"urban fantasy"

In 1987, three ten year old boys celebrate their birthdays by camping near Pagan Stone; an object many believe is from a supernatural realm. When they cut their hands to make a blood oath between them, some of it spills near the stone. An explosion occurs and when it is over Caleb, Fox and Gage are healed of all previous wounds, never get sick and they immediately recover from injuries. They are also sensitive noticing things that the other townsfolk don't see.

During the seventh month on the seventh day every seven years, the locals go crazy, committing heinous crimes that they don't remember when the week is up. Quinn comes to town to write a book of supernatural happenings and meets Caleb; she tells him what she sees and hears which is the same as what he and his blood brothers sense. For no reason she can understand Layla Darnel come to town, sees what Quinn sees and is unable to leave. Quinn calls Cybil to help her in researching what is going on in the town. Somehow these six men and the women are linked which gives them a fighting chance in the last battle between good and evil and to save the town and its inhabitants.

This is the first book in an urban fantasy trilogy and like any book Nora Roberts writes it is fantastic. The romance between Caleb and Quinn is starting to sizzle even though they have to put exploring the relationship on hold at times while they try to figure how the women fit into the equation to give them an edge in the upcoming war as told to them by a benign ghost. BLOOD BROTHERS makes the audience believe what they are reading is true as Ms. Roberts paints a dark picturesque landscape.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 8, 2007

Summary

In the small village of Hawkins Hollow, three best friends who share the same birthday sneak off into the woods for a sleepover the evening before turning 10. But a night of pre-pubescent celebration turns into a night of horror as their blood brother oath unleashes a three-hundred year curse.

Twenty-one years later, Cal Hawkins and his friends have seen their town plagued by a week of unexplainable evil events two more times—every seven years. With the clock winding down on the third set of seven years, someone else has taken an interest in the town's folklore. Quinn is a well known scholar of local legends, and despite Cal's protests, insists on delving in the mystery. But when the first signs of evil appear months early, it's not only the town Cal tries to protect, but also his heart.