The Sword #3: Earth continues Dara Brighton's quest for vengeance against the ancient elemental powers that killed her family. It is not quite as exciting as the previous two books in the series -- Fire and Water -- in part because it's more of the same. Mostly, however, it pales because of the ease in which Dara and her two friends track down the villain, Knossos.

Given the vague information that Knossos is connected to the Mexican drug trade somewhere in the vicinity of an ancient temple, the trio heads to Mexico and follows the first street dealer they see. Operating, apparently, on the assumption that the chain of command for a Mexican drug cartel requires every dollar earned to be taken directly to the head honcho, Dara follows the dealer straight to his local connection, who immediately takes a bus for another city where the money is delivered to a flunky, who immediately takes it to -- you guessed it -- Knossos. Now, I realize that comic books require some suspension of disbelief, but this sends disbelief right up to the Hubble.

Fortunately, things pick up from there. Dara make her assault on the well-guarded compound and, in the process, loses her grip on the mystical sword that gives her magical strength and healing powers. It's snagged by the aforementioned flunky, who immediately takes on his boss in a doomed grab for power. Then it's up to Dara and a surprising new ally.

Earth is the weakest of the three books so far, but it sets up a big finish in the final volume, which I can only presume will be called Air.