SF/Horror novel.

[thornsilver]

It was a fairly thick paperback about 15 years ago. The title had something to do with oceans, maybe? The conceit was that something in the oceans had enough of human mistreatment and was taking revenge.

One of the things I remember, was a couple riding away on a motorcycle from a way of crabs on the beach. They escape, but then it turns out that they died because the crabs were somehow poisoned/allergy causing? There was a little bit where the book listed all the people who died from eating/coming in contact with these crabs.

One of the characters was as woman who was very obsessed with exercising, because it made her feel less depressed. There is a scene where she is running on the deck of the carrier, because there doesn't seem to be a place to excercise in the middle of the ocean.

Found: "The Swarm" by Frank Schatzing.

Fantasy Series?

[wanderingbibliophile]

I'm looking for a series that I read back in the early 2000's that I found in a Friends of the Library sale so I don't know how old the actual series is or when it was published. But, I know two books were published with the author using a pseudonym for the second. A third book was meant to be printed, but I was never able to find it.

It's set in a fantasy world. The series revolves around a woman who has some degree of control over fire. She is meant to find other people like her who can control other elements. The first book revolves around her and her back story. She is a bastard child of a well-off (possibly royal) father. IDK how but she eventually ends up being taken in to live with her father, his wife, and his children. The main character (MC) becomes close with her half-brother. Her stepmother sees the MC as a threat of sorts and constantly belittles her. MC eventually ends up falling in love with her half-brother. They consummate said love, which ends with him dying as a result of "spontaneous" combustion.

MC discovers that she is living through her fifth and last reincarnation. Each previous life her mission was to find other humans who can control various elements and defeat a great evil. In two of the four lives she has managed to defeat said evil and the other two she's failed. She discovers that this great evil has come to "possess" her stepmother. Some sort of other voice shows MC a "what-if" situation in which her stepmother slowly accepts MC into her life. Her half-brother and herself don't fall in love and he remains alive. In each life, there isn't just a "great evil," but also a guide of sorts to help MC defeat the great evil. That guide is her half-brother. But, because the stepmother tried to break apart their relationship, the relationship changes from platonic to romantic. It's weird. I know. But that's the first book. MC's stepmother is evil. Half-brother dead and still acts as a guide, though in her head. And she's now looking for a man who control some aspect of "earth."

The 2nd book in the series centers on the original MC finding a man who has the power to bring Spring back to this world.

The 3rd book centers around the "water" representative in the group. I don't know if this was published or not.