The Gathering by Kelly Armstrong

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island. 

Until now. 

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet. 

In The Gathering, New York Times best-selling author Kelley Armstrong brings all the supernatural thrills from her wildly successful Darkest Powers series to Darkness Rising, her scorching hot new trilogy. 

I read Kelly Armstrong's Darkest Powers series and was sucked in a lot. I loved it. I am always hesitatant when I pick up another book from that author that isn't included in that series. What if it isn't as good? You can only have so many favorites?

The Gathering was solid in all aspects. I read it this past Sunday. It's wasn't that I couldn't put it down. I had a lot of free time and just could spend that much time on reading. Not that this was a bad thing. The story was solid. The characters were different from the Darkest Powers. (You know - sometimes its a new book series with same characters but with different names).  This story is not like that. It's different.

A very cool element is that while they are separate stories they both tie into Project Genesis which is a key "concept" for DP and after finishing the first novel in this series, Project Genesis is still a major "concept." I am curious if any of DP's characters will meet up with some of those from Vancouver Island's.

Maya's a strong character.
Rafe's a strong character.
I like Daniel the best. I found him refreshing to be a "big brother" figure without being romantically interested in Maya. At this point, no love triangle. It's kind of a relief.

Serena was Maya's best friend and in the first chapter - she drowns.  (If you consider that a spoiler - I'm sorry. I figured it was safe because it is in the first three pages.) However, from the description from Maya and clues set up in the book, Serena's death is not an accident. And as Serena's best friend, Maya is determined to find out what happened to her friend.

Overall - I enjoyed it.