I have rarely had a problem with how to begin a review, sometimes I have trouble thinking of the right words or to find something I really liked, but never had a book left me feeling so much that the right words just will not come out. I believe I will have to quote author of YEAR ONE, Nora Roberts, on this one: "It begins with a global crisis, a pandemic that wipes away much of the population and opens a door to magicks."

The MacLeod family spent the holidays in Scotland, something they had done many times on the family farm with cousins. Nothing seemed different but everything changed, by the time they returned home both, Angie and Ross MacLeod were deathly ill. By the end of the first week of the new year, the World Health Organization had declared an avian flu pandemic, with no real idea of where or how it had begun. By the second week, "Doom" had taken more than 10 million, with the governments and world as it had been, now collapsing. Escape and survival are all that is on the minds of those not hit by the disease.

Author Nora Roberts is known for her varied and intriguing books from romance, romantic suspense, magic-filled tomes and (my all-time favorite) In Death series (via the pseudonym J.D. Robb) brings an even diverse offering in this one. It is, in my opinion, frightening and realistic subject matter that brings to mind what it must have been like for those hit by the "Spanish Flu" of 1918 only with an an even deeper toll as magic is added to the mix and evil is released.

YEAR ONE is divided into four parts: Doom, Escape, Survival, and Dark to Light. Which gives you the essence of the book. It starts out with the disease, survivors escaping and learning to live in the new terrible world now filled with magic ... both good and evil.

I felt for those who died as well as those who survived for they are now the hunted, first for their immunity and later for those who developed magic, out of fear. As with any post-apocalyptic and apocalyptic storyline there is heart to touching moments, betrayal, power-hungry people who prey on the frightened but there is always hope and love to give strength. There are many characters involved in this fast paced, epic endeavor but the main character in this the storyline is Lana and her unborn baby who is marked as the future savior of the new world. You have to read this book to see the determination and strength this woman has... having faced love, fear, betrayal and danger ... then again love.

As with any trilogy, the wait for the next offering seems insurmountable, but with this one I can't wait to see where Ms. Roberts can possibly take these characters and how much more her readers can survive.