This was by far the best Deathlands book LJ wrote. The long awaited appearance of Gert Wolfram, and The Magus. The separation of Ryan, and the rest of the group, broke from the formula. This entire book seemed to break from the formula. When I finished it left me anxious for more of The Magus. I give this book a 10.

The story begins from the cliffhanger of the last book. Ryan is seperated from his friends and the first third of the novel centers around his lone adventures and the rest of the party goes on without knowing what his fate is.
The middle third is their adventures aboard a ship on the Mississippi river. Old enemies are back, Gert Wolfram, and the mysterious man known as The Magus. It was interesting to finally see this character in a book. My only problem with the storyline was the way Wolfram and The Magus had spent so much of their efforts to track Ryan and capture him only to let him go so he could make his way to their base and help them with their stickie problem. They knew what Ryan was really going to do, so it was more of playing a cat and mouse game against Ryan.

Ryan and J.B. are seperated from their friends for the last third of the story, as they make their way through the dangerous forest to rescue the others from the clutches of Wolfram's armed base.
Without Dean at his side Ryan seemed to degenerate somewhat, I thought his plan to rob the merchant at the riverside so he could buy tickets for the boat ride was kind of ridiculous. I don't think he would have done this if his son was with him.
The adventure and the action is packed in like sardines between the covers of this book. So much so that even the details of everything everyone eats all through the novel doesn't detract from the pacing of the adventure, and the last chapters are very intense and explosive.

ECLIPSE was supposed to be Jame's last book, but he came back to fire one more round in the series. But though not at his highest level of writing here, this still is a great and exciting read with an old arch-enemy coming back to haunt them.
The Magus' return made this a real page-turner for me. I couldn't wait for legendary coldhearts like that to show up and shake things up for the companions.
Though the formula he used here wasn't as savage and gritty here, it still was never dull and made for a fine read.
The world was starting to be too comfy-sounding here in the last few books that Laurence wrote, with a party boat now roaming Deathlands. This kinda took away from the savage exterior and mystique that had been built up for so long, but there was still a lot of action and adventure.
I liked the odd closeness between Ryan and J.B. when they thought he was a goner. It showed a special closeness that was seldom seen between two comrades that are as close as brothers.
That still stands out in my mind. Even after all the years that have passed since I've read this particular novel.
And that's saying something!

Awesome book!! Unfortunately its the final chapter for LJ, he does have one more (book 44) but this ends the streak that made deathlands what it was.. On that note its sad.. but the book is great!! Ryan goes on a solo adventure, then they meet some badass enemies!! The hinted at Wolfram and The Magus, Magus a half cyber dude.. the guy responsible for bringing stickies into the deathlands as I understand it..

I loved this book! There's tons of suspense and action in this one, a must get!!