Review – Omens (Cainsville, Book 1) by Kelley Armstrong (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 496 pages
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: August 20, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0525953043
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Cainsville series
Source: From Publisher for Review
Rating: 4/5 stars

I actually got this book to review from the publisher nearly a year ago (hangs head in shame), when the publisher contacted me to give me the 2nd book in the series last week, I figured I better read this book before accepting another book in the series. It ended up being a very interesting and engaging read. I enjoyed the world and characters. The 2nd book in the Cainsville series, Visions, comes out in late August.

I have read the first four Otherworld novels by Armstrong (which were okay, but I wasn’t a huge fan) and Armstrong’s Darkest Powers YA series (which I also thought was okay but nothing special). Armstrong is one of those authors I want to like, so I keep reading her stuff…however I am never really enamoured with her writing style. Cainsville has changed that, I liked this book much better than her previous novels.

Olivia Taylor Jones is a society girl, daughter to an elite Chicago businessman. She is engaged to a handsome CEO with Senatorial ambitions and lives a life of luxury, volunteering with the less fortunate because she needs something to do. That all comes crashing down when she finds out she was adopted and is actually the daughter of two convicted serial killers, Todd and Pamela Larsen. Now ostracized by her friends and family, she struggles to find a way to survive. She ends up working with her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, in an effort to find out the history behind the Larsen’s and if they really are guilty of the crimes they committed.

Olivia is forced to flee the aggressive media frenzy of Chicago and ends up in Cainsville, the Larsen’s home town. However Cainsville is not quite the simple small town it first appears.

This is a well done novel that is more of a mystery than a paranormal read. There are some very subtle paranormal elements throughout (premonitions, second-site is real, etc). I have a feeling these paranormal elements will be expanded in future books.

Cainsville, the town, really makes the story. There are all these little mysteries in Cainsville that really keep the reader interested and guessing. By the end of the story you really want to know more about this town.

Olivia is an interesting character and has some interesting background. She is well educated and very smart, but hasn’t really had to work for much her whole life. She is outgoing and wants to take responsibility for her life. I thought her reaction to discovering her real parents were serial killers (and the reaction of those around her) was a bit overdone. I mean Olivia goes through a serious identity crisis. I also thought it was pretty unrealistic that the mother (adoptive mother) and fiance who loved her would abandon her because of her true parentage. The whole thing was a bit contrived.

The above being said I did enjoy the mystery behind her real parents conviction as it unraveled. The story got more and more interesting as it unwound. My only other complaint is that this was a long, long book and it felt long. I really felt like things could have moved a bit faster and been a bit tighter.

Not a lot was resolved in this book, this book was very much here to set up the story and introduce the characters. There are a ton of interesting and quirky characters throughout the story.

Overall this was an engaging and well done book. I loved the town of Cainsville and can’t wait to see what other mysteries the town holds. I enjoyed Olivia as a character and am eager to see how her ability to see omens unravels in future books. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series. This was my favorite Armstrong book yet. Recommended to those who love mysteries with some subtle paranormal elements.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Chunkster Reading Challenge (450+ pages)
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge