Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts caught my attention from the very first page. With a centuries-old mystery, three boys bound by blood, and an evil that returns every seven years, I wanted to know what had happened in Hawkins Hollow and whether anyone could stop it. Although the book has supernatural elements, it felt more like a mystery than a horror story to me.

A Brief Summary of Blood Brothers

Caleb Hawkins, Fox O’Dell, and Gage Turner have been friends since childhood. They were all born shortly after midnight on July 7, 1977, in the small town of Hawkins Hollow.

On the night before their tenth birthday, the three boys decide to go camping at Pagan Stone. They want to celebrate by doing all the things they normally aren’t allowed to do. At midnight, they cut their wrists, mix their blood, and swear an oath of loyalty, truth, and brotherhood.

However, something goes terribly wrong.

Without realizing it, the boys release an evil that had been bound centuries earlier. From then on, every seven years, Hawkins Hollow experiences seven nights of violence and chaos.

People who would normally never hurt anyone suddenly become mean and murderous. Fires, vandalism, domestic violence, suicide, and murder increase. Even stranger, many of the people involved don’t clearly remember what they did afterward.

Cal, Fox, and Gage know what’s happening because they’ve lived through it before. They also know the cycle is getting worse.

Now, 21 years after they became blood brothers, the signs are beginning months earlier than usual. This time, they realize they can’t simply survive another seven nights. They need to discover what started the curse and find a way to stop it.

Blood Brothers Becomes a Mystery

One thing I enjoyed about Blood Brothers was the mystery behind everything happening in Hawkins Hollow.

Cal contacts writer Quinn Black because he hopes she can research the town’s history and uncover information that might help them. However, Quinn soon becomes much more involved than anyone expected.

She can see things other people can’t see. She also begins experiencing some of the same supernatural events as Cal, Fox, and Gage.

Then Layla and Cybil enter the story, and it becomes clear that all six of them are connected to what happened centuries ago.

That was the part I found especially interesting. Why these six people?

They have to research the history of Hawkins Hollow, trace their genealogy, and discover how each of them is connected to the people involved in the original events. They know there has to be a reason they’ve been brought together.

For me, that made the book feel much more like a supernatural mystery than a horror novel. Yes, there is a demon. There are disturbing events. However, the story is really about figuring out what happened, why it’s happening again, and what these six people have to do with it.

I Wanted More of Cal, Fox, and Gage as Boys

One thing that surprised me about Blood Brothers was how quickly the childhood portion of the story ended.

The book briefly takes us back more than 300 years to show how the evil was originally bound. Then we meet Cal, Fox, and Gage as ten-year-old boys and experience the night when they become blood brothers and accidentally release it.

I really enjoyed this part of the story.

In fact, I didn’t want it to end.

Instead, the story suddenly jumps forward 21 years. I remember looking at how much of the book I still had left because I hadn’t expected their childhood story to stop so abruptly.

Later, we learn a little more about what happened after that night. We hear about what the boys told their families and what happened during subsequent seven-year cycles. Still, I would have enjoyed actually following them through those years.

I wanted to see more of the three boys growing up together and discovering what they had unleashed.

I Also Missed Having Gage There

The time jump created another surprise: Gage was gone.

The three boys had been a team. Yet for most of this book, Cal and Fox are in Hawkins Hollow while Gage is somewhere else.

Gage left town as soon as he could to get away from his alcoholic father, just as he’d always said he would. He still returns every seven years when the trouble begins, and he plans to come back again in July.

However, for much of Blood Brothers, he’s mostly someone Cal and Fox talk about.

I would have preferred having all three blood brothers together as they tried to solve the mystery. After all, this began with the three of them. Their friendship and blood oath are at the center of everything that followed.

Cal and Quinn’s Unusual Connection

Cal and Quinn also have a relationship, though I wouldn’t describe it as a typical romance.

I enjoyed their connection, but they don’t slowly date and get to know each other in the usual way. At the same time, I wouldn’t call it love at first sight.

Instead, something supernatural seems to be drawing them together.

Their connection feels like another piece of the larger mystery. Just as Quinn, Layla, and Cybil seem destined to be involved in Hawkins Hollow, Cal and Quinn seem to have been brought together for a reason.

That worked for me because it fit the rest of the story.

The Ending Isn’t Really an Ending

Because Blood Brothers is the first book in the Sign of Seven trilogy, I wasn’t surprised that everything wasn’t resolved. Still, I expected a little more from the ending.

There isn’t a huge final battle where they face the demon, defeat it, and save Hawkins Hollow once and for all.

Instead, they get a smaller victory.

The larger battle is still ahead. The ending feels more like, “Until next time we meet.”

Therefore, this book doesn’t really stand on its own as a complete story. It sets up a much larger saga that continues into the next two books.

Fortunately, I was interested enough to want to keep going.

In fact, halfway through Blood Brothers, I ordered the other two books in the trilogy. I knew I wanted to read them immediately after finishing this one rather than leave the story unfinished.

If you enjoy mysteries where the past refuses to stay buried, you might also like my review of Sleep No More by Greg Iles. While it doesn’t have the supernatural elements of Blood Brothers, it also combines dark secrets, suspense, and a mystery that has to be uncovered.

Final Thoughts on Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Overall, I gave Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts 4 out of 5 stars.

It’s not a book I would rave about and tell everyone they absolutely have to read. However, it was interesting from the beginning, and the mystery kept me wanting to know more.

I especially enjoyed trying to figure out the connection between Cal, Fox, Gage, Quinn, Layla, and Cybil. The combination of genealogy, Hawkins Hollow’s history, supernatural abilities, and the mystery surrounding the demon gave the characters plenty to uncover.

I do wish we had spent more time with Cal, Fox, and Gage when they were younger. I also would have liked Gage to be more involved throughout the present-day story. Finally, the ending offers only a small victory rather than a satisfying conclusion.

Still, perhaps the best indication of how much the story held my attention is that I bought the remaining two books before I even finished this one.

If you enjoy supernatural mysteries, small-town secrets, genealogy, and stories that unfold across an entire trilogy, Blood Brothers is an interesting start to the Sign of Seven series.

My rating: 4/5 stars