Customer Reviews

Raintree: Inferno / Sanctuary / Haunted

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Plot Summary: Two hundred years ago, two wizard families battled for supremacy, and the Raintree clan defeated the Ansara's. Like a version of the Hatfield and McCoys, their bitter feud carries over to their decedents, who still plot and guard against new attacks. Each wizard has different powers, which become more potent at the summer solstice. There are three `royal' members at the top of the Raintree clan, Dante, Gideon, and Mercy, and each story in this trilogy focuses on one sibling.

The best deal is to buy the complete trilogy bound into one book (only $10!). Each story is written by a different author, but they obviously collaborated well, because the story moves seamlessly from book to book.

Book one introduces us to Dante, the `dranir' or king, of the Raintree clan. He runs a hotel/casino in Reno, Nevada, and he catches a woman with flame-colored hair stealing him blind at the card tables. Lorna Clay has always had a talent for numbers, and her ability to predict the cards coming up is child's play. While Dante is interviewing Lorna, a fire breaks out in the casino below. Dante's power is commanding fire, so he's flummoxed when the inferno rages out of his control. By tapping into Lorna's power, without her consent, he's able to get them out safely and minimize the damage. Now Dante has to figure out if Lorna is one of the hated Ansara, or a `stray' talent.

In the second book we meet Gideon, Dante's brother, who is a police detective on the East Coast. Gideon has an affinity to electricity, which also backfires on him since he invariably fries any device that uses a current. His new partner, Hope Mallory, is a pain in his side, because she can't understand how he solves his homicide cases. It's simple really; Gideon can talk to ghosts. Soon a serial killer is threatening them both, and Gideon must decide how much to reveal to his lovely and annoying partner.

The final story centers on Mercy Raintree and her daughter, Eve. Mercy is the psychic powerhouse of the Raintree clan, and she is also the guardian of their Sanctuary, located in the Smokey Mountains. Unbeknownst to the Raintrees, the Ansara clan is preparing to attack Sanctuary, while eliminating Dante and Gideon in a triple strike. The Ansara dranir, Judah, has claimed Mercy's death for himself, but once he meets her, secrets from their entwined past are revealed. The end comes with a satisfying apocalyptic battle between both sides, with wizard powers unleashed and blazing, and a final resolution that ties up everything like a present with a bow.

This was interesting - it was very clearly written by three different authors. I liked the first "book" very much - the second book was ok - the third, well, I wish one of the other 2 authors had written it. If you reduced to only 3 or 4 - the number of times one of the main characters thought the same thing (Mercy - "oh, he's terrible, he's evil, he is the enemy, but I love him.... blah blah blah, over and over, and over again), the last book would have ben 1/4 the size it was. Plus, the bad guy (Judah) - well, where did his turn of affections come from? He was evil and hated and the enemy, and then all of a sudden, without any motivation whatsoever, he simply changes sides? Please, given that the 3rd author clearly didn't have enough to write about - she should have explored things from his perspective and given us a reason to believe his change of heart. And she tied up some of the loose ends in such a cavalier manner that it almost wasn't worth it (I mean, really, Lorna somehow knows about Hope - when we clearly didn't get any of that connection in book one - enough so that she picks up the phone and tells Hope - "you don't know me, but we need to save Dante and Gideon and I will be there to pick you up shortly" How did that come to pass?). The further into this book I got, the more I wanted to put it down. The only thing that kept me reading to the end was that wiki didn't have a page summarizing what happened to the characters I really liked from book 1 (dante and Lorna) and 2 (Gideon). It had so much potential - getting to see the same timeline three different times could have been so cool. Instead, the third book was a total let down. I have seen reviews of Beverly Barton's other stuff - but if this was characteristic, then I think I will likely stay away from her other stuff. Linda Howard and Linda Winstead Jones, I will take a gander at some of their other stuff. Bottom line for me - this was at best worthy of borrowing from a library. Definitely not worth what I paid to Borders

It was fast & easy. Arrived quickly. I would do it again.

The story was a good one & this is one of my fav authors. It was the saga of 3 brothers who had unusual powers and the women who complemented them. The only sister of the brothers added to the story of how they saved others from evil.

One of the most entrtaining books I've read in a long time. It's been at least 10 days since I read it, and there have been several books in between, but that one sticks in my mind. Can we have some more to this story??

I read the first one and then had to wait for this to come in to read the final two stories. Awsome stories.

I simply loved this book. The Raintree Story culminating with the big battle between the Ansaras and the Raintree with the changed tribe at the end was simply remarkable.

the shiping was faster that I expected and the product was in great shape :)

This is a very good series. I enjoyed it very much! It shipped in good time and was just as it was described.

Item received ahead of time stated, in excellent condition, would buy from this seller again.