Book Log #35: Blood Brothers, by Nora Roberts

[annathepiper]

That I have read two Nora Roberts novels back to back I ascribe entirely to the fact that La Nora semi-regularly posts comments on smartbitches, and each time I see her post up there, the cooler I find her. Therefore, I felt obligated to pick up a couple more of her books.

The second of this last round of buying Nora was the first of her current paranormal trilogy, Blood Brothers, Book 1 of The Sign of the Seven. This was paranormal more in the vein of psychic/Gothic rather than fantasy, I note. In the hands of another writer, it might almost have been a horror novel plot. We have a small East Coast town where three young boys accidentally release a demon that proceeds to terrorize the town and drive everybody batshit every seven years--while the boys, who have been granted certain extraordinary abilities, have to figure out how to do damage control every time the demon strikes. Now, twenty-one years later, they're joined by three women who share their unique gifts, and all six are teaming up to face down the demon, hopefully for the final round.

(I'm pretty sure that Ms. Roberts wasn't thinking of the old Star Trek episode "The Return of the Archons" when she wrote this thing--though I have to admit a little voice in my brain kept asking, "Are you one with the Body?" every time I read about the town's previous incidents of going batshit and otherwise perfectly normal people raping, murdering, committing wild acts of vandalism, killing themselves, etc., and the survivors not remembering much about what happened after. Aheh. But I digress.)

It's probably fairly pat and predictable that each of the men has a counterpart, ability-wise, among the women. Caleb and Quinn both can see the past. Fox and Layla are both psychic. And Gage and Cybil can see the future. Naturally, these pairings are also clearly getting set up romantically as well; in Caleb and Quinn's case, pretty much right out of the gate. However, despite the predictable pairings, the six lead characters are likable. Quinn in particular is very sympathetic to me as a reader--Nora gets points for a woman who cheerfully loves food, is aware that she needs to change her eating habits to stay healthy, and is productive about it rather than angstful. I also very much liked Quinn's very straightforward handling of not only her feelings for Caleb, but also the paranormal events at large. She pretty much poleaxes poor Caleb, and charmingly so.

Since we are dealing with a cast of six main characters, Book 1 is not surprisingly mostly devoted to bringing everybody on stage. There are initial low-level rumblings out of the demon, just enough to let the cast know that this time around it's more powerful than it used to be--and to let them all get used to the idea of facing it together. Other than that, though, not much happens; therefore, Book 1 leaves me very much with a prologue-y sort of "okay, now let's get to the main action" feeling. But it's a good enough feeling that I'll be seeking out Book 2. Three and a half stars.

Comments

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

This series has been airport reading for me. I bought both of the first two books at airports on my way across the country and finished them on the flights. They're fun.

[annathepiper]

Hee, the icon is very appropriate. Ms. Roberts is definitely on my short list of romance novelists I'll actually read, in no small part because I've always liked her handling of relationships... but this plot? Oh my yes it's cheese. ;)

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

I agree. I have a good time with her novels, but even with her I'm pretty picky. I liked her series about the three women on the island who are all witches... can't remember the title... but I wasn't crazy about the Morrigan ones, and her non-supernatural ones don't really interest me much at all. I do like police procedurals though. Are her JD Robb books any good?

[annathepiper]

I've always liked the J.D. Robbs since they've got the futuristic angle going, just far enough into the future that there's a tang of science fiction about the setting as well as police procedural. Eve and Roarke have managed to be a dynamic couple for something on the order of.... 26 books, I think it is. The evolution of their relationship through the series is one of its strongest points.

Don't get me wrong... the series is fairly formulaic. But it's a decent enough formula. In addition to Eve and Roarke, there's a cast of fun supporting characters, and occasionally one of the books will bump up the bar a bit and make things really interesting. There was one a few books back involving clones, and that? That was some actual SF&F, which was a surprising thing to find in this series despite its futuristic trappings.

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

What's the first book in the series?

[annathepiper]

Naked in Death. :) Let me know if you check it out, and what you think!

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[annathepiper]

Welcome!

[morgie.livejournal.com]

... I was trying to avoid that series, 'cause I'm trying to cut down on bought books.

YOU AREN'T HELPING!! ;)

Excusee now. I must go to the library tomorrow, to see if they have.

[annathepiper]

*bows* My work here is done!

[bloody-keri.livejournal.com]

So do you think I, the romance-hater, might like this series? I mean, I do read the 'mild' romance of our Miss Michaels, Phyllis Whitney and the like, so maybe? It's intriguing me, anyway.

[annathepiper]

Hrmm, maybe. I've only read a couple of Noras at this point, aside from the J.D. Robbs, so I have only a small sample set to work with. That said, I'd say that her standalone novels seem to be in the same ballpark as Michaels and Whitney, in terms of how much focus the relationship gets in the plot. It's important, but it's not primary, if that makes sense. She also does do sex scenes on camera, but what I like about them is that they're short and tend to describe just as much about the emotions of the involved characters as they do the physical actions.

In this particular trilogy, too, this gets a bit diluted just because she's dealing with three romances to establish and not just one, so each one gets less camera time. And, there's the main supernatural plot going on, which is in center stage.

Long story short, it may be worth at least a checkout from the library, if you want to see if you like it. :)