Kalynn - that ending (both pre and post epilogue)!!!! I guessed/wondered if one of those things would be happening by the end but I did not see BOTH things coming.

Overall this is a satisfying conclusion to The Vanquishers series while still leaving more story to tell. In this book, Boog and her friends have a lot of growing to do - and the adults have a LOT of explaining to do. I feel like this book really ties the whole series together and I enjoyed the change of scenery and that the Wrecking Crew got to play more of a role in keeping San Antonio safe.

I love that Bayron has given middle grade readers a complex, romance-free vampire series!

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, and Bloomsbury Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.

The way it ends can't be the final of the trilogy as the introductory part of the summary suggests-- if the last lines are anything, it's a cliffhanger for the next installment. We shall see.

I wanted to finish it on Halloween simply because it's an action-packed middle grade about vampires and the vampire hunting Vanquishers who are all learning their parts to play as information is revealed to the kids by their parents about their role in the history, present, and future of vampires and their vampire-fighting ways. When they enter the secret hideaway they learn about Dracula and Vlad and Van Helsing, and that evil is still afoot even in their location.

It's got a blend of funny, friends, and family but it as cohesive as the first two, though the setting grounds the story. They're an awesome set of characters.

The Vanquishers are an auto-add to my library. My students love scary and a book with a vampire hunting group of children is perfect, especially as many of my students see themselves and their cultures reflected within the book.

I am sad that the series is concluding because I know how well these hook my students. I will also look for whatever Kalynn Bayron writes in the future.

This is a well written conclusion to a great series. I guess I need to order a copy!

Thank you to Net Galley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for the eARC!

E ARC provided by Netgalley

After their adventures in The Vanquishers and The Secret of the Reaping, Boog and the Wrecking Crew are back, faced with an even greater problem than before. Nathalia, aka Nightshade, is still intent on causing chaos, and the situation in San Antonio is so dire that the schools have pivoted to virtual learning because of vampire sightings. The Vanquishers head out of town, and Boog is surprised that her parents and their comrades in vampire fighting have a secret lair in the side of a mountain. It's been abandoned for years, so Miss Kim, Mr. Rupert, and the others have to check equipment and clean up a bit, but before long there are supplies and the group is trying to figure out their next step, especially since Mr. Alex and Aaron are vampires and add to the general sense of chaotic urgency. Boog confronts her mother when she finds out that there were samples in the lab, and that the holding cells look like they were designed for children, but her mother reassures her that the samples were donated, and she was trying to figure out how to help the children, who were sent to safety in a vampire hive. Mr. Rupert shows the group the historical archives, which include all manner of artifacts, including Dracula's teeth. A sample of Dracula's blood, however, is missing, and this is particularly bad. Because it is so powerful, if a vampire like Nathalia were to ingest it, it would give them super powers. Even though not all vampires are bad, they are all dangerous, so when an ancient vampire appears in the command center, the parents are very worried. After an attack by the Department of Vampire Affairs (DOVA) that also includes vampires, some of which the group kills, it's evident that the group really needs to go back to the city and find Nathalia and her hive. They're holed up in the kids middle school, and Boog in particular is determined to do her part to fight them. Will the Vanquishers, and the Wrecking Crew, be able to finally neutralize Nathalia and her particularly bad version of vampire-dom?
Strengths: Even though this is billed as the conclusion to the series, it seems like there is room for another book, so we'll see! There's plenty of vampire lore, and even some new things, like the fact that vampires can be stopped in their tracks by rhymes! The Vanquishers' headquarters is a nice change from the family homes on the cul de sac, and is stocked with plenty of cool technology and history. This was a nice blend of planning and fighting, and I loved that Boog and the other Wrecking Crew kids finally stand up for themselves and tell the parents they want to fight. It is a little strange that this depicts a world where there are always different levels of vampires around, in the way that the characters in Weinberger's Zombie Season always have to deal with zombies; there are a lot of similarities in these two series, including the involvement of the parents!
Weaknesses: Even though I love having parents involved with adventures, this means that there were a lot of people, and since it's been a while since I read the other books, I had some trouble remembering who was who. Also, there are a lot of shades of gray when it comes to how evil vampires are, which might confuse some younger readers.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like more complex and nuanced vampire tales with more fighting and less romance, like Brown's Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting or Birchall's How Not to Be a Vampire Slayer.