Kelley Armstrong Follow

4.5stars-COLD AS HELL is the third instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s contemporary adult HAVEN’S ROCK mystery, thriller series set in the fictional town of Haven’s Rock, Yukon focusing on Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton. The HAVEN’S ROCK series is a spin off from the author’s ROCKTON series with several of the original series characters moving to Haven’s Rock.

SOME BACKGROUND: Rockton Yukon did not exist on any map, and the residents all had a questionable past, fake names and false histories. Most were once considered to be white collar crimes but with increasing regularity, hardened criminals have somehow paid their way into Rockton, seeking sanctuary against future prosecution, a safe place for two years before seeking asylum somewhere else. A serial killer destroyed the people and ultimately the town of Rockton Yukon, and with the help of some of their former friends and a big influx of cash, Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton, begin the task of building a new town, known as Haven’s Rock, a town that will expose our couple to more murders and questionable inhabitants.

Told from first person perspective (Casey Duncan) COLD AS HELL focuses on several happenings in Haven’s Rock. A drugging at the local bar finds a very pregnant Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton searching for a missing woman but when one woman is found, another is discovered dead, and the entire town begins to suspect everyone connected. Meanwhile Casey’s pregnancy reaches a critical point, and our heroine struggles between doing her job and protecting her unborn child, a struggle that becomes dangerous and deadly.

The world building follows several intersecting paths including the possibility of one of their own wreaking havoc on the town’s residents but not everyone is who they claim to be, and Casey and Eric will face down an enemy with deadly intent.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and questionable secondary and supporting characters, all of whom have a past. Accusations are made; threats are compounded with issues of trust-not everyone will survive.

COLD AS HELL is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, madness and murder, love and loss. The slow building story is dark, dramatic and edgy; the characters are determined, charismatic and energetic. Kelley Armstrong pulls the reader into a world of ice and cold, snow and blizzards-you can feel the temperature drop.

I’LL BE WAITING by Kelley Armstrong is a contemporary, adult, supernatural thriller focusing on thirty something widow Nicola Laughton.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person perspectives (Nicola) using present day, and memories from the past, I’LL BE WAITING follows Nicola Laughton in the wake of the death of her husband. Approximately twenty-two years earlier, a group of high school friends went into the woods to perform a seance but in the ensuing aftermath death and destruction would follow. Fast forward to present day, wherein Nicola’s husband Anton would die tragically in an early winter snow storm, and in the months that follow Nicola would be contacted by mediums and psychics claiming they have been in contact with the dead but when a certified parapsychologist is willing to help NIcola contact her dead husband, the resulting fall-out sees more death and destruction for our story line heroine.

I’LL BE WAITING is a story of obsession and madness, secrets and lies, grief and acceptance, betrayal and vengeance. Nicola’s extended family struggle with her need to contact her late husband; a new friend is determined to help Nicola get the closure she needs and wants; and the angry spirits refuse to give up until everyone has paid. The premise is dramatic, dark and thrilling; the characters are determined, destructive and dynamic.

Nic is a woman grieving the death of her husband, Anton, in a car accident and she keeps hearing his last words to her; "I'll be waiting". After going to several supposed mediums seances without results her brother's husband Jin finds a professor who is doing a study on contacting the afterlife thru a series of seances documented thru his equipment for further studies. This professor agrees to meet Nic, Jin and a friend at the vacation rental that Anton's family used to own and where he and Nic spent wonderful times together hoping this will help them connect with him. After a few days Nic realizes something is not right at their gathering and that it seems to her her life is in danger. While investigating these events Nic realizes that somehow they are connected to a murder from her past more than twenty years ago where a friend was murdered by another friend while they were all in the woods performing their own séance. Can Nice save herself and the others before what ever it seems they have connected with kills her...
(Thanks to NetGAlley and the publisher for an advance copy)

4.5stars—THE BOY WHO CRIED BEAR is the second instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s contemporary adult HAVEN’S ROCK mystery, thriller series set in the fictional town of Haven’s Rock, Yukon a spin off from the author’s ROCKTON series focusing on Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton.

SOME BACKGROUND: Rockton Yukon did not exist on any map, and the residents all had a questionable past, fake names and false histories. Most were once considered to be white collar crimes but with increasing regularity, hardened criminals have somehow paid their way into Rockton, seeking sanctuary against future prosecution, a safe place for two years before seeking asylum somewhere else. A serial killer destroyed the people and ultimately the town of Rockton Yukon, and with the help of some of their former friends and a big influx of cash, Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton, begin the task of building a new town, known as Haven’s Rock, a town that will expose our couple to more murders and questionable inhabitants.

Told from first person perspective (Casey Duncan) and several omniscient third person perspectives including Max, THE BOY WHO CRIED BEAR follows in the wake of the possible abduction of a ten year old boy. Out for a walk in the Yukon wilderness, ten year old Max claims he saw a man-bear, a possible wild man but no one believes his story. Desperate to prove everyone wrong, Max goes into the forest alone, and doesn’t return, leading the people of Haven’s Rock to believe one of their own may have taken the ten year old boy. A search ensues under the direction of Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton but a missing boy is the least of their worries. A dead man from a neighboring mining camp is just the beginning, and now there is a possibility of a killer on the loose.

THE BOY WHO CRIED BEAR is a slow building story of mystery and suspense. Like most of the townsfolk, we no very little about the individuals who have sought refuge in Haven’s Rock, but the possibility of a another killer in their midst means someone else may have lied about the who, how and why. The members of an all-male mining camp are suspect but when lines are drawn, Casey and Eric begin to suspect a much bigger issue at play.

Kelley Armstrong pulls the reader into a story of power and control, madness and obsession, family and friendships. The premise is dramatic and intense. There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, determined, and desperate characters, not all of whom will survive.

Havens Rock is progressing with a few new residents in the last few month. Two young boys and their mother are some of the new ones. The youngest boy, Max, loves going for hikes in the forest with the adult guides and learning. He tells one of the adults, Gunner, that he saw a bear across the way. Gunner sees it, but not the human eyes that Max says he saw. Casey, Eric and Anders go into the forest searching for the bear and find nothing. Then the race is on to find Max who went into the forest alone and disappeared. During the search for Max one of the miners from the neighboring settlement is found dead and more evidence is found of more than one attacker. Can Casey and Eric find Max alive and figure out the secrets the mining boss is hiding?
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy)

Can an island be a living entity...can it kill people or make them disappear...These things can't be happening; they cannot be real is all Laney can think. But no matter what is happening she has to keep her niece, Madison, safe and keep her long held secrets secret no matter what. Laney will do anything to keep Madison safe...anything. And she needs to keep her ex-husband, who she is still in love with, and his sister her former best friend safe as well. But can she save them all and herself from whatever is happening...
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy)

SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING by Kelley Armstrong is a contemporary, young adult, psychological, suspense thriller focusing on the small town of Darlington Hills and a research facility owned by CMT.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person perspective (Blythe Warren) and several third person omniscient perspectives SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING follows in the aftermath of the so-called suicide of the local high school principal but from the outset everything is spiralling out of control, memories are erased, and the truth is definitely stranger than fiction.

Our heroine, sixteen year old Blythe Warren, is worried that something has happened to her best friend Gabrielle, who prior to the apparent suicide of the high school principal was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Blythe had followed Gabrielle to the principal’s office but her memory of what happened or why is non-existent except for small flash-backs that do not make sense. As Blythe’s memory begins to reveal something more sinister at work, her group of well-connected and close knit friends begins to unravel a secret closely connected to the CMT Research Facility, where all of their parents work.

Blythe, along with her sisters, and friends all attend a private and prestigious STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) school, sponsored by the local CMT Research Facility but all is not well within the student body when Blythe begins to receive messages from an unknown sender, and encoded emails reveal an long term experiment that went horribly wrong.

SOMEONE IS ALWAYS WATCHING is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, murder and mystery, memories and madness, twists and turns where nothing is as it seems, and people are not whom they claim to be. Kelley Armstrong invites the reader into a psychological thriller, an intense story of mystery and suspense wherein it takes a group of sixteen year old high school students to break through the veil of power and control. The thought-provoking premise is dark, gritty tragic and dramatic; the characters are flawed, broken and easily manipulated.

A secret town in the Yukon forest to allow people who need a fresh start to disappear to. This town is being built by people who met at a town for the same purpose but greed and dishonesty ruined it. When two people from the crew doing the building disappear into the forest, Casey and her husband Eric, the owners of the town come to search for them. While searching another body is found along with other people residing in the dense area. Any connection to the dead body and the missing crew members?
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book)

4.25 stars--THE DEEPEST OF SECRETS is the seventh and final (?) instalment in Kelley Armstrong’s contemporary, adult ROCKTON mystery, thriller, suspense series focusing on the fictional town of Rockton, in the Yukon.

SOME BACKGROUND: Rockton Yukon does not exist on any map, and the residents all have a questionable past, fake names and false histories. Most were once considered to be white collar crimes but with increasing regularity, hardened criminals have somehow paid their way into Rockton, seeking sanctuary against future prosecution, a safe place for two years before seeking asylum somewhere else. Built in the 1950s, Rockton is a refuge for people in trouble but a refuge run by a ‘council’ with the ultimate control, moving Rockton from a commune into a for-profit institution. Entirely off-grid, with no modern amenities, Rockton’s secrets are about to be exposed.

NOTE: If you are new to the series, the author offers up an introductory chapter focusing on the history of Rockton, and the key residents who have made a name for themselves throughout the series including Detective Casey Butler and her partner Eric Dalton..

Told from first person perspective (Detective Casey Duncan Butler) THE DEEPEST OF SECRETS focuses on the search for a killer who is targeting the residents of Rockton, Yukon, taking aim at the people in charge. Someone has uncovered the truth, the backgrounds and crimes, about several residents of Rockton, and in this, the remaining people have taken it upon themselves to ferret out the person responsible, targeting the ‘guilty’ before any chance at redemption. The once tepid relationships between the residents is threatened when betrayal reveals a murderer among them, someone who they believe has not paid for their crime but as a number of residents find themselves the victim of a potential killer, the council steps in to shut down a town that doesn’t exist. As Casey, and her partner/ common-law husband Sheriff Erin Dalton begin an investigation, people begin disappearing, and the number of suspects grows with every clue.

THE DEEPEST OF SECRETS is a story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, murder and obsession, distrust and uncertainty, innocence and guilt. Kelley Armstrong pulls the reader into an intriguing, twisted and haunting tale of what if? Or how? A though provoking series wherein if you were able to disappear without a trace, would you? Could you? Without any thoughts about who or what you left behind. The premise is detailed, intense, dramatic and original; the characters are spirited, edgy and often tragic. THE DEEPEST OF SECRETS is open ended, the main characters are considering their next step, outside of Rockton Yukon.