Publication: February 6th 2018
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pages: 359 pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
“Don’t rely on me. Just don’t. I will do what I can, everything I can, but please do not rely on me. Do not give me that responsibility. I will fail” (Armstrong 191).
I absolutely adore Kelley Armstrong. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, probably many times on here and multiple times on bookstagram I know of, but the world needs to know she’s amazing! I was first introduced to Armstrong’s books when I was in high school and read her Darkest Powers trilogy. Since then I’ve read everything I can get my hands on by her, because she’s an amazingly diverse writer ranging from fantasy to young adult and now to thrillers. And it isn’t like Armstrong excels in one genre more than another, she excels in ALL genres!
So I guess it’s time to stop gushing about Armstrong and start gushing about the newest book in the Casey Duncan/Rockton series, which really means I’m not about to stop gushing about Armstrong for the whole review.
In the third book in the series, Detective Casey Duncan and Sheriff Eric Dalton have just been informed by the elusive council that owns and operates Rockton that they will be in charge of imprisoning serial killer Oliver Brady (who has conveniently been dropped off on their landing strip) for six months, something Casey, Dalton, and the town are not prepared to deal with.
But when Oliver Brady arrives in town more Rockton residents begin dying, but Brady claims innocence for his crimes and having no internet in their deserted town Casey must be both inquisitor and executioner for Brady. To make matters worse, Brady seems to have an inside source in Rockton helping him making Casey and Dalton’s have to work as fast as they can to figure out who exactly Oliver Brady is, what he’s guilty for, and who in town may be helping him.
This Fallen Prey felt a bit different than the other two books in the series and I’m not entirely sure why. It’s a different crime of course, something I’m very happy Armstrong has done in each of the three books in the series, but in general something was different. Maybe it was because this was a crime I wasn’t able to predict with my English major analytical skills (again, point for Armstrong) or maybe it was because a lot of the story was searching and thought with no real answers until the end. It wasn’t bad at all, just different, and I had to adjust my expectations from the other two novels because of that.
It took me a while to get into this book, but I blame it on the fact that I’ve been reading a lot fantasy and magic themed books. I haven’t read a thriller in a while, so I had to remind myself that this story would be darker, and that there would be no moving castles or pissed off genies.
Casey and Dalton are amazing characters as always, though it does get pretty tiring hearing Casey constantly call Dalton her “lover.” I can understand why Armstrong wouldn’t use the word “boyfriend” though because I could never see Casey referring to him as such (or Dalton calling Casey his girlfriend) but lover just seems like an awkward, weird descriptor and in my mind it doesn’t fit what Casey and Dalton are to each other. Still, I absolutely love the relationship between the two of them, it isn’t cringing or disgusting like a lot of romance plots but seems very deep, like Casey and Dalton are two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. AND I LOVE THEIR PUPPY STORM!!!
But This Fallen Prey’s ending was CRAZY (in a good way)! Like I said, a lot of the book I was trying to figure out what Casey was thinking and trying to figure out what exactly Brady did and if he was telling the truth or not. But that ending! It was amazing, but also a reason this book only got four stars instead of five, because this book explains A LOT in just the last few pages. So much that it’s hard to figure out what exactly happened and how it connects to the rest of the book. It’s easy enough to do, but after finishing I definitely had to sit back and think about how the multiple (and there are multiple) bombshells in the last few pages affected the story as a whole. I would have liked if these surprises were spaced out a little more, even if some of these big things were dropped a chapter before just to give reader’s time to process it all. And of course the very last twist at the end made me wish I could somehow get my hands on the next book in the series now!
This Fallen Prey is an excellent addition to the Casey Duncan/Rockton series. It’s shocking and brings up so much more questions for the series as a whole that I am excited to see Armstrong answer.
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