Nora Roberts Morphed into Stephen King

Nora Roberts started her writing career as a romance author and soared to the bestsellers lists. Then she switched genres and ventured into mystery and again topped the bestsellers lists. Now she has changed once again and written BLOOD BROTHERS, which is a bit of suspense, a bit of paranormal, a bit of horror, and a lot of weird. To sum it up in one word: great!

A few times Nora Roberts has written about the paranormal but never like she has done in BLOOD BROTHERS. This story focuses on three boys who spend the night at the Pagan Stone when they were ten years old. When they cut their wrists and swear an oath to become Blood Brothers, they unleash a demon that has been locked away for centuries in this sacred ground. From that time on, every seven years, for seven nights in July this demon wreaks havoc on the small town of Hawkins Hallow. Cal, Fox, and Gage try to control the things that happen but cannot stop them. It’s been 21 years and they are once again bracing for the demon to make an appearance in July. Since it’s only February they figure they have a few months. When Quinn Black comes to town to write a book on the happenings in Hawkins Hallow, she meets Cal and strange things begin to happen even though it’s early. Quinn meets Layla Clark at the motel and when they see the demon make an appearance in the dining room (and no one else seems to notice) they realize something is not right. Quinn and Layla join forces with Cal and Fox to try to figure things out. Gage is a world traveler and Cal emails him to come home. Next to arrive is Cybill, Quinn’s friend from New York. The six of them seem to be linked and are determined to figure out how to stop the turmoil.

Each pair has a specific power. Cal and Quinn see things from the past. They see things that piece together the history of what happened and how this demon came to be. Gage and Cyb see things that are to happen in the future. Fox and Layla know what others are thinking – not really mind reading but more an empathic type of deal. These powers are mixed together and the reader is given the history of Hawkins Hallow, how the demon came to power, as they are trying to figure out how to destroy it.

Given that Roberts’ roots is in romance writing, of course we see Cal and Quinn have sparks of attraction that eventually leads into some hot romantic episodes. The other four are flirting and I’m sure the next two books in this trilogy will have them together, as is Roberts’ usual style. This does not detract from the story line but it is predictable with her writing.

Character development is excellent. She does develop Cal and Quinn a bit more than the others, as I’m sure she’ll give equal time in the other two books to the other two pairs of characters. She even describes Lump, Cal’s dog, in so much detail that I could envision him lying by the fire snoring! Support characters, such as the boys’ family members are glossed over with enough detail as to give the reader an idea of who they are but nothing solid.

What I found most intriguing in this book was the romantic overtures of the characters from centuries ago. The love Giles Dent and Ann Hawkins felt for each other was very well portrayed. We come to realize that if the six win against the demon then Ann and Giles will once again be together. “Be my heart. I will be your courage. And we will find each other once more.” Pretty moving for a horror type of book!

Overall the book was interesting and kept me turning pages late at night when I should have been sleeping. It’s definitely a great opening for a series and I can’t wait until the next one is published. That’s one of the big drawbacks though, THE HALLOW won’t be published until May 2008.