The Year of Abi Crim Book

Yet again I thought maybe this book might just get it right, and yet again it didn't. The same problems from the first two apply here, except that this one is even longer and more drawn out, so it really seemed to drag and meander its way aimlessly through the flimsy plot. This time the DHIs take their adventure mostly to Epcot, making the selection for Overtakers pretty slim, so they included crash-test dummies from Test Track and random jesters from France in the World Showcase. Ultimately, after 500 pages of wandering here and there (with the occasional mix-up of running here and there), they ended up in a bizarre commandeering of Fantasmic, which ended up in a big mess that resolved itself in a matter of a few pages. With books like these (especially if they're so carelessly handled), you really can't put out more than 500 pages. The tiniest bit of editing could have streamlined at least 100.

The writing is still pretty sad. The details and facts about the Disney Parks continue to be off (Dumbo is a girl? A character is named Wanda after "Mickey's wand"? And what wand would that be?), and the author continues to contradict his own history and mythology. There is an entire conversation at the start of this book that presumably took place during the first book, but which certainly did not, but which really should have, as it finally (tried to) explain how the whole system works and what the bad guys' motive is in the first place. References to previous events in the same book are inaccurate, and the rules here are so flimsy and malleable that nothing can be taken seriously. That doesn't mean, however, that the kids don't take it seriously. Oh no, everything is a crisis and everything is met with sarcasm and derision and snark. The characters have a little more personality, but they are still pretty wooden and one-dimensional, and there are way too many of them (in case five DHIs weren't enough, why don't we spend a good chunk of the plot watching amateur teenagers create complete DHIs of two of their more gifted friends?). One of the characters' first names still hasn't even been uttered. It was nice to see there wasn't any awkwardly-handled cursing in this one--it's almost like a very select few of the more obvious problems with each book, such as this one, are slightly rectified with the next one. Some of the text just doesn't make sense and could have very, very easily been fixed if only someone had bothered to proofread, which it isn't apparent that someone had. I mean, "uneven parallel bars"?? A few of the clueless parents are actually involved eventually, the baddies are somehow apprehended in the end, and a couple of mysteries are sort of solved, but by the time I was done wading through the plodding plot, I didn't really care that much. Oh, and I've never cared about obligatorily coot-ish Imagineer Wayne. It's not that hard not to care about him.

These books are in desperate need of an editor and a fact-checker, both of which I can only assume they did not have. I have one more in hand, so I guess I'll just finish, and we'll see if it starts to make sense. The Disney Geek in me still somehow believes. This is definitely the weakest point in the series so far. We'll also see if these Overtakers actually start to resemble their film counterparts. At least I sort of understand their whole master plan now.