The Boy Who Cried Bear

I just finished The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong and this is my review.

Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Eric have their refuse up and running. Haven's rock is hidden from the world by a forest. It's a place for people to disappear. A fresh start. The woods are dangerous so people aren't allowed to go off alone.

When Max, 10 years old and a tracker, thinks a bear might be stalking a hunting party. He also swears the animal has human eyes. Taking the kid seriously but accepting this is very odd but the weirdness doesn't stop there... When a dead body shows up, no one knows what it is that they are up against.

The book is the second in this series and like the first one, it started out slow but it is steady and strong. I love the build up and the book is wonderfully plot driven with just enough character storylines to keep even those who love character development entertained.

The author has this beautiful talent in leading you down paths of wrongness. Making you think you know what's going on then BAM! You get spun around again. It definitely found itself in this book. Book 1 was trying to lay the groundwork and build the foundation for the series. This one took off running. If you like slow and careful suspense series, this one has to be on your list.

I love Casey. She gets better and better for me. I am really excited to see what is coming next. The ending will blow your mind and I am confident that you will love this series too.

4.5 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @minotaurbooks for my gifted copy

I received an advanced reader copy of this book.
When an author is writing a long series like this one (and like the previous one, the Rockton series) they have to balance a lot of things. They need to stick with what's worked for their readers, but they also need to add in new elements - they can't just write the same book over and over again. But how do you up the stakes each time, without getting to jump-the-shark territory? They also need to balance episodic plots and villains with the series Big Bad and overarching mythos. (Think X-Files, where you had the Monster of the Week episode, vs the alien invasion mytharc of the series.) So the reader needs to finish each book feeling like the book plot was resolved, and the series arc was advanced but still leaving questions unanswered - but in a satisfying way.

I think Kelley Armstrong is a master of this. She did a fantastic job with this in the Rockton series, and is continuing here in Haven's Rock. We have a smaller scale antagonist and mystery that is mostly wrapped up by the end, and yet also have introduced what might be our Big Bad for the series, and opened up a LOT of questions that will probably take many books to explore and resolve. New town, new stakes, new baddies, new townsfolk, and new interpersonal issues. All in all, a really great addition and absolutely worth picking up; I finished it in just two days because I could NOT put it down.

If you've never read the Rockton series, I highly recommend going back and picking that one up before starting on Haven's Rock. You'll be missing out on a lot of background if you don't, as well as just missing out on another fantastic series.

(Also, is that cover art gorgeous or what?! I couldn't find the name of the cover artist, but kudos to them.)