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Saturday, April 9, 2011

51) The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

The Blurb -

Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.

It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.

My Review -

I adore Kelley Armstrong and her books and there was no question about pre-ordering this newest release. I wasn't totally sure what this new series was going to be about but I knew I had to have it asap. So when I started reading this I knew immediately that I was not going to be disappointed. From the first chapter on I couldn't get enough.

The Gathering is the first in the Darkness Rising series and it excited me to hear the names St. Cloud and Nast mentioned. Any lovers of Kelley's books will know what this means. It means this series is set in her 'Otherworld' and maybe, just maybe, we will see some familiar characters in later books.

Although it doesn't matter if none of the usual suspects pop up because the characters in this series have already won me over. Actually I am really starting to wonder if Kelley can write anything bad. I was hooked and in love with this within the first few minutes and it was one of those books that you never want to put down. This book seriously wants you to take a day off work, ignore the world and give it your full undivided attention. Oh but it really deserves the attention.

The story progress and suspense in The Gathering was amazing and I can't wait to see what happens next. I don't want to give away the plot so I will just tell you that it is worth every cent that you pay for the book and it has a lovely supernatural aspect to it. For me this series could be the one that fills the hole left by the end of the werecat series by Rachel Vincent.

Maybe this is supposed to be aimed at Young Adult readers but all fans of Kelley's books will have to read this. Actually Kelley manages to write a YA suitable for all ages and doesn't make you feel old! Buy and enjoy this book then buy or lend a copy to your friends. This is the one I will be giving away as a present to friends this year. Ten out of ten, five stars and a huge thank you to Kelley.

3 comments:

Aurian said...

As I have never read a Kelley Armstrong book before, will this be a good one to start with?
I have been meaning to start reading her, but I am a bit put off with (again) werewolves.

Brenda Demko said...

I've already read this one. I enjoyed it thoroughly and can't wait for the Calling. I am curious to see if she ties this series in with her Darkest Powers series as I really liked that series and felt like she could have given us more of it!!!

binabug said...

I read this and liked it quite a lot
was actually surprised how good it was