ARC Review of The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Harper
Release Date: April 10, 2012
Series: Darkness Rising #2
Buying Links: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from ):

Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is—a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it's only a matter of time before she's able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents. 

Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they're kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home. 
  
In The Calling, the sizzling second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pumps up the romance, danger, and suspense that left readers of The Gathering clamoring for more.

Teaser:

No one answered.

I walked down the hall. The house was as silent as the court outside. Dark and still. A sour smell permeated the hall, and when I peeked into the dining room, there was a glass of milk on the table, beside a folded newspaper. I took another step and a squeak stopped me short. A mouse sat on the table, hunched over a partially eaten cookie. It squeaked at me again, then scampered away.

I backed out of the dining room and hurried to the stairs. As soon as I got to the bottom, I smelled cat urine. I raced up the steps. the door to Hayley;s room was open. Her cat still perched on the window sill, and he hissed and spat when he saw me.

Fear and panic hit me like a fist to the gut. The cat's fear and panic.

The room went dark. Then it flashed to life, and I was on the floor, racing from room to room, fear coursing through me, looking for someone, anyone. But every room was empty and all I could smell was smoke, drifting through the open windows. Smoke everywhere and my people gone.

Reviewed By: Bea

My Thoughts:

"The Calling" starts off with a bang, gets slow for about one hundred or so pages, then the pace picks up again. While I wasn't as engaged as I was with "The Gathering" I did enjoy it and the last part of the book packed a punch.Waiting for book three will be hard!

The story picks up right where "The Gathering" left off: Maya and her friends are in a helicopter, being evacuated away from their island, due to a fire. Shortly after lift off, things begin to go wrong and the helicopter crashes. Maya and the survivors are stranded in a forest; they're lost and unsure who to trust. Their "rescue" from the fire was really a kidnapping. It was at this point, when they're stranded in the forest, that my attention began to waver. The teens would argue, Maya and Daniel would assume the leadership position, they would make a decision, someone would get hurt, the teens would argue, a bad guy would show up, Maya and Daniel would take the reins, Maya would show off her woodsman skills, someone would get hurt, lather, rinse, repeat. This happens for over a hundred pages, with minor variations. About three days pass in those hundred or so pages. On the plus side, with each encounter with one or more of the bad guys, they learned more information; also, while the repetition got annoying, the arguing, the doubts, and the mistakes felt like real life teens. I just wish that section had been more tightly written and edited. Once the teens emerge from the forest, things begin happening at a rapid pace and Kelley throws us many twists and a few, very few, expected events. By the end of the book, the status quo has changed and Maya is questioning many of her assumptions, and even her behavior. I was sorry to see the book end.

"The Calling" was detailed, solid, had a slow patch but definitely moved the overall story arc along and we saw how it connects and intersects with her other series' set in this world. It's solid Kelley Armstrong and absolutely worth reading.

I received an ARC from the publisher for review.