The Hollow (Sign of Seven Trilogy, Book 2)

Nora Roberts is the BEST. She never fails to hold my attention! Always a good read.

This is the second book in a triology. The first book sets up the background and sets the stage for the first set of characters. Unlike other reviews I found that the background was more important because the characters continue into the next book. I think people who are giving so so reviews are loosing sight of the fact that it's a ficitional book. If you read all the same type of book all the time(especially by the same author)and you start to analyze and look for similarities you will find them. Read the book with spirit in which it was written. A ficitional story. I have this book as well as the first one and I love both of them,and I can't wait to read the last book. I will read it more than once.

This formulaic book reruns Roberts' usual 6 trilogy characters. This time around these people are supposedly educated and sophisticated, but they are ALL rendered, instead, as mentally defective suffering from ecolalia (repeating the same words over and over and over) in EVERY sentence or paragraph. In one short paragraph she used the same wording 4 times as if the character was talking to a moron, and was him/herself also a moron. Roberts essays enough banal Psychology 101 purportedly as profound "insights" within each of her one dimensional characters that she renders the story implausible and ridiculous. Only the character Cybil has the ability to encompass self awareness at any level of intellectual integration. The other 5 characters are pretenders.

The metaphysical elements border upon REALLY BAD Sci-Fi. Fox and Layla, having known each other for 3 weeks, somehow "psychically" find diaries in a stone wall of an old farm outbuilding that no one else, including the "blood brothers", had discovered in over 300 years. We are told to believe that the diaries were penned by Ann, an uneducated peasant woman, who was recounting her tribulations with Dent and the demon in 1652. This "magickal" event strained ALL credibility. To add to this silliness, there was no difference between the truncated, quasi-contemporary speech that Nora uses in her characters' slang filled dialogs, to suggest how "hip" they are, from the overall style contained in the ancient diaries when read by Quinn, et al. Say what?

Layla is the most despicable female character that Roberts has ever created out of her female character reruns. Instead of being merely the usual annoying, clingy, hyperfeminine character, Layla is asinine. The author has always focused upon sexual innuendo and lurid sex scenes with a heavy handed approach in her novels. This time she used a sledgehammer to pound the topic into the ground with her characters Fox and Layla. He hounds her until she surrenders to the unrelenting pressure of his creepy sexual demands. This repellant harassment also transpires while Layla is on the job working for Fox as his office manager. What a contemptible message to women who are subjected to this in the workplace every day.

Worst of all was the hike to the Pagan Stone where Nora falls into the name and label dropping pattern that she has used in her last dozen or more books. "They launched with Nirvana...Smells like Teen Spirit...Hello!...he tossed in Smashing Pumpkins, a little Springsteen...swung into Pearl Jam, sweetened it up with Sheryl Crow". If NOTHING else that went before could shred plausibility into confetti, this DREK did the job. The ending was rushed and senseless. On a positive note: I loved the dog Lump. He has more brains than the characters in this farce. Watch and see, book 3 will have Gage and Cybil hooking up and settling down; Gage reconciling with his loser father; the demon being "destroyed" even though spirit beings are immortal; and enough vulgar sex scenes to satisfy even the most jaded reader.

I was once a fan of her Irish trilogies, but had stopped reading her stuff after seeing the ensuing ones churned out using the same 6 characters ad nauseum and the trashy elements escalate. I had hoped that Nora had created something fresh and new in this trilogy. Alas, it was not to be. Nora Roberts has jumped the shark of credibility, plausability and decency.

The book held my interest due to the way the author Nora Roberts weaves you through the story. She has a way of reeling you in that you want to reading to know how she intends to get out of this situation. I can't wait until the 3rd book comes out to see how she will save the Hollow.

In this book 2 of of the 7 trilogy she takes you further into the story and then leaves you hanging, begging for the next book. I just love her stories and this trilogy is no exception. A must have for all Nora Roberts fans!