Kelley Armstrong

The follow-up to #1 NYT bestseller Kelley Armstrong’s acclaimed City of the Lost, Rockton town detective Casey Duncan makes a terrible—and dangerous—discovery in the woods outside of town.

A Rockton Novel

A Darkness Absolute

Sarah Sammis

Obvious villain was obvious. If you read enough mysteries — especially if you've read early Agatha Christie when she was dabbling in thrillers — the criminal is obvious within the first fifty pages. It takes Casey and crew until there are only about fifty pages left to put the pieces together.

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Melissa Palmer

Book #34 Read in 2017
A Darkness Absolute by Kelley Armstrong

This is the second book in a gritty mystery series centered around Rockton, a place where people go to escape their lives and the people after them. Casey is still working as local police, alongside her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton. She stumbles upon a missing local woman, found in a cave in a bad state. Casey brings her back to Rockton and begins her investigation into who did this to Nicole. Will she be able to find out before she is the next victim? This series is interesting and will keep readers guessing until the end. I received this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a honest review.

Fraser Simons

Even tighter than the first one. More interesting murder mystery in the town. Might be disappointing for people who want more romance because the mystery and suspense is front and centre this time, but I liked that. Couple new characters, everyone has more character development. Starts out strong and does a good job never letting up, plus the twists and turns are even more satisfying this go around.

When experienced homicide detective Casey Duncan first moved to the secret town of Rockton, she expected a safe haven for people like her, people running from their past misdeeds and past lives. She knew living in Rockton meant living off-the-grid completely: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council's approval. What she didn't expect is that Rockton comes with its own set of secrets and dangers. Now, in A Darkness Absolute, Casey and her fellow Rockton sheriff's deputy Will chase a cabin-fevered resident into the woods, where they are stranded in a blizzard. Taking shelter in a cave, they discover a former resident who's been held captive for over a year. When the bodies of two other women turn up, Casey and her colleagues must find out if it's an outsider behind the killings or if the answer is more complicated than that...before another victim goes missing.

Becky

4.5 stars

I enjoyed it an insane amount. There was little doubt about that, though. Kelley Armstrong may be an author I first read last year but she has become a firm favourite of mine and her books always deliver. I loved visiting Rockton once more and seeing Casey being part of the town and being accepted and learning about the community and the people who live around them in the middle of nowhere. I also loved that her and Eric's relationship is as strong as ever despite both of them not having had long term relationships and hem slowly learning their place with one another. It was brilliant.

The reason the book didn't get 5 stars from me may be petty but it was simply the mystery of this book wasn't as strong as the first. It felt like Casey's path to find out who was to blame was very convoluted and I noticed that fact. It wasn't enough to bring my enjoyment down but that did niggle at me.

I continue to want to see more from the Casey Duncan series. I still have many questions about Rockton and the people there and I also wanted to know more about this mysterious council and he hostiles. There is plenty more to explore and I for one cannot wait.

**Update 23.02.19**
I do need to say this book is a grower not a shower. It took me a while to get into it on my second read of it but once the mystery started unravelling I really loved it and remembered why I enjoyed this one. I liked seeing Casey established in town and getting to see how the town works. I'm glad I have the next book to read (and then hopefully the book after that).

Amy Medeiros

Rockton #2

Another thrilling story set in the town of Rockton where people come to hide from the world south of them. I love the main characters Casey, who is the town’s detective who has quite a past and Eric who is the town’s sheriff and I find the compliment each other quite nicely. This particular story that centers around a mystery involving a captive women who was held in a cave for a year had me on the edge of my seat until they solved it. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series that I’m gonna look for right now.

Judy Hudgins

Chantale

Kelley Armstrong is one of my favourite authors so of course I read this book. 
This book is absolutely fantastic. Well written and got me hooked.

Wren Hardwick

RELEASE DATE: February 07, 2017

THIS BOOK WAS SO INCREDIBLE!



Casey is comfortable. She has her sheriff-boyfriend Eric, her deputy-friend Andres, Isabel and other people that make her feel at home in the secret-settlement of Rockton.

Diana is still apart of the town, but they are cordial enough to each other that things aren't too awkward.

It's the middle of winter, and Casey and Andres have to track out into a snow storm to find a run away named Shawn Sutherland. It's the second time he has run, but it is their responsibility to bring him back before he dies of frostbite. 

It gets to be really late, and so they bunker down in a cave. They realize they are not alone and go to find that a long-lost settler, Nicole, is there. She had been presumed dead about a year ago, so it is shocking for all involved.

What's more shocking is that she was kidnapped and brought there to use and be played with. They are fast to leave with her and bring her back to Rockton to get her back on her feet and healthy and safe; they are also fast to begin the hunt of bringing this mad-man to justice. 

Casey then finds two more bodies in the same cave system as the one they found Nicole in. They have another murder in Rockton.

Or is it a settler? Someone not living in Rockton but living in the forest. It couldn't be a hostile, someone who is more animal than human, could it? 

This book is very fast paced and thrilling. Not only do we go on this hunt with Casey, but we also go along with her relationship with Eric. They run into a lot of bumps but they are sturdy. They are both not really experienced with this deep of a relationship so it is kind of cute.

The setting is wonderful. You have a town in the middle of a forest that no one knows about. Some of the people that make up the town are hiding from something deadly, and some are deadly people that paid their way in. All of that is secret though. You pick a new name and everything. You don't know who is to trust and who to stay away from.

I absolutely love this series. As a fan of Kelley Armstrong, I as so excited that I got an ARC. Her writing is phenomenal and something that will grab your attention and not let go.

Tessa Francis 

Veronica Reitmeier

Alison Fincher

Tara Harder

Kayla Bruce

Carley Whitehead

Sabrina 

Julie Gibson

When experienced homicide detective Casey Duncan first moved to the secret town of Rockton, she expected a safe haven for people like her, people running from their past misdeeds and past lives. She knew living in Rockton meant living off-the-grid completely: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council s approval. What she didn t expect is that Rockton comes with its own set of secrets and dangers. Now, in A Darkness Absolute, Casey and her fellow Rockton sheriff s deputy Will chase a cabin-fevered resident into the woods, where they are stranded in a blizzard. Taking shelter in a cave, they discover a former resident who s been held captive for over a year. When the bodies of two other women turn up, Casey and her colleagues must find out if it s an outsider behind the killings or if the answer is more complicated than that...before another victim goes missing. Casey Duncan returns in another heart-racing thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. "

Caitlin Snyder

People disappear to Rockton so noone can find them. But the trouble is people also disappear from Rockton. In this sequel to her #1 national bestseller, City of the Lost, New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author and master of thrills Kelley Armstrong returns to Rockton for more page-turning suspense. Everyone's got a secret in Rockton--secret pasts, secret identities, secret crimes. And in a town where everyone's running from something, it's not clear who's a victim, who's perpetrator, or when the lines blur, who is both. Take Casey Duncan: she came to Rockton to help her ex-best friend Diana, until she was betrayed and almost killed. But she's also killed a man and almost gotten away with it. Now, after being drawn in to helping the town solve a series of grisly murders, Casey has settled in Rockton as its chief homicide detective, aided by her town sheriff boyfriend, Eric Dalton. When a case tracking a runaway from town leaves Casey and Deputy Sheriff Will Anders stranded in a blizzard, they take shelter in a cave, only to discover a woman imprisoned in a deep well. Nicole Chavez--presumed dead after she went missing last year, is apparently alive--though barely. But Nicole doesn't know her captor's face, she's never seen him. When the bodies of two more women are found in the cave system, it becomes clear that Casey needs to solve this case before another victim goes missing. But how do you find a killer in a place where everyone's got a sordid secret?

A Darkness Absolute A Rockton Novel

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