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This Fallen Prey (Casey Duncan – 3) by Kelley Armstrong

When Casey Duncan first arrived at Rockton, the off-the-grid, isolated community built as a haven for people running from their pasts, she had no idea what to expect. There are no cell phones, no internet, no mail, and no way of getting in or out without the town council’s approval. She certainly didn’t expect to become the town homicide detective. But, the very last thing she expected was for the council to drop a dangerous criminal into their midst without a plan to keep him imprisoned. And she never thought that she’d have to be responsible for him.

The longer Oliver Brady stays in town, the more people seem to die around him. When evidence begins piling up that someone inside Rockton is working as his accomplice, Casey races to figure out who exactly Brady is and what crimes he’s truly responsible for committing.

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Author’s Bio

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. All efforts to make her produce “normal” stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the NYT-bestselling “Women of the Otherworld” paranormal suspense series and “Darkest Powers” young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

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My Review

5 stars

We return to Rockton to find a nasty surprise being sprung on Eric and Casey. It seems the counsel has agreed to let a serial killer stay in Rockton for six months. Oliver Brady is a rich kid that has killed five people. His step father decided to ship him off to an isolated Alaska prison, aka Rockton, for six months. He is trying to protect Brady’s mother. Of course Brady is crying innocence and saying how his step father is the true killer.

Eric and Casey have a mess on their hands. Rockton is not setup to deal with Brady and the residents know enough to either try and free Brady or lynch him. While trying to find out if Brady is really a killer or not he manages to escape and take one of the women as a hostage and disappears into the forest. As Casey and Eric track Brady, bodies start piling up, they have to face the First Settlers, and then try and find Eric’s brother since Brady things he will get to civilization with him.

I enjoyed this book although there were a couple parts that did drag down the story. The main thing is Casey’s bull headed leap before you look behavior. She sees a body in a deep ravine with straight up and down sides. What does she do? Goes right over the edge and nearly kills herself trying to get to the dead body. She has a giant puppy in the woods and no lease. So the dog goes after a cougar. What does she do? Goes crashing through the woods after the dog, gets very lost, almost gets killed by the cougar, etc.

I know that I’m just whining, that’s Casey’s behavior but it does get old. Now, having said that I did enjoy this book and was surprised by Brady and who the sniper was. I do have to say that Theresa Plummer does an amazing job narrating this story.

I am disappointed to learn that I missed a book in this series. Now I’m off to catch up.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

I would like to thank Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read and share this book.

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The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood – 1) by Melissa Albert

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

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Author’s Bio

Melissa Albert is the founding editor of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog and the managing editor of BN.com. She has written for McSweeney’s, Time Out Chicago, MTV, and more. Melissa is from Illinois and lives in Brooklyn, New York. The Hazel Wood is her first novel.

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My Review

5 stars

Alice is the granddaughter of the famous author Althea Proserpine. Althea wrote a famous, dark collection of fairy tales called Tales from the Hinterland. They are very dark and very famous but it is the one and only book that Althea wrote and very hard to find. Alice’s mother Ella, grew up at The Hazel Wood, Althea’s estate, and has taken Alice and cut all ties to Althea. They live a rough life bouncing from home to home, city to city. It seems darkness and bad luck follow them if they stay in one place to long.

Things have been going well for Alice and Elle, well for Elle. She has gotten married and seems to be over the moon. Alice on the other hand is a ball of pure hate and rage and is about as personable as a ticked off porcupine. But then one day Alice comes home to find her mother kidnapped and she has been kicked out of her step father’s life.

Alice goes after her mother with the help of a classmate/Althea Proserpine super fan, Ellery Finch. Alice is going to learn a lot more about The Hinterland and The Hazel Wood. But she has to be careful or she is going to lose herself in this world.

The first thing I have to say is that Alice can be so irrational that she will push you away from her. It was hard to sympathize with her at first. But the more I read then more I could understand some of her personality. I liked the dark twisted fairy tales of The Hinterland that haunt her and I loved her quest to find her mother. Ellery Finch was a great guide that doesn’t really seem like the rich kid he is. He did irritate me with his deal but he does make up for it at the end.

Rebecca Soler narrates this book and does a fantastic job. I would read any book that she narrates. I think this is a great, dark fairy tale and I am shocked that it is a first book for Melissa Albert. I do see that this is the first in a series and I can’t wait to get my hands on book two.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

I would like to thank Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read and share this book.

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