This Fallen Prey - Kelley Armstrong

It was -21°C (-6°F) the day I sat down to begin the This Fallen Prey, the third installment in Kelley Armstrong's City of the Lost Series. The cold and snow falling outside was the perfect setting to immerse myself in the Yukon town of Rockton. An off the grid town that doesn't exist on any map, where people go to disappear...

Protagonist Casey Duncan is one of those who came to Rockton to hide. She's a former cop and is now the only detective on Rockton's small police force. Maintaining law and order in a town where everyone is hiding something isn't easy. And it's made even harder when 'the council' sends a serial killer to Rockton for the small force to imprison.

I really enjoy this series. Why? Casey is a great protagonist - she's tough, smart and determined, but isn't perfect. The setting allows for a large cast of supporting characters. They're all just as interesting and fleshed out. The other lead is Sheriff Eric Dalton. He's the only resident actually born in the area. He's also Casey's love interest. I'm not a big romance reader, but Armstrong does it well. Their relationship is believable, not 'over the top' and enhances the book, rather than being the main focus.

The mysteries are always intriguing and not easily figured out. The plot in This Fallen Prey was excellent. I honestly had no idea who was telling the truth and who was lying. There are a number of twists and turns that changed the direction of the investigation - and the final whodunit - which was a surprise to me. This Fallen Prey is action filled with danger always around the corner. (And on the next page. I admit it - I did flip ahead a few times....)

"It's a puzzle of configuration, and each place in it has two sides - guilt or innocence - and the meaning changes depending on which side I place up....Two ways of looking at everything, leading to two ways of investigating."

The premise of a hidden town full of residents with shady (to say the least) backgrounds is brilliant. It allows for so many avenues of possibilities. But not just in the town of Rockton. Outside of the town limits there exist others - a settlement, loners and those referred to as "Hostiles'. We've been given a closer look at these groups in This Fallen Prey, but there is more to discover.

The case is solved by the final pages....but the door is open for more. More questions, more lies, more deceit and more cases to come. And this reader cannot wait. Write faster please Kelley! Read an excerpt of This Fallen Prey.

You can connect with Kelley Armstrong on her website, like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.