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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Alone in the Wild

Alone in the Wild (Rockton, #5)

Alone in the Wild is the fifth book in the Rockton series and I think it may be my favorite of the bunch. This time around Casey and Dalton are camping not far from town when they find a baby of all things, sheltered by a dead body. The woman hasn't been dead for long, obviously, but Casey has no idea who the woman is or who the baby might belong to. It appears that the baby doesn't belong to the dead woman, and from there we get a deep dive into the nature of the communities surrounding Rockton- the settlers and the hostiles, which we've been getting hints of since the first book .    

Finally the layers of secrecy surrounding these other settlements are being peeled back, and I loved it. The concept of this town in the Yukon has always been a winner for me, but to be honest the mystery of the wilder groups has always captivated me most, and we've only gotten hints up until now. This time we get an explanation for how the hostiles end up like they do, and we get to see the complex web of relationships that exist between the different groups. The First and Second Settlements play a role in the story, as do some independent groups and, of course, the hostiles. 

We also get the return of some familiar faces, including Ty Cypher (who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite characters) and a new face- a former hostile- who makes an appearance and who I am hoping plays a role in future stories. There are the usual twists and turns, although if I have one complaint, it might be that the mystery takes one or two perhaps unnecessary turns. The enigma of the dead woman and the baby just seemed to be a tad too convoluted, perhaps, but other than that I have no real complaints. I'm even starting to like Dalton more (I know he's popular, but often for me he just seems like an excuse to drop f-bombs every two seconds). The relationship he has with Casey has matured to the point now where it feels comfortable, and while things still occur to test them, there's not a lot of unnecessary angst. 

The wilderness plays a big role in this one too- they don't spend a lot of time in Rockton. I liked that since the areas surrounding the town have always been my favorite parts of the stories. I'm liking Jen as a character too, and of course we get to check in on the increasingly complicated array of residents and players in this series. Early on I was hoping for maybe a paranormal slant to the series, vis a vis the hostiles in particular, and while that's apparently not going to happen the explanations for how they have developed the way they have made a lot of sense. 

All in all this was a solid read. I was starting to wonder if this series would flag a little bit but I'm happy to report this might have, again, been my favorite yet. There's a certain formulaic feel, I guess, to some of the characters like Cypher showing up and playing a role, but not too much of a role- it feels like we get a check in on certain characters every book but not much else- but honestly the cast is so large now that that's unavoidable, I suppose. On the flip side there's enough possible story idea for a ton more books, I would think- and that'd be fine with me! 

Spoilers

Who would have thought Jen and Cypher? Not me, but I love it! Honestly, we need more of that. 

Sebastian is an interesting enigma and I just feel he's being foreshadowed huge in this book. He could be scary. 

Maryann the former hostile is a cool character, and moving her into the caves sets up some possibilities as well. 

20 comments:

  1. Yes, this one was great! I love how the wilderness of the Yukon was a real presence in this book, almost as if it were a character itself, and it was fun to see Casey and Dalton do most of the investigation outside Rockton. It's amazing how after this many books, Armstrong still has so many interesting stories and ideas for this series!

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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  2. I'd love to start this series some day. I used to read a lot of Kelley Armstrong back in my pre blogging days😁

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  3. This series sounds really interestting!!

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  4. I cannot believe I've not started this series especially given that I loved the Cainsville series and Women of the Underworld. I'm falling drastically behind!

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  5. Seeing the Yukon mentioned is so evocative to me of reading Jack London novels as a child, probably too young a child for the violence in those not-cute dog stories!

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  6. Don't you love it when a series just keeps getting better and better?

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  7. I used to love her Otherworld series and her Nadia Stafford (assassin) series but then her writing sort of felt very procedural to me so I took a break.

    I don't know why but this one appeals to me. Do you think it would make any sense if don't read the previous ones first?

    Karen @ For What It's worth

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  8. I am loving this series, and I loved this book too. I think she really opened the door to keeping this series fresh with the introduction of new characters, and with the unveiling of the other communities. I thought this was very well done!

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  9. Armstrong is an author I've been wanting to read since I first started blogging but somehow never have. This series appeals to me the most and this one looks so good!

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  10. I've only read a couple of her earliest books but this does sound pretty good.

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  11. I love this cover. It really pops. I am assuming I need to read the others in the series first, though?

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  12. I think I already mentioned that I have the first two books and still haven't picked them up. Drat it - why isn't there more time in the day!
    Lynn :D

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  13. I've never heard of this series or author before but it sounds really interesting! I'm guessing that it's probably best to read the series from the start instead of jumping in on the fourth book, huh? I'm definitely gonna look it up. Great review!

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  14. I always love it (and am impressed with the author) when a series can remain so strong several books in.

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  15. I am really intrigued by this series, Greg! Sounds like it has a fantastic setting as well.

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  16. This sounds really great. I've only read one Kelley Armstrong book so far but I really enjoyed it so will keep this series in mind.

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  17. This sounds like an amazing book, and like the tension was high and it was thrilling as the secrets were slowly revealed. I own a few books by Armstrong and need to get around to reading them for sure. Happy this could be your favourite in the series!

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  18. "I know he's popular, but often for me he just seems like an excuse to drop f-bombs every two seconds".
    😂

    I've seen this book around, but I didn't know it was part of a series until now! And as usual, when you set to write a review, you do a great job. I wish you did more of them 😉 🙂.

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  19. The mystery about the baby and the dead woman sounds intriguing, but it's always great to start getting some answers about long-running mysteries in a series. And it's def a concern that a series will start flagging, so that's awesome to hear it's still going so strong for you!

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