The Release

Written by Tom Isbell

Narrated by Christian Barillas and Ariana Delawari

The Release is the thrilling YA conclusion to Tom Isbell’s suspenseful post-apocalyptic Prey series, perfect for fans of The Maze Runner. Two months have passed since Book, Cat, Hope, and the others rescued the remaining Less Thans from Liberty, but they aren’t safe yet, and soon they’ll have to risk everything in order to defeat their enemies.

The group must leave the camp for good and escape the wolves, the Brown Shirts, and the Hunters. Most important, they need to stop Chancellor Maddox before she executes her Final Solution and grows even more powerful.

While the others are seeking freedom, for Hope, the battle has become personal. She wants revenge, no matter what the cost—and she’s willing to sacrifice anything standing in her way. The group may still be weak, but they don’t have time to wait. They must overthrow the Chancellor, even if it means joining forces with those who once betrayed them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9780062661289

Tom Isbell

Tom Isbell is an actor-author-professor. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he has acted in theater, film, and TV, working opposite Robert De Niro, Ed Harris, Sarah Jessica Parker, and others. Currently a theater professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth, he has had three of his plays produced by the Theater for Young Audiences at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major, which was adapted into a book with then–First Lady Laura Bush penning the foreword. Tom and his wife, Pat, live in Duluth, Minnesota.

Reviews for The Release

[deergawd1134 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Best book series I've ever read made me want to read so of course I had to listen to the audiobook as well :SPOILERS: I just wish Tom could have would have let Cat live but at least he died a hero saving many before and in his dying moments

[Heather Olson-Trow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A thrilling, touching and very satisfying- though also extremely emotional- ending to a wonderful trilogy. What a great author! I hope he writes more books!

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

teen fiction (gay 17 y.0. son of evangelist minister in sub-sub-suburban Washington state; ghost of murdered meth addict gets lost on her way to the afterlife). I read til about page 74 but wasn't really feeling the murdered girl storyline--she wasn't interesting, nothing new was being revealed about her, and it just wasn't clear why she needed to have anything to do with Adam's storyline (presumably it will be revealed at the end that there is some sort of divine force that feels love for everyone regardless of their meth addictions or sexual identities). I will continue to recommend Patrick Ness' books, since people do enjoy them and he is a good author, but maybe this just wasn't my cup of tea.

[widdersyns · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was the first Patrick Ness book I've read that didn't blow me away. Maybe I'm holding it to unfair standards, but his other books are so good. Maybe I just didn't get it?

Side note: am I out of touch or was that like A LOT of sex (and explicit sex at that)for a YA book?

[ainjel-3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you like slice of life stories with a bit of a twist, then this here is the book for you.

People will tell you that not much happens in this book (untrue). I almost want to say that too much happens, but that's the point of the story: it's about the extraordinary in the ordinary. Our protagonist, Adam, begins thinking that today is going to be just another day. Instead, Adam is torn apart, bit by bit, as every piece of his life is unraveled until he finally reaches-- you guessed it-- release.

It's kind of great.

What makes this greater is that there are actually two narrative storylines going on in this text. Ness played with the idea of the phenomenal story being told in the background in The Rest of Us Just Live here, and he plays with it again in Release. While Adam is living a "normal" day (it's not normal) something extraordinary is happening, but he's entirely unaware. It makes Adam's story seem a lot more special in some way, and when the stories eventually link up (because you know they do), it makes everything feel.... magical. Fulfilling. Like this was how it was always meant to be.

Now, I guarantee someone, somewhere, is going to try to ban this book. There are sex scenes and they are somewhat explicit. It's something that probably would have made me uncomfortable as a young teen, but it's something I feel like sixteen and seventeen year olds would love to read, just to have it represented. Especially gay youth. SUPER important for that.

Overall, I thought this book had the trademark Ness quirky-ness but in a much more sophisticated voice than a lot of his other works. I definitely recommend it to fans of the every day and to people who don't have it quite figured out just yet, but are working hard towards that moment of release.

[susangeiss · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I cannot put into words how this book moved me, captured me, and changed a part of me. It is a must read...a simple, complicated, heartbreaking, beautiful day in the life of one boy that transforms not only him, but so many around him. Read it...take it in...remember it. Simply amazing!
Thank you edelweiss and publisher! And thank you Patrick Ness for sharing this inspiring story!

[kk1_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The teenage story is ok, although sometimes I wonder if supportive teenage friends are a wish fantasy rather than reality. I could have done without the ghost.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Similar to the classic Mrs. Dalloway, this entire book spans a single day in the life of the protagonist, Adam Thorn. And what a day! Although at the start, the day seems like a typical day in the life of a teenager - work, hanging out with friends, and finishing the day with a party at the lake - some unusual events unfold that make this day one filled with heart wrenching events. Through internal dialog and several dramatic events, Adam examines his relationships with his boy friends (current and past) as well as his role in his family.

[carolyndenman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written, as I've come to expect from this author. Some really deep insights into the heart of this boy growing up in a rapidly changing world. I was a bit saddened that once again, every Christian in the story was painted as a religious nazi. Becoming a damaging trope, that one. Quite happy for that struggle, as a theme, to influence one or two of the characters, but to not include even one Christian who sees things the way Jesus did was a bit harsh, I think. I did love the parallel fantasy element to the story, and the mystery of the murdered girl. What a clever and well-executed concept. Patrick Ness is fast becoming one of my favourite writers, for sure.

[flying_monkeys_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The ending was too happy-ever-after for my taste. But this story wasn't written for me. Release speaks to the young folks living behind the walls of "Other." Those walls can function as both prison and protection, especially if the idea of facing their personal truth, whatever that may be, terrifies them. This books invites those "Others" to embrace their truth, tear down those walls, and live who they are with confidence and joy.

"Raising his eyes to look directly into Linus's face was maybe the scariest thing he'd had to do all day long, but it was only the free-falling terror that always accompanied hope."

While I enjoyed the parallel storyline involving the spirit, the Queen and the faun, it never felt cohesive; even at the end, the two stories still felt like they were completely separate.

"...a single drop of blood on a day where destinies changed, a single drop of blood that started this all--"

I understand the awakening and the two destinies, I just didn't get how the two were meant to relate as a whole.

There were other flaws as well; still, I couldn't put this book down.

And then she said something he knew her mother had always said to her. "Never pass up the chance to be kissing someone. It's the worst kind of regret."

4 stars

From the Author's Notes & Acknowlegments:

"The spirit of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever suffuse Release. I can only encourage you to read both to see where I've fallen short."

[infjsarah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like Patrick Ness's books. They are always readable and his characters are real. I enjoyed this one too about a boy who is unlucky enough to be born in a family with whom he does not fit. The secondary myth story line didn't quite fit with the main one but still a good read.

[refpenny · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of a preacher's gay son who longs to escape the confines of his family's expectations and the town where he has grown up. Although the action spans only a day, many topics are sensitively explored - first love, rejection, homophobia, sexual abuse, family expectations and friendship. Ness's writing is powerful and his characterisation of Adam is complex and believable. However, intertwined with this gripping story is a thread of fantasy - a ghost story featuring a queen and a faun. This story links to the recent death of teenage girl in the area but I found it an unwelcome distraction from Adam's story. Maybe I was in too much of a hurry to read it deeply enough but I felt that it didn't add to or illuminate the main story at all. The cover art, on the other hand, is very beautiful and a perfect fit for the story.
This book is a welcome addition to the growing collection of teen fiction portraying gay relationships but, as it contains some fairly graphic sex scenes, it is better suited to older readers.