Finn Whitman along with his friends Philby, Willa, Charlene, and Maybeck, who were hired to model Disney Host Interactive hologram guides for the parks at Disney World are back for another adventure in which they take on the Overtakers, who are led by Maleficent and Chernagog (the demon from Fantasia. The Overtakers are hoping to conquer the world, which is not surprising because they are made up of all the worst villains from the Disney films.
This time the DHIs are having to deal with the loss of their wise leader, the Imagineer Wayne. He has mysteriously gone missing, and it will be up to Finn and the gang to save him. They will have some extra help in the form of Jess and Amanda, two girls in foster care with their own special talents. Jess can see the future in her dreams. They will join the rest of the Kingdom Keepers and Wayne's daughter Charlene in the hopes of finding Wayne before the Overtakers' evil plot come to fruition.
The previous books in the series focused on the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, but the focus in this tale shifts to Epcot and MGM Studios, and it is going to take every skill and teamwork for the Kingdom Keepers to prevent the Overtakers plans.
As a big fan of all things Disney, I have really been enjoying this series, though, it took me forever to get to this volume, which originally came out in 2010. I do have to say that I thought it dragged a bit. There was a lot of setup (about 200 pages before things really got going) and a lot of talking about what the kids were going to do before anything really started to happen.
It is interesting watching the Kingdom Keepers as they, and their relationships, evolve and developed, which is part of why the book is as thick as it is. I did miss having a lot of interaction with the Overtakers, which seemed to be the part that was missing the most in this volume.
Finn, and the rest of the kids' parents, are definitely starting to notice things ... you probably would if your kid kept shifting into a hologram on a regular basis when falling asleep. This becomes a major problem when the kids end up trapped for a while, leaving their human bodies in something like a coma.
I am definitely looking forward to Volume IV, which is also already out. I am hoping that the writing will be a little tighter and the book not quite as long.