Omens (Cainsville, #1)

by Kelley Armstrong

[celinenyx]

Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, featuring werewolves and vampires and witches, is one of my favourite series of all time. It took me a long time to pick up Omens because how would it compare? Would it measure up to my expectations?

Actually, yes. It did.

Though it has to be said that Cainsville is a whole other beast than WotO. Where her first series is in-your-face supernatural, Cainsville starts off subtle, with the merest hint of otherworldly. Main character Olivia discovers her parents weren't exactly who she thought they were, and this discovery sparks a journey that takes her to Cainsville, a small town near Chicago.

On the surface, Omens is a thriller - and a good one at that. Ms Armstrong has a great command of language, and her writing lends itself well for the clear, direct style of a thriller. The chapters are short and the story moves fast. In the background, a murky image is starting to form, one that becomes clearer throughout the book. There is more to this fictional world than the ordinary, and Olivia is caught up in it all. There are quite some hints scattered through the story, and as quite the experienced fantasy reader, I have a pretty good idea what might be going on at Cainsville. For definite answers I will have to wait a bit longer though, because in Omens we are only just scratching the surface.

Omens is a nifty book which will appeal to both thriller readers as well as fantasy buffs. The main plot thread might be resolved by the end of the book, but it leaves us with more questions than answers.