Omens, by Kelley Armstrong

As I sit here mumbling and grumbling to myself over Amazon.com’s failure to deliver Stephen King’s new book to me on time, I figured I’d take the opportunity to share a few thoughts on this interesting little book that I picked up at the library last week.  (Technically, at 496 pages, it’s not so little, but the ‘interesting’ descriptive still holds!)

The central character in the book is a young woman named Olivia.  Early on, she discovers that her wealthy folks are not, in fact, her biological parents.  Instead, she’s the spawn of a couple of notorious serial killers.  She sets out on an adventure to a spooky little burg called Cainsville to find out the truth for herself, and exactly what that truth means.  This is when the book really started to get interesting.

Cainsville is a very small community where strange things seem to happen.  There was nothing over the top – more like a sordid cast of characters who, perhaps, knew a little more than they should have about everything.  There were gargoyles, black cats, ravens – all that Halloween-y stuff.  Then, of course, there was also the obligatory hunk, namely Gabriel Walsh, who you could never fully figure out.  He’s a local attorney who has more than his share of naysayers.  The question remains, however - is he a good guy or a bad guy?  Most times, it was hard to tell.

At nearly 500 pages long, you would think this one took a while to read.  Not so.  I borrowed it on Friday night, and finished it Sunday morning.  (Of course, that doesn’t say much for my social life, does it?  Oh, that’s right – I’m married.  Therefore, I don’t *have* a social life!)  This was a fast-paced novel, with concise, relatively short chapters, which I l-o-v-e!!! 

When I finished the book, I was a little disappointed – I had questions!!  Where are my answers?!?  Then, I read the teensy little print on the cover that stated ‘A Cainsville Novel.’  i.e. – there will be more to come.  Whew, I can relax now.  (Of course, by the time book 2 comes out, I’m sure I will have forgotten every single element of this book…story of my seemingly-elderly life.)

Before picking this up, I knew nothing about the author, Kelley Armstrong.  Apparently, she’s the proud mama of a popular fantasy series called Otherworld.  I almost wish I had known that previously, so I would’ve had a better idea of what I was reading.  The first time the ravens started appearing out of thin air, I was thrown for a loop, since the bulk of the story came across as simply suspenseful, contemporary fiction.  In general, I’m not a huge fan of the fantasy/paranormal genre, but this was highly entertaining.  I would be interested in hearing what Armstrong fans think of this one, in relation to her other efforts.  I’m tempted to pick up the first book in that other series, just to compare.  Of course, that’s only once I finish reading the 947 books I still have sitting in my living room, waiting to be read.  *sigh* The life of a book hoarder…           

3.5 Stars