Endgame

Endgame is the sixth and final entry in Malorie Blackman’s young adult series, Noughts and Crosses. I have reviewed the previous entries in the series, starting with the first novel here.

NB: As this book is a continuation and is in fact a direct sequel to Crossfire, the below synopsis will contain spoilers for that book.

This sixth entry picks up less than 24 hours after the events of the previous novel. At the end of that novel Tobey and Callie received a message from Libby and Troy’s kidnappers for Callie to stand down as Tobey’s lawyer and for Tobey to plead guilty to murdering Dan Jeavons at his party (Libby being Tobey’s daughter and Troy being Callie’s half brother).

Just before the plea hearing Tobey told Callie he has CCTV evidence that her mother Sephy who was in attendance at the party standing over Dan’s body with the murder weapon in her hands. Finally, both Callie and Tobey disobey the kidnappers demands at his plea hearing. 

Meanwhile at the basement where Libby and Troy are being held, the kidnappers have boarded up the only way out….

In this sixth novel, Sephy, Callie and Tobey must race against time to find out who the kidnappers are and rescue their loved ones. There is also a sinister figure in the background who aims to “rescue” Troy and Libby but only so they can blackmail Tobey for more money.

The novel also goes back in time to the faithful night of Dan’s party, where we learn who was in attendance and whether Sephy truly committed murder.

Will Sephy, Callie and Tobey rescue Troy and Libby? Just how far will they go to save the ones they love?

Endgame is a nerve shredding, apocalyptic conclusion to Malorie Blackman’s amazing series of books. When Crossfire ended on that cliff-hanger I knew I had to read this book as soon as possible and it was brilliant. The pace never lets up as our heroes experience a race against time to find Troy and Libby.

Meanwhile the mystery of Dan’s party plays out like a classic whodunnit with each guest having their moment and all of the guests having a motive to commit murder the actual perpetrator is very surprising. The book also ends on a very dramatic twist which I wasn’t expecting and has a final tragic twist in the tale which will be emotional for fans who have read the previous entries and for long time fans who have followed the series since the first novel published in 2001.

One of the best aspects of this series is Blackman’s ability to reflect the current times and there are plenty of references in this novel to things going on in the news today such as Brexit and the Covid pandemic which though they aren’t central to the story it does help to build this world and makes you think about our own world and how we are quite similar to the world of Albion in the novel.

The final epilogue does contain a slight tease for the future of the characters so part of me does wonder if there will be a seventh entry and I hope there will be as we need a thought-provoking series like this which is entertaining to read but also echoes our changing world and challenges it. I think the fact I want a seventh entry even though this has clearly been shown as the end of the series pretty much speaks for itself.

I would highly recommend starting from the beginning and working your way through these novels from beginning to end as Callum and Sephy’s journey is well worth reading.