Another trilogy by my favorite adult romance writer, so here it goes...

The Sign of Seven Trilogy by Nora Roberts - In the small town of Hawkin's Hollow, every seven years, during the seventh month, for seven days a darkness infects the residents and creatures living within its borders causing them to act wayyyyy out of character and do the most horrific and unspeakable things to each other. The main protagonists are three men who are inadvertently responsible for this spooky and dangerous phenomenon - as ten year old boys they snuck into the dark woods of the Hollow and performed a ritual to make themselves blood brothers, but they also unwittingly released an evil force which had been imprisoned in the Pagan Stone - an altar like boulder that lay center of the clearing. Escaping with their lives, they walk out of the clearing with the ability to regenerate and heal inhumanly fast and each is granted a particular pyschic ability. Since that time, each "Seven," as Roberts dubbs it, is getting progressivly worse and Cal, Fox, and Gage have vowed that this upcoming Seven of their 31st birthday (oh yeah they all share the same birth date), will be the last. In come three women - Quinn, Layla, and Cybil - who bring fortitude, brains, skill, and determination to the table in order to help stop an evil from perpetuating itself, for all involved know that this is the final win or lose, live or die battle against evil. But have the women arrived there by coincidence? I think not - everyone is connected and Quinn, Layla, and Cybil have something very important to bring to the fight, even if they're unaware of it. Can 6 ordinary people with some extradordinary abilities stop, once and for all, the darkness plaguing their town? Stay Tuned! Like I'd written previously, The Key Trilogy by Roberts is still my all time favorite of her supernatural stories (there is one that is about vampires, which I may write about later but that one falls flat in the third and final book). I enjoyed the Sign of Seven trilogy, considering I've already read it twice since I've purchased it, but that's hardly surprising since I normally re-read most, if not all, my Roberts. The idea is really great, the execution is somewhat mediocre. The story still has those typical literary devices that make Roberts' fiction enjoyable, and I enjoyed the romances (especially between the first two couples), but there is one thing that really really really drove me crazy, which became apparent the second time I read it.... and that is Roberts' over-writing of the "All for one, and one for all" theme she had going. I understood the need to emphasize the group effort to thwart the evil bad guy, because hey, everyone had something to contribute to the weapon they ultimately try to use, BUT, every freaking chapter seemed to contain at least one Cub Scout Campfire scene. The story probably would've benefitted from fewer of those scenes and a little more development between the characters or something. It became pretty apparent pretty soon that this was a group - don't really need to be reminded of it all the time. Other than that, it was enjoyable, if very easy to read. Again, perfect for the beach or the commute to work or whatever.

*** 3 and 1/2 - 4 stars

Trilogy Includes:
1. Blood Brothers
2. The Hollow (my personal fave)
3. The Pagan Stone