Item - Escape

This one annoyed the living daylights out of me way back when. Essentially, at the start you have a choice which divides the story into two main threads: either you're fleeing by plane or by car.

However, in the car thread, there are NO conclusive victory endings! Essentially, if you choose 'wrong' in the first thread you doom yourself at best to an ending that says something like "You head to the border and know you're going to make it!" Gee, book, don't knock yourself out there.

The identity of the traitor is transparently obvious, but his / her identity really doesn't make that much of a difference in the majority of the plot threads.

Some of the endings are just bizarre as well. At one point when you fly your plane into a cloud-bank, the books tells you "You fly into the clouds. You are never seen again." What??? Can't you at least tell me whether I crashed, starved or whatever?

Anyway, definitely one of the lesser efforts of the series.

More reviews by Aussiesmurf

Escape depicts a dystopian future in which the U. S. has split into three hostile states. Your goal is to escape the totalitarian nation of Dorado with the rebel leader and invasion plans. This book is very well plotted with a great sense of realism. Your companions, Matt, Mimla, and Haven, are well written, and their verbal disputes about possible courses of action drive the choices presented to you. Chance and randomness play a part in some of the endings, but other endings are the result of intelligent choices you can make if you puzzle things out. Good world-building presents a plausible depiction of the possible future. I remember learning the vocabulary word "totalitarian" from this book. As far as reading material goes, it was a rather mature concept for a 10 year old. This is a favorite from my childhood, and it still reads well today.

4 out of 5 stars.

An amusing postscript: your character is depicted in the artwork with a shadowy face so that you can imagine that it is you. One of your companions is named Matt, and when I was younger I thought he looked like Duke from G. I. Joe. Of course I wanted to be Duke, so I identified with him as the main character. I always wondered why "Matt" didn't have a face, not realizing that he was really the reader's character.

More reviews by auximenes

This is another average book. It's not bad, but it's also not particularly exceptional. The futuristic setting is a good idea, but it's rather uncreatively developed.

More reviews by Demian

Escape strategy is VERY good, I must say. The many escapes make for a SUPER fun adventure.
The funniest character by far, is Haven. He's the--never mind, don't want to ruin it--nervous guy.
Getting to freedom is easy enough but not too much, like Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?
Great read. Again, highly recommend.
10/10

More reviews by Good

I don't like this book. To me, it seemed to be just as stupid as many of R. A.'s other entries in this series. Following on what Demian said, the setting seems to just be World War II by any other name. Moreover, I also find it unlikely that "Mimla" is a very common name in what's likely a Spanish-speaking country. The illustrations are full of technological anachronisms unlikely to be found in 2032.

As for the mechanics of this book, R. A. isn't as bad here as he can often be. Only a few of the endings are inconclusive - mainly, you either get caught or make it. The spy Haven remains a traitor in all threads and doesn't change his role depending which path you take. However, it still isn't a very engaging or original story and although the writing is slightly better, that didn't change my overall impression.

More reviews by Stockton

I was a bit disturbed by what's blatantly a mockery of Christianity on page 82, but I really shouldn't judge the book by that. Spiritual differences aside, this book is okay. It was a bit bland, and the characters were disappointingly one-dimensional props used to convey the pros and cons of the choices to the reader. However, there were some situations that required logical thought and there is a pretty decent plot twist to make things more memorable.

More reviews by Waluigi Freak 99