☆☆☆☆/☆☆☆☆☆
Omens is sort of a riches to rags story. The main character Olivia Jones goes from living a comfortable life as the daughter of wealthy parents and engaged to a future politician— to discovering she’s adopted and the biological daughter of a pair of serial killers. Her birth name? Eden Larsen.
Having lost her father (the parent she was closest too) she’s left alone to deal with the fallout of having these biological ties, when the local papers catch wind of her past. Her mother acts as if she’s the victim and flees the country and her fiance strategizes how to work around her discovery so he can still have a future career in politics. Basically everyone she loves and that loves her bails on her, so she skips town (Chicago) to escape the press and to figure out who she is.
Olivia leaves her life of luxury behind and ends up in a town called Cainsville where she works as a waitress and lives in a one bedroom apartment. The townspeople don’t care who her parents are, but there are some interesting characters that seem to be working behind the scenes to get her to stay in that town.
For reasons that probably have to do with her upbringing (that will probably come to light later) Olivia has an ability to detect and read omens. For example, she sees poppies no one else can and when she sees them it means death is near. Other omens about black cats and other superstitions we’ve all heard all have meaning to her and it seems to help her stay one step ahead of danger.
Throughout the book Olivia looks into the murders that had her biological parents behind bars since she was an infant and ends up gaining a partner in her biological mother’s former lawyer Gabriel Walsh. The two investigate one of the murders her parents allegedly committed to see if there’s any truth to their claims of innocence.
I loved this book. It wasn’t at all what I expected, which was a good thing. After reading the synopsis I new it would have paranormal elements but I soon discovered Omens was definitely part mystery novel, part paranormal. The writing was phenomenal and this being the third or fourth Kelley Armstrong series I’ve read, I’m not really that surprised. The plot had me wanting to keep reading more and more. It’s the type of mystery where enough is revealed for readers to learn and empathize with the characters and understand the plot, but it still left a lot unsaid for future books. I didn’t see where this book was going at all, there were no giveaways and the ending was pretty unexpected. I have no idea where Kelley Armstrong is going with the series but I am definately excited to find out.
I personally can’t wait to find out more about:
- What Patrick is up to and why the townspeople respect him so much? Also why does he appear younger then he is?
- What really happened to Gabriel’s mom?
- Why Olivia’s former fiance wants to keep tabs on her.
- Who are the huntsmen?
- Are her parents really innocent?
- What does the hound with red eyes mean?
- What does Chandler’s threat to Olivia actually mean?
And those are only some of the questions I have! This was such a smart book and I’m (im)patiently waiting for Book#2!
What did you think of Omens? Let me know!
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