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.