Visions by Kelley Armstrong

While I thought the first book of this series, Omens, was a pretty awesome book, Visions surpassed my expectations. In Visions, many of the questions we had in Omens are answered, yet even if I'm really satisfied where that leads the series, I'm going crazy because I really want to know more about these characters and where they come from.  

When you undress the book of it's protective sleeve, on the actual hardcover of the Canadian edition, there appears to be a howling wolf. (And then after finishing the book, I realized there was also a shadow of a four legged beast for the cover art.) At first, I thought, 'What is Kelley Armstrong thinking!? Werewolves shouldn't make an appearance in this series! Crossovers are not welcomed! Keep it original!' Okay, so there may not have been that many exclamation points in my head, but I honestly didn't want this series to go that route even if I absolutely adore Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. This Cainsville series is all about mysteries, and uncovering the truth little by little, if you have the guts to ask the right questions. Supernatural elements are definitely there, but they're not as obvious as werewolves. The story is about omens, visions and portents, not shapechanging or ritualistic magic. I was definitely relieved when I realized that the story was in fact not about werewolves, but featured hounds. I'm not going to say more on that subject because I think I'm already saying too much by revealing the presence of hounds. Readers are not going to be disappointed with the direction of this story.

Olivia and Gabriel, the two main characters, are surrounded by mystery, and death follows Olivia whether she likes it or not. Someone is sending her death threats through body parts and suffice to say, she's not happy about it. As she delves into the murder of the owner of these body parts, she unravels new mysteries surrounding her origin and her birth parent's murder charges. Not even a month has gone by when she learnt that she was adopted, and her birth parents were incarcerated for the ritualistic murders of four couples. Gabriel is in the process of appealing two of the murder charges because he and Olivia proved that someone else was the murderer of one of the couples. Appealing  is proving difficult because of set backs in the system, like Olivia being unable to visit her birth father because of "lost paperwork" and bureaucracy.

"All roads lead to Cainsville" (p. 331) since the murder they are investigating has unexpected ties to Cainsville. Cainsville is turning out to be even more mysterious and supernatural than I expected. I love how Kelley Armstrong reveals so much by telling us very little. A lot is revealed through omens and visions and we have to deduce the truth, or accept that there might not be an immediate explanation. I could say a lot more about what we learn of Cainsville in this book, but then that would be too spoiler-ish.

I'm pleased that the author decided to add romance to this series. While Olivia and Gabriel definitely have a curious relationship, I can't really see it going toward romance. Ricky, Olivia's love interest, is everything her ex-fiancé James isn't and could never be. James is a future Senator candidate, while Ricky is the future leader of a biker gang. James is all about appearances and fancy parties, while Ricky is more about earning his spot in the gang, and proving himself a worthy member, and possible leader. While not overly descriptive, there are some steamy scenes featuring Olivia and Ricky. And sometimes Ricky's motorcycle. While they don't come from the same background, the two of them just seem to fit, and their relationship effortless. I don't know if it's jealousy or envy, but when Gabriel finds out Olivia and Ricky are seeing each other, he's not too pleased. He says it's because of conflict of interest, since both are his clients, but we get the feeling that there's something else there.

I'm very pleased where this series is going. As far as sequels go, this is the best one I've read in a long time. I'm not disappointed, that's for sure. It did not fall into the sequel death trap. The only thing I regret is waiting so long to actually read it. If you read Omens and was disappointed, do not make the mistake of letting go of this series. This sequel surpasses its predecessor, and if definitely worth checking out.



 

Posted by Tynga at 01:52

 Cainsville, Hounds, Kelley Armstrong, omens, Paranormal, Purchased, Random House, Random House Canada, Review  4 People left their mark

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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