Book Review: THIS FALLEN PREY by Kelley Armstrong

In Kelley Armstrong’s This Fallen Prey, third in the Casey Duncan series (after A Darkness Absolute), the detective and the off-the-grid town of Rockton remain as fascinating as ever.

Rockton, situated in the Canadian Yukon, is a sanctuary for people hiding from their pasts, but Casey and Eric Dalton—sheriff and Casey’s lover—are told they must keep a serial killer there for six months, until further arrangements can be made for him. Refusal isn’t an option because Rockton will receive $1 million for its trouble.

Oliver Brady arrives accompanied by stories of his sadistic murders, and Casey and Dalton, along with deputy sheriff Will Anders, scramble to build a facility secure enough to hold him. The trio also have to deal with residents who, fearing for their safety, develop a lynch-mob mentality, demanding crowd justice instead of shelter for the alleged murderer.

But Brady maintains his innocence, and some in Rockton believe him. When people start dying, Casey races to determine the truth about Brady’s guilt before she becomes a victim.

Some of the plot reveals aren’t shocking, but Armstrong keeps readers guessing about Brady. She holds readers captive with a sense of dread constantly lurking beyond the next tree in Rockton’s surrounding woods.

With residents who have mysterious and violent pasts, and uncivilized hostiles living in the wild, anything can happen. Rockton isn’t safe at all, but the threat of sudden Lord of the Flies-like savagery is what makes This Fallen Prey riveting.

Buy it now

This review originally appeared on Shelf Awareness for Readers and is reprinted here with permission. It contains an affiliate link that, if used, could provide a small commission to PCN.

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Lauren
    March 20, 2018 at 8:09 am

    I still need to get to City of the Lost based on your rec. I have the ebook, just haven’t been able to cram it in. The fact that you’re still a fan of this series three books in is a great selling point.

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      March 20, 2018 at 4:45 pm

      CotL is still my favorite, then this one.

  • Reply
    Eirego
    March 20, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Based on your recommendation, I read and enjoyed City of the Lost, but never got to A Darkness Absolute.

    Guess I’ve got some catching up to do.

    • Reply
      Pop Culture Nerd
      March 20, 2018 at 4:47 pm

      Or you can just read this one. If you’ve read CITY, the other two don’t need to be read in order.

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