Monday, February 19, 2018

This Fallen Prey

Title: This Fallen Prey
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: February 6th 2018 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 368 pages
Genre: Suspense / Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Casey Duncan / Rockton #3

I will continue to say that the Casey Duncan series is underappreciated and deserves to have a larger following than it does. From the first chapter to the last of each book the reader has no idea where they are going. The stories turn back on themselves and since Kelley Armstrong has no qualms in killing off characters, in the end, you will have no idea who will be left standing and whom will make a sudden reappearance to throw your whole supposition off.

With enough money and the right contacts, a person can secrete themselves in Rockton, an untraceable and remote northern community designed as a sanctuary for victims to heal or to hide. With a three-person police force that is compelled to help, protect and to save, they are not prepared for what touches down on their airstrip. A bound and gagged Oliver Brady is dumped into their laps with a tidy sum and no other information. It is not until the gag comes off does the team realize that they are in trouble and there is no way to return their prisoner to the town down south where he belongs.

With an apparent poisoning and secured housing not available, Brady takes off into the forest filled with first settlers, hostiles, grizzlies, and apparently a sniper. The nagging question is – how did he get away? Does he have an ally within Rockton? A person that believes his farfetched story of being framed for his stepfather’s actions. Because Casey and Sheriff Dalton either are gluttons for punishment or have an unnatural need to protect people that do not deserve it, they trudge into the forest to rescue Brady from his own foolishness.

As I said, this story twists upon itself. Who exactly is the sniper aiming at since everyone in the search party is either shot at or killed and Armstrong slowly eliminates the possible leaving only the improbably and yet that doesn’t make much sense until it does. As Kelley Armstrong said,” It’s a puzzle of configuration, and each piece in it has two sides – guilt or innocence – and the meaning changes depending on which side I place up.” This is a perfect description of this book. “Two way of looking at everything, leading to two ways of investigating”.

By the end, your mind is swimming. This is a town where societally rules do not apply, but who needed to die? Did outside forces initiate this or did the town clean up a bad situation? Will Casey relent and let a top surgeon in to help one of their own if that means her own secrets can be revealed? Once again, I am not sure where Kelley Armstrong will go with Rockton, but this town and its inhabitants are nothing short of fascinating.

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