Original Sin [Mass Market Paperback]

Moira O'Donnell is a powerful witch who no longer practices witch craft. She was born to an evil magician who dedicated her at birth to evil but wants no part of this life. She is both on the run from and hunting her mother who seeks to use her or kill her. She has trained with Father Philip of St. Michael's Monastery to help fight those like her mother who summon demons from hell by practicing black magic.

Moira discovers her mother and her coven in the small town of Santa Louisa and travels there knowing she may die in a confrontation with her. She discovers evidence that her mother and the coven have been conducting rituals drawing evil to this small town.

When Fiona, Moira's mother, attempts to summon and trap the demons from hell known as the seven deadly sins, something goes terribly wrong and the demons are released on earth to wreak havoc. Moira and her allies may be the only hope in trapping the demons and sending them back to hell.

There were a few characters that stood out for me. Moira first of all, was a great heroine. Courageous doesn't even begin to describe her. She has to face down her own mother, who is a powerful witch hell bent on capturing and using her or destroying her. Not only does Moira face her mother but she battles the most vile demons from hell. Anthony, a demonologist, comes off hard and jaded. He's angry and doesn't trust Moira blaming her for the death of his friend and her former lover. Although he distrusts Moira he still works with her for the greater good. Rafe, Moira's love interest is brother from the Monetary. He was a bit a of a mystery to me and I never really could get a handle on his character. While committed to the cause and key to the plot, he seemed to take a backseat in character. I never really understood where the romantic connection between Rafe and Moira originated or why it evolved though. Fiona is the villain of all villains. She is evil, self centered and worst of all uses her own children in the pursuit of power.

This book was billed as a paranormal romance however the romance was very light taking a backseat to the more prevalent mystery and suspense aspect of the book. If you're looking for a more traditional paranormal romance then you may be disappointed in Original Sin. Being a romance lover myself, I will say that I didn't miss the romance angle at all as the plot was strong and the characterization good and I think the tiny bit of romance was not needed at all.

Original Sin worked for me on several different levels. The suspense build-up alone was enough to keep me turning the pages and the mystery held right up until the very end. I will admit, it took me about 6 chapters to really get into it but once the action started I did not want to put this book down.

Review courtesy of [...]

It's never a good sign when you start reading a book and seriously think that the printer mixed up the pages, but that was the only conclusion I could come to during the first 60 pages of Original Sin. Come to find out that Allison Brennan actually started this series with a short story DELIVER US FROM EVIL in the 2007 anthology What You Can't See:

Demonologist Anthony Zaccardi can't save the twelve priests brutally slaughtered at a California mission, but he's determined to send the killer -- an ancient demon -- back to hell. And when tough, sexy local sheriff Skye McPherson refuses to believe something supernatural is at work, Anthony realizes that to "Deliver Us From Evil" he must first win Skye's trust, then her heart.

If you read this book and find yourself as frustrated with it as I did, consider skipping ahead to page 60 and read the seven pages of Moira's flashback explaining her history with her mother and her role in the coven etc. I don't know why the author didn't include that passage much earlier in the story as very little makes sense without that background information.

The most powerful witch in the world has spent her life searching for the Book of Knowledge in order to summon the Seven Deadly Sins, embodied by powerful fallen angels, from the bowels of Hell to do her bidding. The only one capable of stopping her is her daughter Moira. Original Sin opens with Moira plagued by horrific nightmares full of human sacrifices and on the run from her mother as she seeks out information to kill her. Aided by the priest who is the closest thing to a father she's ever known, a demonologist (and his sheriff girlfriend)who blames her for the death of his brother, and the mysterious Rafe, Moira the the only hope the world has left.

I really wanted to like this book. A lot of reviewers who I typically agree with loved it. Me not so much. The writing is fairly generic and the beginning of the book frustratingly unclear in terms of character motivations. But even later on when certain things were explained, the story was needlessly complicated. Fiona, Moira's mother is constantly talking about killing her daughter, yet when she gets the opportunity she decides to come back later!?!

And as is typical of thrillers, there are a lot of characters and POV's going on in this book, often several per chapter. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. Guess which one Original Sin is? Perhaps if the characters had been more sharply defined they would have made more of an impact, but I read this entire book in one day yet I couldn't remember who was who without flipping back again and again.

One unique aspect of the world building in Original Sin is that Magic, in and of itself, is categorically evil. Witches are likewise bad without exception. Well, except for Moira who has shunned her powers.

There is also a lot of Biblical references and Catholic theology tweaked and borrowed from here, as well as the traditional concepts of Heaven and Hell. I'm not a Catholic so I can't comment on how accurate any of that is.

Overall, Original Sin is a bloated thriller with paranormal trappings and a slew of flat characters. The dialogue is occasionally cringe worthy, the action sequences relentless without seeming to advance the story, and the romance (little that there is) forced. Not exactly a glowing endorsement. I'm giving this book 2 bats out of 5 only because this book qualifies more as `not good' as opposed to simply `bad.'

Sexual Content: One vague, brief sex scene. One extended and graphic sex scene

My Rating: 2 out of 5

This is marketed as the first book in the 7 Deadly Sins series, but in fact there is a substantial prequel, "Deliver Us from Evil" in the anthology "What You Can't See" http://www.amazon.com/What-You-Cant-Allison-Brennan/dp/1416542299/.

In the prequel, we learn about Father Phillip & St Michael's, find out why Anthony came to Santa Luisa, how he met Sky, how the 7 demons were released, and why Rafe was in a coma. I can't imagine reading the remaining books without this background and am baffled that neither Amazon nor Allison's website points out that it's a prequel!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 33 reviews  3.3 out of 5 stars