Feet of Flames - Warriors

Book review: Year One by Nora Roberts

I was skeptical to read this book and put it off for months. Now I feel kind of silly for doing so. Nora Roberts is an auto-buy author for me. I'm not someone who reads end-of-the-world type books because, quite frankly, the idea of them is scary to me. I should have trusted that Nora Roberts' masterful storytelling would shine regardless of the fact that she tackled a new genre with this book.

Year One begins with an illness called The Doom. It's vicious, vile and everyone who catches it dies quickly. As The Doom obliterates huge numbers of human beings around the globe Lana Bingham, Max Fallon, Arlys Reid, Little Fred, Jonah Vorhies, Rachel Hopman, Katie MacLeod Parsoni and Chuck realize they must leave their beloved New York City (and boroughs). If they don't they are going to be rounded up by what's left of the military and experimented upon because they are immune to The Doom. In addition to relocating in order to avoid being lab rats they are running from the evil that has become rampant in the dark times they face. The evil comes in human and mystical forms. However, there is plenty of good and light, as well, both in human and mystical form.

In all fairness I have to warn that there is a LOT of dark in this book. There is a fair amount of violence, murder and death, brutal acts, rape and bigotry. There is a lot of good and heroism, too. Babies are saved, people accept things they previously believed to be unreal. People become leaders and sacrifices are made in order to learn to live in a new world that no one recognizes. There are also a lot of secondary characters in the book. Some, like Eddie, are very funny and provide an element of needed comic relief.

I felt the style in which Nora Roberts wrote this book was different from her romance or romantic suspense novels but it made sense to me considering she went down a new writing path. I cried more than once while reading this book but I cheered the characters on, too. I had HOPE for them and that meant a lot to me as a reader. Roberts' trademark story telling and ability to create believable relationships was in full force. I am looking forward to reading the next book (and hopefully getting resolution to some of the story lines) in this series come December.

Wordless Wednesday: Waves

Teaser Tuesday: Year One by Nora Roberts (2)

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Year One by Nora Roberts:

"There's some trouble out on the streets, but it's not as bad as it's been. It won't take long to get to the marina. We're going straight out, straight into the ambulance. Both of you and the babies in the back."

Year One by Nora Roberts

Year One took Nora Roberts on a completely different path in her writing. This is basically a post-apocalyptic book. The tagline is: When the world ends, Year One begins.

As a longtime fan of Roberts' writing I was nervous about this book. I don't generally care for end-of-the-world, disaster type books. They're scary! So I put off reading this book - for months! It came out December 5, 2017. I usually buy books by Nora Roberts the day they come out and start reading them immediately. Not so with this one. 

I finally decided it was time to read this book and oh my gosh, it is GREAT! Yes, there are seriously scary parts throughout the book - I'm 80% through the book and the scary is a huge part of the story. However, this book is also about people (and the Magickal) who survived what is called The Doom and are building new lives. I told my husband I never should have doubted Nora Roberts' masterful ability to write the human condition! I'm almost done with this book and will be counting down the days until the next book in this series - Of Blood and Bone - comes out! Which is 99 days since it comes out on December 4, 2018!

In the meantime, if you're interested in reading Year One here is the description:

It began on New Year's Eve.

The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed--and more than half of the world's population was decimated.

Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magic rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river--or in the ones you know and love the most.

As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.

In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.

The end has come. The beginning comes next. 

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset at Huntington Beach

Teaser Tuesday: Year One by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Year One by Nora Roberts:

"There are people who don't have the virus who need doctors. Who need goddamn smart, adaptable doctors. They're going to try rounding up people like me, too, and I'm damned if I'm going to end up somebody's experiment."

Heart - Stairway to Heaven: A tribute to Led Zeppelin

Wordless Wednesday: Passion flower crochet square

Teaser Tuesday: Need to Know by Karen Cleveland

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Need to Know by Karen Cleveland:

"It's blackmail," I say, my voice cracking.

He holds my gaze momentarily and I desperately try to read his expression. Troubled? I don't know. He looks away. "Yeah, it's blackmail."

Wordless Wednesday: Currently reading

Happiness is...

Southern California

Gorgeous pink tree

Books are gifts

Wordless Wednesday: Pretty Scallops cloth