Same old Same old

It nice when things are familiar, especially in a series.  Lies starts of just like the other books of the GONE series with our (and my) hero Sam Temple and his thoughts.  He is still asking the same questions that he has been asking in each book.  What is the FAYZ? How did this happen? Plus facing new problems as the reluctantly appointed leader of the town.  Witht he electricity out and there is no water supply.  He walks around the town and runs into kids with powers one of which can read peoples dreams, and even the dreams of Sam's mother.  This same conflict of Sam and the mysteries facing his mother confront him once again.  Now while to some they may possibly view repition as a lazy tactic of an author, I would have to disagree.  Not only do reoccurring themes ties together a series and make them one big piece, but they also help fans of the series settle right back to the state of mind they were in reading the previous book.  I feel repition is the most useful tool that an author of a series can use for this purpose.