Book review: The Pagan Stone, Nora Roberts

Roberts finishes her Sign of Seven Trilogy with the story of Gage and Cybil, the unwilling couple.

Gage has fled Hawkins Hollow after a miserable and abusive childhood. Cybil has a past tragedy as well, although she has moved on from it pretty well. They're both independent and rootless, but with strong ties to the people in Hawkins Hollow, if not to the place itself.

And so, when the great evil appears every seven years, Gage returns to help his best friends fight it. Cybil has come to the Hollow to help her best friend write a book about the phenomenon. In the two previous novels, it's become apparent that this is the final confrontation, and that the three women and three men who are there are bound together to fight the evil spirit that they call Twisse.

This is not the strongest of the three novels. It moves too quickly from conflict to resolution and doesn't focus enough on character development. The point of view shifts frequently between Gage and Cybil, however I still don't have a strong feeling for what's in Gage's mind often enough. Roberts' usually vivid description also fails her here. The climax is murky.

Even so, it was a good read, as Roberts' works generally are. If you've read the first two, you'll definitely want to finish up with the finale.