Twenty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Jones has the perfect life. The only daughter of a wealthy, prominent Chicago family, she has an Ivy League education, pursues volunteerism and philanthropy, and is engaged to a handsome young tech firm CEO with political ambitions.
But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.
Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.
Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home, and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.
I was lucky and received an arc from ARC from Random House of Canada, WELCOME TO CAINSVILLE! Well, that was one heck of a ride. What a fast paced, engrossing read. Wow. Dare I say…The world of Cainsville is equally intriguing as the Otherworld. What a fantastic start to what I am certain will be a brilliant series. The town has an energy and life force of its own. Cainsville, seems to play two roles: it serves as a setting, and an important character. The town is so vividly developed from description, and yet there is still so much underlying mystery and darkness. The town is riddled with gargoyles. The description of these stone beasts was fantastic–almost like you could reach out and touch the intricately carved rock. I predict the gargoyles will play a huge role in the coming entries. I can’t wait! I love that Armstrong has created another great, strong female protagonist for readers to look up to. Liv is no damsel in distress, she is a take charge kinda gal, these are always the best kinds of characters! The novel is filled with folklore and its interesting to learn new things that make the mundane sinister. Brilliantly crafted world. I LOVED this book |