#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A stunning new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts–Year One is an epic of hope and horror, chaos and magick, and a journey that will unite a desperate group of people to fight the battle of their lives… It began on New Year’s Eve. The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything … quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed–and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.
Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magick rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river–or in the ones you know and love the most.
As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.
In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.
The end has come. The beginning comes next.
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This story is extraordinary! I listened to it on audio and it’s epic, full of joy and pain and an epic journey!!!!!
Nora Roberts bold, dystopian/apocalyptic genre-bending book Year One was something I looked at repeatedly, drawn to but a little afraid. My reading time is short, so I choose books I feel confident will give me a certain kind of reading experience,
I have long been an admirer of Nora’s JD Robb In Death books, but this apocalyptic tale seemed like it could be scary and depressing. Even though I’ve co-written a six-book apocalyptic romance series myself that focuses on the power of love to heal and rebuild after a disaster Scorch Road: JT (Scorch Series Romance Thriller Book 1) I was hesitant to delve into Year One, knowing that many times, this genre can be disturbing.
I should have trusted Nora! With her usual skill and engaging prose, she swept me into the fascinating lives of key characters who survive a paranormal plague unleashed by accident in this rapidly-moving, engaging adventure.
Want to lose sleep and pause to ponder the meaning of it all? Grab Year One ! And the good news is, the sequel is already out!
YEAR ONE is super storytelling, inventive and scary. I loved the audiobook!
I’m a big fan of apocalypse fiction, and Year One by Nora Roberts is up there with the very best. Read my full review on my website. http://patriciakeelyn.com/2018/02/1226/
I am a huge Nora Roberts fan. My favorite books by Ms. Roberts are Birthright, the In the Garden Book Series, and Black Hills.
And now, Year One. This book is a dystopian style romantic suspense that centers around a mysterious illness that wipes out more than half the world’s population and takes down the very structure of civilization. Government is destroyed. News stations are left vacated. The only defense seems to be locking yourself in your home and praying those you love are doing the same. And then what remains of law enforcement sweeps through to relocate survivors to segregated camps as a way to fight this disease.
It is a huge departure from what Ms. Roberts usually writes and the scenario entirely too possible, but I think that makes it even more captivating. It will have you questioning, what if, and leave you thinking far after you close the book.
Awesome post-apocalyptic thriller.
I picked this up at the library thinking well it’s just another end of the world book. But I was so wrong, this book pulls you in and won’t let go. So many unexpected twist and turns and no zombies thank god, kinda over that. There is magical twist in this book which takes it to another level. Can’t wait for part two.
I always enjoy a Nora Roberts’ book, but this one was very different than her usual works, but it still had the core essence of her wonderful, in depth writing style. Year One is a fascinating dystopian story, with just the right amounts of romance and suspense. Loved it!
Let me start this review with a warning; we are currently living in lockdown for COVID-19 as I write this. Now, if you’re even a little bit nervous, wait until afterwards before reading this.
The reason for this caution is because, obviously, this book deals with a deathly pandemic; it says so right in the book description. But sh*t gets real!!
It’s taken me about a month to read this book. It was a bit much for me right now.
However, I loved the gritty realism. And then the magickal aspects.
The opening is what every author wants to achieve – an intriguing hook. It dragged me in…
“When Ross MacLeod pulled the trigger and brought down the pheasant, he had no way of knowing he’d killed himself. And billions of others.”
Without darkness, there can be no light. And there’s a whole lot of darkness just brought to Earth in this tale.
With such a high death toll, who will survive and how?
There were some parts which lingered too long, if I’m being honest. But that’s just me.
And there were an awful lot of characters. However, I managed to keep on top of it, perhaps with a little confusion here and there.
After the initial outbreak, there’s focus on a couple of different groups of people. And it was during this that I lost focus. But this was probably at least partly owing to my slow reading pace.
I loved the way the stories were interwoven. And sorry when we lost track of some people; I’m hoping to catch up with them though.
There’s some really interesting folk; some I love and some I love to hate – brilliant!
By the time I got to the end, I was itching for book 2. And now there’s more about the magick and less about The Doom (the plague/pandemic/virus), it might just be safe enough for me to get it
Dystopian fans – you should definitely try this.
Those new to the genre – try it once you feel stable enough to do so.
This was certainly different than other books by this author, much darker. It took me a while to get into it, but I was so invested in the story the further I got.
Nora Roberts is a master storyteller and I’m rarely disappointed, I’m glad she took a fresh new direction. There were a lot of different characters and my head stopped spinning when they finally all connected in one place. Just when I was lulled into security BANG she about faced and there were heart stopping moments.
Brilliant fantasy tale, I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to see where else this new world goes.
This book is an epic journey unlike anything Nora has ever written. I am a fan of Nora ROberts and particularly enjoy her Eve Dallas series. Though Nora has written many books with magic, romance, tragedy and drama, this is the first time all of those elements have been brought together in an apocalyptic setting. I was completely drawn into her story, characters, and setting. I read the book though the first time in about 5 hours. As soon as I was finished and while I was still thinking about all the foreshadowing that had been included in the story, I started rereading Year One. This time it I was able to catch on to more of the foreshadowing and the context of how it would later apply. I have read many apocalyptic stories, The Stand by Stephen King as well as Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon. They are very talented authors and write an engaging tale. But this was a new element and a different way to tell the story of the Apocalypse. I really enjoyed this book and think many people will see Nora Roberts in a different way after reading this story.
Year One is the first in a new series by Nora Roberts. The world-building is amazing, and I loved the characters. The story ends on a very unexpected note.
This one has a little bit of everything I love–post-apocolyptic drama, a touch of romance, magic and mystery. I highly recommend. Can’t wait for the next one!!
This is different than Nora Roberts’ usual books. A bit futuristic fantasy, magic, scary and mystery with a lot of tension. I couldn’t put it down even though there were parts that gave me the shivers.
Not my normal genre but a friend suggested it to me. What a page turner. I read it in three days!! It was worth letting chores going undone.
Four stars here because Ms. Roberts is just such a dynamic writer and makes everything she pens come alive with dialogue and world building. Year One started off very powerfully for me but as the story continued…it went off on a route that-in my opinion- made it a little less than powerful. I guess I was expecting more JD Robb than Nora Roberts so I didn’t worry over it become a little less gritty in spots…Then the ‘less gritty’ aspect kind of took over the rest of the novel and it fell just a little flat for me. Overall, it was an intriguing read. I believe this story will get a lot grittier before it’s over and I think I’ll enjoy seeing where it’s headed.
I loved this book! A devastating virus. A desperate bid to escape a collapsing city. A trek to find missing family members. Confrontations with the very worst of society. And magick! I don’t know why it’s spelled that way, but I’m not trying to argue with Nora Roberts, so I’ll roll with it. I would liken this to a mix of Stephen King’s The Stand and Justin Cronin’s The Passage. It’s exciting, page turning, and heartbreaking. I didn’t cry, but only because I was so caught up in the story that I felt I didn’t have time to mourn (hesitation kills). I’ll look forward to the sequel.
Nora Roberts does not disappoint in this apocalyptic fantasy. A man kills a bird in a mysterious area of Scotland and starts a chain reaction that leads to widespread devastation. Out of the ashes, survivors rise, developing unexpected and interesting abilities. I could not put this one down, but don’t expect a romance. There’s more heartbreak than happily ever after in this one.
Not your typical Nora Roberts book. To me, Nora Roberts books are easy reads; romance, often with a dash of supernatural and a mild darkness. This book is much, much darker and not at all the “brain candy” I would normally expect. Emotionally, it ran the gamut from joy to relief, to fear and despair, and everything in between. There is a fair amount of tension, with periods of seeming contentment sprinkled in, but these brief periods often felt like the calm before the storm. There are a lot of characters, but they’re introduced in a way that it never becomes difficult to keep track of who’s who.
For regular Nora Roberts fans, there are many typical elements that you would find in one of her books. There are solid characters and we see their relationships develop throughout. There’s the supernatural angle, which is common to many of her books. And there are dogs, lots of dogs!
The book is intense, and typical of dystopian fiction, pretty bleak. The pacing is solid and the characters are interesting and likable (except when they’re not, of course). There were really only two negatives in my opinion. The first is that most of the characters encountered throughout the book are not in the last 20% or so. At all. I’d guess they’ll be in book 2, and I get why NR did this, but it still bothered me. I also had a bit of a problem with one aspect of the ending. I won’t say why (no spoilers!) but you’ll understand if you read it. It wasn’t enough of an issue for me that I wouldn’t read book two, however. Overall, if you like dystopian books with a supernatural bent, I say give this book a read.
This book is insanely good. I literally could not put it down. Excellent writing, excellent world-building, excellent suspense and build-up, excellent characters.