rolled my eyes, perhaps, is a better description. And raise your hand if you were surprised at the big world-building reveal: the silos were built to house the people who pushed the big red nuclear button. Yeah, I couldn't put my hand up, either. Hoariest cliche in the dystopian canon. I refer back to my Wool #1 review: Soylent Green is people, y'all. Shocker. And I STILL don't get the purpose of cleaning. Not to mention, setting your society up so you are reliant on the need for capital punishment to ensure your sensors are maintained. Srsly, that's like asking death row inmates to staff Apple Genius Bars. What makes condemned to death criminals qualified to maintain sensors in the first place? And what if something happens to the sensors that a mere wipe of a wool pad can't fix?!?! Are we really to believe that in hundreds of years of nuclear winter, all the maintenance the sensors need is an occasional squirt of Mr. Clean and a polish?But let's get to the "twist" with which Mr. Howey has to end his books. And I admit, I did not see this one coming. Why?Because it came out of left field, blindside, and with absolutely no set up whatsoever.Plus, it made Lukas look like even more of a numbnuts because all it took was a snippet of conservation to convince the Sheriff Peter to act, while Lukas did his mushroom impersonation for the entire book. And Lukas is supposed to be the hero and Juliette Sue's reward? Yay. Ugh. Thankfully, I read very fast so this book wasted little of my time. But even an hour spent with this omnibus is an hour too much.