A DARKNESS ABSOLUTE (Casey Duncan #2)
Kelley Armstrong
Minotaur Books
February 7, 2017
The village of Rockton in the Canadian Yukon is a pretty strange place; not on any map or GPS and completely off the grid. The reason for that is that the towns' residents are all on the run from something. It could be from their own criminal pasts, abusive relationships, or a myriad of other reasons. Some people are let in to do a necessary job. Others have to pay big money to get there. Casey Duncan, who we met in City of the Lost not only has a past but was hired to be Deputy Sheriff and Homicide Detective. She was a successful detective on a big city force whose past caught up with her, or so she thought.
Casey and another deputy, Will, are chasing after a resident who has gone off the reservation, so to speak. This resident regularly heads off into the surrounding woods; something strictly forbidden by Sheriff Eric Dalton. The Sheriff's reasons are sound. The woods are full of dangerous predators, both human and inhuman. A blizzard blows up and Casey and Will take shelter in a cave, where they discover a woman in a pit. The woman has been missing from Rockton for fifteen months and was presumed dead. It is a struggle to get her out and back to Rockton, and their original quarry is still missing. Questions are raised about other missing women from Rockton. Could those women also be the victims of this captor? And what is going on with the Council, the secretive body who approves all new residents?
Kelley Armstrong has produced another pulse-pounding thriller in A Darkness Absolute. Someone is stalking Casey and when the woman in the pit is re-taken, the action ratchets up, veering close to horror. It kept me guessing throughout and I didn't figure out who the predator was until close to the end. The relationship between Eric and Casey is an added attraction. The two are carrying a lot of baggage and are definitely not "stock" characters. Nor is the supporting cast. I am looking forward to what is possibly coming for Eric and Casey.
RATING- 4 Stars
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