Omens

Olivia Taylor Jones is living the perfect life. Engaged to the perfect man, heir to a department store fortune and contemplating going back to college, little does she know all that can change in an instant. When journalists uncover her heritage, Olivia not only learns she is adopted but she is the daughter of notorious serial killers, Todd and Pamela Larsen. Fleeing from the press and desperate to live without hand-outs from her adoptive family, Olivia soon finds herself in the isolated town of Cainsville. A town where outsiders aren’t welcome…but maybe Olivia is.

I know, we’re all a little sad after the end of The Women of the Otherworld series but Kelley Armstrong knows how to make everything better. Omens marks the start of a great new supernatural thriller series and I have to say I loved every minute of it. There’s really only a hint at the otherworldly in this opening instalment, but something’s definitely odd about Cainsville and Olivia’s talent for spotting omens treads along the line of explainable. There are so many bizarre and conflicting superstitions out there, I loved this take on them (also handy for weather forecasting).

It starts off a little like a glossy chick-lit story, until the news breaks and Olivia basically goes on the run from the press. She has nothing to be ashamed of but they are looking for every reason to compare her to her parents. Socialite turned sociopath would be the perfect headline. Olivia starts to doubt herself, pondering nature over nurture and shunning the people from her old life. So she must find out as much as she can about her biological parents; just so she can know the truth. Whether guilty or innocent, she wants to know what her genes are capable of and unlock the dormant memories she always thought were just dreams.

Whilst Gabriel Walsh is nothing like Lucas Cortez, it’s interesting that there’s another lawyer as a main character. A lawyer who is instinctively disliked by Olivia but manages to prove his worth, whatever his motives. I loved that he was described as having weird eyes but that made him creepy. How often in books do the characters swoon over the unique eye colouring of someone that we know would really be unnerving in real life?

It’s a real page turner, with loads of elements that all weave together perfectly. Intrigue, conspiracies, betrayal and curtain twitching neighbours. I am excited to see where this series goes.