Moira O'Donnell was baptized to Hell's service as an infant, and was raised to be ritually sacrificed by her mother's coven at age 16; job title: 'Spirit Mediator' between earth and Hell. She declined.

The story picks up 13 years after Moira's escape. She is in service now to the Order of St. Michael, an offshoot of the Catholic church charged with destroying demonic influence here on earth. Drawn by horrific visions of current events to a small town on the coast of California, she is hot on the trail of her mother, Fiona, who has schemed to release (and control) the Seven Deadly Sins and become the supreme ruler over all the world's witches and wizards.

Awaiting her is Rafe Cooper, whose subconscious can bring forth the language of the demons, not to summon them but to protect the innocent against them, and Anthony Zaccardi. Anthony is a member of the Order of St. Michaels also, but he doesn't trust Moira. Why should he, since she killed her lover, his brother?

Allison Brennan is known for writing romantic thrillers with a dark edge of suspense. ORIGINAL SIN is her first foray into paranormal fiction, but it is built on a firm foundation of criminal procedure.

Uncommon in the paranormal genre, ORIGINAL SIN is heavily Christo-centric with a theme of 'Witches are evil and magic use will damn your soul to hell'.

The background love story between Anthony and the local sheriff, Skye McPherson, provides another insight into Anthony's character. Other minor characters including innocents of the town and members of Fiona's coven have fairly strong roles, and Brennan allows you to learn enough to care about what happens to them. The 'True-crime writer" mentioned in the back cover blurb is only incidental to the story, perhaps he will make a stronger appearance in one or more of the upcoming 6 books in the series. (Book 2, Carnal Sin is due out in June 2010)