The Pagan Stone: The Sign of Seven Book 3    by Nora Roberts Order:  USA  Can Jove, 2008 (2008) Paperback Read an Excerpt    Reviewed by Martina Bexte On the night that they turned ten, Gage, Fox and Caleb unwittingly set loose a demon bent on exacting its revenge on the citizens of the small town of Hawkins Hollow. Every seven years thereafter, random violence and death have run rampant in their town. Even the supernatural powers each boy developed after their innocent blood ritual went awry could not control the demon's increasing hunger. Gage eventually left town, while Fox and Caleb stayed on, knowing it to be only a matter of time before the demon regained its full power after repeatedly feeding on the town's terror. Working together with Quinn, Layla and Cybil, Gage, Fox and Caleb have finally managed to restore the bloodstone that shattered into three pieces on that fateful night so many years before. They know the stone is responsible for gifting each of them their individual powers. But none of it will matter if they can't figure out how to use the stone's other powers to defeat their supernatural enemy. The demon's true awakening is mere months away, precious little time to decipher the stone's secrets and return the demon once and for all to the farthest reaches of hell. The Pagan Stone marks the conclusion to Roberts' rather disappointing Sign of Seven trilogy. The prolific author has a talent for injecting nifty twists into trite or generic storylines. Unfortunately, she fails this time around due to redundant plotting and a trio of bland characters whose over-analyses of their relationships and their evil enemy border on annoying. Any tension and fear generated by the vengeful demon bent on destroying them all is also lost in wordiness and hackneyed scare tactics. This story would have been much more effective as a single volume rather than this bloated trilogy. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Romance books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews