A Cainsville Novel - Portents (A Collection of Short Stories)

It was absolutely a joy to return to the world of Cainsville and Olivia Taylor-Jones. I truly fell in love with this series by Kelley Armstrong, and was so disappointed when it ended after only five books. But, those five books were so amazing that I could accept the fact that Armstrong was ready to put her characters and world to rest and not try to keep it going with less-than-stellar stories. What I did not realize, however, is there she had written other short stories along the way that expanded upon those characters and that world - until I found the collection of those short stories on Amazon!

Portents opens the door to the past for readers to learn more about some of the side characters - such as Seanna, Rose, Patrick, Bobby,Gabriel, Ricky, and, of course, Liv. Armstrong provides some very interesting looks into the past and provides a bit more insight into why these characters are the way they are in the main series.

"The Screams of Dragons" tells the story of when Rose was just a child, living in Cainsville; however, the main character in this tale is Bobby Sheehan - a very young Bobby Sheehan who is nothing more than a young boy who is having dreams of castles and dragons.  He is friends with Rose and Hannah, both of whom who live in Cainsville, as well as a few of the elders. But he has a vicious grandmother who believes he is a changeling and not her real grandson - and she will do just about anything to prove it, even if it means turning an innocent child into a vicious killer...

"Devil May Care" gives readers the chance to see just how Patrick became the father of Gabriel - - and how the trickster himself was out-tricked by a drug addict after a one-night stand. She is pregnant, and she will use that child as a means to an end to get what she wants. But how far is Patrick willing to go to protect that child from a mother who doesn't want him?

In "Gabriel's Gargoyles," we get to see Gabriel as a young boy on the hunt for the final gargoyle in Cainsville.  It is tradition, and he knows he can do it, despite offers of helps and hints from some of the elders.  But his heart is broken when the authentic Victorian tarot card set he was saving to buy for Rose is bought by someone else just when he has the money for it - does the boy who has learned to lie, cheat, and steal to survive actually have a heart to break when it comes to his great-aunt?

"The Orange Cat" is a fun little story about a cat who cannot die and the man who owns it and can't seem to get rid of it, no matter what he does. The man hires Gabriel to represent him, and Gabriel discovers that not everything in the world is black and white. For some things, there is just no rational explanation.

"Bad Publicity" brings us back to Patrick, who has now been penning book after book under pseudonyms so as to avoid any attention to himself. But a new publicist hired by his publisher is bound and determined to get him into the limelight, and when she tells him he has won an award for his writing and has to make an appearance, he is right to be suspicious, as this award comes with some strings that Patrick doesn't particularly care for...

"Matagot" is probably the most unique and fun tale from this book, as it is the story of Olivia's cat, TC, who just so happens to be one in a long line of matagots - in this case, one who is there to protect and watch over the latest Mallt-y-Nos (a/k/a Matilda n/k/a Olivia). But when TC gets cat-napped and locked in a basement with no chance of escape, how can he possibly fulfill his destiny and protect Olivia from the dangers that abound?

The final short story is nowhere near as short - in fact, it is a novella of sorts, "Lady of the Lake." Broken up into small chapters, the story alternates points-of-view between Ricky and Olivia when they take off on his motorbike for a weekend away from everything and everyone.  Olivia has just had a fight with Gabriel, and the last thing she wants to do is think about him.  So, off Ricky and Olivia head into the unknown on Ricky's bike - but where they end up has a secret ... a baby has disappeared ... and there is a haunted pond with a cave that no one goes near. Some have never come back from it. So, what do you think happens when Ricky and Olivia go swimming and find a water fae? The mystery, the danger, and the secrets all come to a head, and Olivia has no choice but to turn to Gabriel and Patrick to not only find out whether the water fae may have stolen the baby, but also what secret it is hiding within those caves...

Now, there were two more excerpts at the end of the book from two of Armstrong's novellas set in the Cainsville world - however, I'll be honest and admit that I did not read them, as I don't want to read only part of a story (it's the same reason I never read any "previews" that show up at the end of some novels in an attempt to get readers excited about the next book) - if I'm going to read a story, I want the whole thing.  Maybe one day I will get the Lost Souls and/or Rough Justice novellas; but, for now, Portents did a really good job satisfying my need for more Cainsville tales.

RATING:  9 zombie cats out of 10 for fulfilling the fans' need for more Cainsville and providing some great backstories to the characters we have come to love (and hate!).