It’s getting on for four years now since I first made the acquaintance of outlaws Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne in their first, incredible outing together. After fate threw the pair of them together when Scarlett discovered Albert hiding in the toilet of a bus that had crashed, I have followed them as they have fought countless enemies – both alive and undead, evaded capture by the authorities, imposed their own form of justice on those who deserved it and plotted to bring down the ruthless and oppressive ruling High Council of Faith Houses and Stonemoor – the sinister institution in which Albert had previously been incarcerated.

Following their exploits in Book 2, life is still anything but quiet and settled for our heroes and the infamous duo are intent on robbing a bank shortly after we meet them once again, in the somewhat dull town of Sherborne. After going through the motions with those who believe they have a chance of stopping them and with their mission accomplished, Scarlett and Albert make good their escape and once away pause to allow Albert to recover in part from the exertions of using his powers and Scarlett to take a quick look at the slavers’ ledgers she has liberated from the bank’s vault. Once ready, they rejoin associates Joe, his granddaughter Ettie and Sal Qin who have taken advantage of the robbery to free a group of slaves who had been destined to be sold and together head back to their hidden camp.

Here, Scarlett is able to have a better look at the records in the hopes of finding a trace of her younger brother Thomas – hopes that go unfulfilled but allow her to mark off Sherborne on her map – before the pair are interrupted by Sal, who has received news that a hooded man is searching for Scarlett and that a small convoy of slave trucks is to pass by the following day. When they ambush the trucks, things do not go to plan but as a result, once they are back at camp, Scarlett forms a plan to head to Taunton, home to a slave fair and outside the jurisdiction of the Council, where she believes she may find evidence of Thomas having been trafficked.

While there, the town is visited by a group of the Council’s new operatives – the White Hats – who not only proclaim Taunton now to be under the control of the Faith Houses but are also carrying new weapons which they demonstrate in the most terrifying of ways. Escaping from the town, having gained possible information about Thomas and now even more determined to stand against the Council, Scarlett and Albert set out on the path they hope will lead to both Stonemoor and her brother. But with hidden dangers along the way and the deadly White Hats equally as determined to stop them once and for all, will our heroes be successful in the final instalment of their exploits and deeds, or will it end in failure – or worse – for the pair of them?

In some ways, much has changed for the duo since Scarlett stumbled upon Albert and he found himself on the run with her. Instead of being pursued solely for being a deviant – an individual in possession of superhuman powers – he has added outlaw to that title and has proved himself as the very best of friends to her over and over, as she has to him. Here, she is more driven than she ever has been before to find the brother she left behind and whose unknown fate has tortured her ever since. Now with a ragtag band of supporters in tow, the two of them face their biggest – and most dangerous – outing yet as they blithely carry out the robberies and other crimes that serve to support their joint quests.

Set at some time in the future, after the cataclysm, the England inhabited by the pair is a very different, dystopian country to the one with which readers are familiar. This is a country that has gone ever backwards since its heyday – one ruled by fear and one in which there are predatory gangs of strange animals and The Tainted desperately prowling in the hopes of coming across their next meal. No matter how bleak the landscape and how slim Scarlett and Albert’s chances of escaping each successive encounter with those who are against them are, throughout the whole series the two companions have somehow managed to stay ahead of the opposition, and fans – of whom I know there are many – will be reading this with trepidation that their luck has finally run out. Of course, I am not going to reveal just what happens but for those who have loved Books 1 and 2, as I have, this is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy and one that answers lots of questions regarding both Scarlett and Albert’s history. If you haven’t as yet had the good fortune to read either of the titles that precede this one, I suggest you do before you pick this up – you could read this as a standalone, but I think you will enjoy it far more if you read the entire sequence in order.

My enormous thanks, of course, goes to publisher Walker Books and to NetGalley for my virtual, advance read. The Legendary Scarlett and Browne goes on sale 16th January.