The Sign of Sevens Trilogy - Nora Roberts

I read all three of the Nora's Sevens trilogy in one evening. LOL

We finally got power back after the ice storm and I just gobbled them right up! I hadn't had any serious reading in almost a week. I was going nuts!

The series contains the books Blood Brothers, The Hollow, and The Pagan Stone.

I really enjoy her books that have a touch (or more) of paranormal to them. I think it is because of my fantasy leanings.


Blood Brothers

Synopsis

In the small village of Hawkins Hollow, three best friends who share the same birthday sneak off into the woods for a sleepover the evening before turning 10. But a night of pre-pubescent celebration turns into a night of horror as their blood brother oath unleashes a three-hundred year curse.

Twenty-one years later, Cal Hawkins and his friends have seen their town plagued by a week of unexplainable evil events two more times - every seven years. With the clock winding down on the third set of seven years, someone else has taken an interest in the town's folklore. Quinn is a well known scholar of local legends, and despite Cal's protests, insists on delving in the mystery. But when the first signs of evil appear months early, it's not only the town Cal tries to protect, but also his heart.

Publishers Weekly

After three boys accidentally awaken an ancient evil near their small Maryland town, the tight-knit community finds itself lost to a Stephen King-style plague of madness and destruction for a week every seven years. Twenty-one years later, those three boys, now grown, are hoping to find a way to stop the evil before its third return, which may mean the end of the town; they don't know much about the "anomalies," but they do know that "[e]very time it gets stronger." This time, the town is graced by author Quinn Black, eager to document the paranormal mystery. When two more women arrive-one an associate of Quinn's, the other led to town by strange visions-the circle of six decide to face the oncoming apocalypse together. Hyperprolific bestseller Roberts frontloads her story with drama and endearing characters (especially in Quinn and bowling alley owner Caleb Hawkins), but an abundance of exposition and domestic concerns (protagonists decorate a house, trade banter and pair off predictably) slow the plot significantly. Though future volumes are sure to pick up, this trilogy kickoff suffers from a dearth of twists and little payoff; fans of the brisk, colorful Roberts style will enjoy the ride, though probably not as much as they'd expect. (Dec.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information


The Hollow

Synopsis

Book 2 of The Sign of Seven Trilogy

Otherworldly intrigue. Pulse-pounding suspense. Electrifying passion. It all adds up to the continuing Sign of Seven Trilogy.

In Book 2 of the trilogy, Roberts takes us back to Hawkins Hollow where the story began in Book 1 of the Sign of Seven Trilogy Blood Brothers. . . .

Hawkins Hollow, Maryland, an idyllic town where three boys share not only a birthday- July 7, 1977 - but an innocent ritual of friendship that changes the course of their lives and everything else in Hawkins Hollow. . . . Now those boys are men who must find a way to defeat the evil threatening all they know and love.

The Pagan Stone

Synopsis

Years ago, after their blood brother ritual, Gage, Fox, and Caleb emerged from the woods, each with a piece of bloodstone. Now, it will become their weapon in the final fight against the demon they awakened. Winner take all...

Shared nightmares, visions of blood and fire, and random violence begin to plague the longtime friends and Quinn, Layla, and Cybil, the women bound to them by fate. None of them can ignore the fact that, this year, the demon has grown stronger—feeding off of the terror it creates. But now, the three pieces of the bloodstone have been fused back together. If only they could figure out how to use it.

A gambling man like Gage has no trouble betting on his crew to find a way. And though he and Cybil share the gift of seeing the future, that's all they share. Were they to take their flirtation to the next level, it would be on their own terms, not because fate decreed it. But Gage knows that a woman like Cybil—with her brains and strength and devastating beauty—can only bring him luck. Good or bad has yet to be determined—and could mean the difference between absolute destruction or an end to the nightmare for Hawkins Hollow.

Kristin Ramsdell - Library Journal

Nearly 21 years ago, on the seventh day of the seventh month, three young boys swore a blood oath on top of the Pagan Stone in the woods near Hawkins Hollow and unwittingly unleashed an imprisoned demon that returns to wreak increasingly deadly havoc on the town every seven years. With the evil assault beginning once more, the time has come to end the carnage. Now, the three who started it all, linked by fate to a trio of exceptional women, are determined to defeat the demon once and for all. Each couple, sharing similar mental gifts, has had a part to play in the "Sign of Seven" trilogy (see also Blood Brothers; The Hollow), but in this final installment, it's up to gambler Gage Turner and free-spirited Cybil Kinski, who have the gift of precognition, to administer the death blow, even though it means someone else must die. Blood, fire, brutal violation, and possession are tempered by strength, self-sacrifice, and love in this chilling, passionate romance. It is reminiscent of Roberts's "Three Sisters Island" trilogy but more intensely evil and violent. Roberts does a good job of bringing readers up to speed and tying up loose ends, but readers will benefit from experiencing the stories in order. Roberts lives in Keedysville, MD.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - Reread

Well, I pulled out an old favorite this time. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is probably one of my favorite stories. There is something about her characters that really gets the reader interested in the story itself. Her way with words and turns of phrase is part of it. This is one of those books that I usually read at least once a year. Sometimes more LOL It also led me to re-watch the BBC mini series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. A great production of the book. Very accurate and the few changes they made were barely noticeable and were necessary for the dramatization.

Salvation In Death, JD Robb

First day of the year and I already have my first finish. :)

Salvation in Death by JD Robb. It is #27 in the In Death series. I have enjoyed each of these as they have appeared. I think that this is probably one of my favorites. I can't really go into why without giving away an essential part of the plot.

Synopsis

Ancient church rituals meet cutting- edge crime solving in the latest novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series that's "Law & Order: SVU-in the future" (Entertainment Weekly).

In the year 2060, sophisticated investigative tools can help catch a killer. But there are some questions even the most advanced technologies cannot answer.

Ridley Pearson has praised J. D. Robb's suspense as "taut" and "nerve-jangling." Her latest thriller sets a new standard for suspense, as the priest at a Catholic funeral mass brings the chalice to his lips-and falls over dead.

When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained potassium cyanide, she's determined to solve the murder of Father Miguel Flores, despite her discomfort with her surroundings. It's not the bodegas and pawnshops of East Harlem that bother her, though the neighborhood is a long way from the stone mansion she shares with her billionaire husband, Roarke. It's all that holiness flying around at St. Christobal's that makes her uneasy.

A search of the victim's sparsely furnished room reveals little- except for a carefully hidden religious medal with a mysterious inscription, and a couple of underlined Bible passages. The autopsy reveals more: faint scars of knife wounds, a removed tattoo-and evidence of plastic surgery, suggesting that "Father Flores" may not have been the man his parishioners had thought. Now, as Eve pieces together clues that hint at gang connections and a deeply personal act of revenge, she believes she's making progress on the case. Until a second murder-in front of an even larger crowd ofworshippers-knocks the whole investigation sideways. And Eve is left to figure out who committed these unholy acts-and why.

Publishers Weekly

Holy communion spells death for Fr. Miguel Flores, a popular Catholic priest in New York City's Spanish Harlem, after he swallows wine laced with cyanide during a funeral in bestseller Robb's unusually introspective 27th crime thriller to feature Lt. Eve Dallas (after Strangers in Death). The ensuing homicide investigation suggests that Flores could actually be Lino Martinez, a former member of a disbanded gang, the Soldados, suspected of two bombings before he disappeared. The death by cyanide of another religious figure, Jimmy Jay Jenkins, founder of the Church of Eternal Light, complicates matters. Are the two murders connected? Sussing out the answer to that question involves some serious digging. Dallas's husband, Roarke, and fun sidekick, Det. Delia Peabody, lend support. Robb offers a multilayered solution to several crimes that serves as yet another reminder that wolves sometimes hide in sheep's (or priest's) clothing, but justice, like faith, has no expiration date. (Nov.)