Darkest Powers Trilogy Omnibus [Deckle Edge] [Paperback]

Kelley Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2010

The Summoning
The Darkest Powers Series, Book I

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…


The Awakening
The Darkest Powers Trilogy, Book II

Book II in the Darkest Powers trilogy takes us deeper into a world where the supernatural intrudes on the everyday with riveting effect.

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl – someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I’m as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment – not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a group of people who call themselves The Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I’m a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control: I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

I’m running for my life with three of my supernatural friends – a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch – and we have to find someone who can help us gain our freedom back before The Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.


The Reckoning
The Darkest Powers Trilogy, Book III

Only two weeks ago, life was all too predictable. But that was before I saw my first ghost. Now along with my supernatural friends Tori, Derek, and Simon, I'm on the run from the Edison Group, which genetically altered us as part of their sinister experiment. We're hiding in a safe house that might not be as safe as it seems. We'll be gone soon anyway, back to rescue those we'd left behind and take out the Edison Group . . . or so we hope.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kelley Armstrong is the New York Times bestselling author of the Women of the Otherworld series. She has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed. Today she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves while safely locked in her basement writing-dungeon. To read more about the Darkest Powers trilogy, visit www.ChloeSaunders.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

12 years earlier...

Mommy forgot to warn the new baby-sitter about the basement.

Chloe teetered on the top step, chubby hands reaching up to clutch both railings, her arms
shaking so much she could barely hang on. Her legs shook too, the Scooby Doo heads on her
slippers bobbing. Even her breath shook, puffing like she’d been running.

“Chloe?” Emily’s muffled voice drifted up from the dark basement. “Your mom said the
Coke’s in the cold cellar, but I can’t find it. Can you come down and help me?”

Mommy said she’d told Emily about the basement. Chloe was sure of it. She closed her eyes
and thought hard. Before Mommy and Daddy left for the party, she’d been playing in the TV
room. Mommy had called, and Chloe had run into the front hall where Mommy had scooped her
up in a hug, laughing when Chloe’s doll poked her eye.

“I see you’re playing with Princess–I mean, Pirate Jasmine. Has she rescued poor Aladdin
from the evil genie yet?”

Chloe shook her head, then whispered. “Did you tell Emily about the basement?”

“I most certainly did. No basements for Miss Chloe. That door stays closed.” When Daddy
came around the corner, Mommy said, “We really need to talk about moving, Steve.”

“Say the word and the sign goes up.” Daddy ruffled Chloe’s hair. “Be good for Emily,
kiddo.”

And then they were gone.

“Chloe, I know you can hear me,” Emily yelled.

Chloe peeled her fingers from the railing and stuck them in her ears.

“Chloe!”

“I c-can’t go down there,” Chloe called. “I-I’ m not allowed.”

“Well, I’m in charge and I say you are. You’re a big girl.”

Chloe made her feet move down one step. The back of her throat hurt and everything looked
fuzzy, like she was going to cry.

“Chloe Saunders, you have five seconds or I’ll drag you down here and lock the door.”

Chloe raced down the steps so fast her feet tangled and she tumbled into a heap on the
landing. She lay there, ankle throbbing, tears burning her eyes as she peered into the basement,
with its creaks and smells and shadows. And Mrs. Hobb.

There’d been others, before Mrs. Hobb scared them away. Like old Mrs. Miller, who’d play
peek-a-boo with Chloe and call her Mary. And Mr. Drake, who’d ask weird questions like
whether anyone lived on the moon yet, and most times Chloe didn’t know the answer, but he’d
still smile and tell her she was a good girl.

Chloe used to like coming downstairs and talking to the people. All she had to do was not
look behind the furnace, where a man hung from the ceiling, his face all purple and puffy. He
never said anything, but seeing him always made Chloe’s tummy hurt.

“Chloe?” Emily’s muffled voice called. “Are you coming?”

Mommy would say “Think about the good parts, not the bad.” So as Chloe walked down the
last three steps, she remembered Mrs. Miller and Mr. Drake and she didn’t think about Mrs.
Hobb at all . . . or not very much.

At the bottom, she squinted into the near darkness. Just the night lights were on, the ones
Mommy had put everywhere when Chloe started saying she didn’t want to go downstairs and
Mommy thought she was afraid of the dark, which she was, a little, but only because the dark
meant Mrs. Hobb could sneak up on her.

Chloe could see the cold cellar door, though, so she kept her eyes on that and walked as fast
as she could. When something moved, she forgot about not looking, but it was only the hanging
man, and all she could see was his hand peeking from behind the furnace as he swayed.

Chloe ran to the cold cellar door and yanked it open. Inside, it was pitch black.

“Chloe?” Emily called from the darkness.

Chloe clenched her fists. Now Emily was being really mean. Hiding on her–
Footsteps pattered overhead. Mommy? Home already?

“Come on, Chloe. You aren’t afraid of the dark, are you?” Emily laughed. “I guess you’re
still a little baby after all.”

Chloe scowled. Emily didn’t know anything. Just a stupid, mean girl. Chloe would get her
Coke, then run upstairs and tell Mommy, and Emily would never baby-sit her again.

She leaned into the tiny room, trying to remember where Mommy kept the Coke. That was it
on the shelf, wasn’t it? She darted over, and stood on her tiptoes. Her fingers closed around a
cool metal can.

“Chloe? Chloe!” It was Emily’s voice, but far away, shrill. Footsteps pounded across the
floor overhead. “Chloe, where are you?”

Chloe dropped the can. It hit the concrete with a crack, then rolled against her foot, hissing
and spitting, soda pooling around her slippers.

“Chloe, Chloe, where are you?” mimicked a voice behind her, like Emily’s, but not quite.

Chloe turned slowly.

In the doorway stood an old woman in a pink housecoat, her eyes and teeth glittering in the
dark. Mrs. Hobb. Chloe wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, but she didn’t dare because it only
made her madder, made everything worse.

Mrs. Hobb’s skin rippled and squirmed. Then it went black and shiny, crackling like twigs
in a campfire. Big chunks fell off, plopping onto the floor. Her hair sizzled and burned away.
And then there was nothing left but a skull dotted with scraps of blackened flesh. The jaws
opened, the teeth still glittering.

“Welcome back, Chloe.”


One

I bolted up in bed, one hand clutching my pendant, the other wrapped in my sheets. I struggled to
recapture wisps of the dream already fluttering away. Something about a basement . . . A little
girl . . . Me? I couldn’t remember ever having a basement–we’d always lived in condo
apartments.

A little girl in a basement, something scary . . . Weren’t basements always scary? I shivered
just thinking about them, dark and damp and empty. But this one hadn’t been empty. There’d
been . . . I couldn’t remember what. A man behind a furnace . . .?

A bang at my bedroom door made me jump.

“Chloe!” Annette shrieked. “Why hasn’t your alarm gone off? I’m the housekeeper, not
your nanny. If you’re late again, I’m calling your father.”

As threats went, this wasn’t exactly the stuff of nightmares. Even if Annette managed to get
hold of my dad in Berlin, he’d just pretend to listen, eyes on his BlackBerry, attention riveted to
something more important, like the weather forecast. He’d murmur a vague “Yes, I’ll see to it
when I get back” and forget all about me the moment he hung up.

I turned on my radio, cranked it up, and crawled out of bed.

A half-hour later, I was in my bathroom, getting ready for school. I pulled the sides of my hair
back in clips, glanced in the mirror, and shuddered. The style made me look twelve years old . . .
and I didn’t need any help. I’d just turned fifteen and servers still handed me the kiddie menu in
restaurants. I couldn’t blame them. I was five foot nothing with curves that only showed if I wore
tight jeans and a tighter T-shirt.

Aunt Lauren swore I’d shoot up–and out–when I finally got my period. By this point, I
figured it was “if,” not “when.” Most of my friends had gotten theirs at twelve, eleven even. I
tried not to think about it too much, but of course I did. I worried that there was something
wrong with me, felt like a freak every time my friends talked about their periods, prayed they
didn’ t find out I hadn’t gotten mine. Aunt Lauren said I was fine, and she was a doctor, so I
guess she’d know. But it still bugged me. A lot.

“Chloe!” The door shuddered under Annette’s meaty fist.

“I’m on the toilet,” I shouted back. “Can I get some privacy maybe?”

I tried just one clip at the back of my head, holding the sides up. Not bad. When I turned my
head for a side view, the clip slid from my baby-fine hair.

I never should have gotten it cut. But I’d been sick of having long, straight, little-girl hair. I’d
decided on a shoulder-length, wispy style. On the model it looked great. On me? Not so much.
I eyed the unopened hair color tube. Kari swore red streaks would be perfect in my
strawberry-blond hair. I couldn’t help thinking I’d look like a candy cane. Still, it might make
me look older . . .

“I’m picking up the phone, Chloe,” Annette yelled.

I grabbed the tube of dye, stuffed it in my backpack, and threw open the door.

I took the stairs, as always. The building might change, but my routine never did. The day I’d
started kindergarten, my mother held my hand, my Sailor Moon backpack over her other arm as
we’d stood at the top of the landing.

“Get ready, Chloe,” she’d said. “One, two, three–”

And we were off, racing down the stairs until we reached the bottom, panting and giggling,
the floor swaying and sliding under our unsteady feet, all the fears over my first school day gone.
We’d run down the stairs together every morning all though kindergarten and half of first
grade and then . . . well, then there wasn’t anyone to run down the stairs with anymore.

I paused at the bottom, touching the necklace under my T-shirt, then shook off the memories,
hoisted my backpack, and walked from the stairwell.

After my mom die...

Product Details

• Paperback: 832 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Canada (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385670516
• ISBN-13: 978-0385670517
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,481,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The younger side to the Otherworld universe, December 19, 2011

By 

Lilly Flora "by Lilo Drandoff" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Darkest Powers Trilogy Omnibus (Paperback)

When I first learned that Kelley Armstrong was writing young adult books I wasn't particularly interested until I discovered these books are set smack dab in the middle of her "Women of the Otherworld" universe. Then they became a must read.

The darkest powers series is about several young adults-just moved beyond the cusp of childhood and now teenagers- who are all living in a group home ( Lyle House) for the mentally disturbed. Our narrator and main character Chloe is there because she was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia after she started seeing dead people. But it soon becomes clear that with all the disorders the kids are in for their symptoms lead back for a supernatural power.

These three books cover a journey of discovery for the residents of Lyle house- teens with powers that aren't just supernatural- they're strong. Very, very strong for their age. It's clear they have something in common, something more then all just belonging to a supernatural race but as they race to discover what they mind that great power won't be enough to protect them from the people who made them this way...

These books are all extremely quick legs in these kid's journey's-in fact because this story moves so quickly they could have been one larger book and nothing would have been amiss. With the exception of a slow start in "The Summoning" all three books are extremely exciting and hard to put down- although if you're an adult and are familiar with Kelley Armstrong's other books they may seem a bit too tame and not as fully fleshed out as they could be.

I look forward to the day these characters join the ranks in the adult leg of the series. In the meantime I'll just have to hope their story isn't over yet- there's so much yet to happen.

Four stars.