Cole, Steve. Z-Apocalypse11 October 2012, Philomel
Adam and his father are back from Z-Raptor (and the first book, Z-Rex) and in the custody of the U.S. military when they travel into D.C. for a meeting just in tiem to see the white house attacked by giant evil mutant dinosaurs who also try to pick up Adam and fly away with him! Bam! The two are then whisked off to another secret military facility where meet Eve, a scientist from New Zealand who is trying to study the Z-creatures, and her daughter Zoe, who can communicate with a lot of different animals, including Keera, the Z-dactyl who tried to carry off Adam. Eve and Adam's father are trying to help the government figure out what the evil corporation Geneflow is trying to do with their creatures-- right now, it looks like they are trying to start World War III by attacking the most cherished monuments of every country around the globe! Before Adam and Zoe can accomplish anything, however, the base is attacked and they are saved by Keera slurping them up in her mouth, drugging them with her spit, and taking them to the far flung reaches of Norway where she keeps them safe while they try to figure out what's going on. Evil characters from the first two books miraculously reappear, and Adam and his father are in danger of becoming evil, genetically manipulated monsters themselves!
Strengths: Adore Cole's action writing. This series is really popular among the boys at my school, and the books sell themselves. They are shiny! They are about evil mutant dinosaurs! Things blow up! I especially liked this one because of the inclusion of Zoe, who is plucky and has an attitude, and is incidentally fairly disabled, not that it stops her. Sad to see the series end, but glad that Cole know that three books is a great number for a middle grade series.
Weaknesses: Got a little confused in the middle of the book when Adam started hallucinating, or maybe he wasn't... recovered quickly, however. Students who read more slowly tend not to get as easily confused as I do!
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