Helpful Score: 2
I really liked the concept, but I had trouble with the details. Had to put aside a number of logical questions about how it would work. Many times in the plot I stopped, thinking "wait that makes no sense". Liked how Armstrong developed Casey and the other characters, but Casey's ongoing blather about Dalton got annoying. In the end I felt the actions of the villains were overly convoluted; too many variables involved. The story is obviously set up for multiple sequels and as I write this I think there are at least 4 more. If I weren't already reading so many other series with bad-ass female protagonists I might try the next, because I liked the city in the wilds, but I'll stop with this one.
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first book in a new thriller/mystery series by Armstrong called the Casey Duncan series. I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a very engaging read with a wonderfully delicious dark and mysterious mystery. I loved the setting and the characters and really enjoyed how the plot unfolded. There is also a little romance in here to balance out the gruesomeness.
Every character in this book has issues...big ones. This made for an incredibly intriguing cast of characters that were unpredictable and engaging.
The setting was amazing. You have all these characters hiding from past people and crimes in an isolated town in the middle of nowhere. The town is fairly primitive and requires the full cooperation of the people living there to survive. Surrounding this town is the harsh Canadian wilderness and...other things. I loved this remote setting and loved the survivalist element this brought to the story.
The plot constantly kept me guessing and trying to figure out "who done it" was a challenge. I loved some of the twists at the end of the story; just amazing.
The main mystery was wrapped up nicely but there are many storylines I hope are fleshed out more in future books. There is a sweet romance that develops between two of the characters as well and that really helped balance out some of the more gruesome scenes in this book.
Overall this was an amazing thriller/mystery set in a intriguing location with engaging characters. I am not a huge thriller/mystery fan but I ended up loving this book. I would recommend to fans of Armstrong's writing and to those who love mysteries stories that have an element of survivalism to them.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a very engaging read with a wonderfully delicious dark and mysterious mystery. I loved the setting and the characters and really enjoyed how the plot unfolded. There is also a little romance in here to balance out the gruesomeness.
Every character in this book has issues...big ones. This made for an incredibly intriguing cast of characters that were unpredictable and engaging.
The setting was amazing. You have all these characters hiding from past people and crimes in an isolated town in the middle of nowhere. The town is fairly primitive and requires the full cooperation of the people living there to survive. Surrounding this town is the harsh Canadian wilderness and...other things. I loved this remote setting and loved the survivalist element this brought to the story.
The plot constantly kept me guessing and trying to figure out "who done it" was a challenge. I loved some of the twists at the end of the story; just amazing.
The main mystery was wrapped up nicely but there are many storylines I hope are fleshed out more in future books. There is a sweet romance that develops between two of the characters as well and that really helped balance out some of the more gruesome scenes in this book.
Overall this was an amazing thriller/mystery set in a intriguing location with engaging characters. I am not a huge thriller/mystery fan but I ended up loving this book. I would recommend to fans of Armstrong's writing and to those who love mysteries stories that have an element of survivalism to them.
I haven't read many Kelley Armstrong books since I shy away from paranormal, but this one was different, so I thought I'd give it a try. All the characters were flawed, but that was the premise of the story. I liked Casey and Eric and despised Casey's best friend Diana, however she got what she deserved in the ending.
Through many varying twists, the book keep me intrigued to the end. However, I believe the plot could have been just as good in 350 pages instead of 460! IMO, a little too long to tell this story
Through many varying twists, the book keep me intrigued to the end. However, I believe the plot could have been just as good in 350 pages instead of 460! IMO, a little too long to tell this story
Kelley Armstrong is an amazing author. I have yet to read anything by her that didn't hold my complete attention, and leave me a little sorry the story was over. I say that grudgingly with this one because she broke (and kept right on breaking) my cardinal rule with City of the Lost.
"Never do stupid stuff just because it serves your purpose!"
Nothing about this story developed organically. Every time I turned around her characters were saying or doing things just because it was expedient, not because it made sense for it to happen, or made for good storytelling.
From the first sentence I wanted to smack the heroine for being a bubble-headed doofus.
At her first session with a new therapist (yet another in a long line of predecessors) the MC - a supposedly savvy cop confesses to being a murderer. This isn't the first therapist - or the first confession hence the many predecessors. Soon her past is catching up with her and she needs to go poof. And low and behold there is a community for people to vanish into. AND her soul sucking BFF ALSO needs to go poof. So they do. AACK.
Activity-wise It was sort of watching a b- horror flick. ....Is she SERIOUSLY going to do that?.... No! Don't do that!..... Well that was stupid. Are you TRYING to get yourself.....ARRRRGH!
Despite myself I was sucked into City of the Lost and couldn't stop reading. If I'd been in a theater watching the movie I'd have thrown popcorn at the screen, heckled the heroine, and sighed when she got her HEA. Then I'd have turned to my hubby and said "Smack me if I'm ever that stupid OK?"
Evidently I will read anything Kelley writes even if I hate the story - which I sorta did. While the story irritated me on several levels, I couldn't put it aside. The characters were so vivid, and the writing so engaging I had to keep going. Note the 4 stars. That wasn't 'cause I liked the story - that was all Kelley being Kelley - an outstanding writer.
"Never do stupid stuff just because it serves your purpose!"
Nothing about this story developed organically. Every time I turned around her characters were saying or doing things just because it was expedient, not because it made sense for it to happen, or made for good storytelling.
From the first sentence I wanted to smack the heroine for being a bubble-headed doofus.
At her first session with a new therapist (yet another in a long line of predecessors) the MC - a supposedly savvy cop confesses to being a murderer. This isn't the first therapist - or the first confession hence the many predecessors. Soon her past is catching up with her and she needs to go poof. And low and behold there is a community for people to vanish into. AND her soul sucking BFF ALSO needs to go poof. So they do. AACK.
Activity-wise It was sort of watching a b- horror flick. ....Is she SERIOUSLY going to do that?.... No! Don't do that!..... Well that was stupid. Are you TRYING to get yourself.....ARRRRGH!
Despite myself I was sucked into City of the Lost and couldn't stop reading. If I'd been in a theater watching the movie I'd have thrown popcorn at the screen, heckled the heroine, and sighed when she got her HEA. Then I'd have turned to my hubby and said "Smack me if I'm ever that stupid OK?"
Evidently I will read anything Kelley writes even if I hate the story - which I sorta did. While the story irritated me on several levels, I couldn't put it aside. The characters were so vivid, and the writing so engaging I had to keep going. Note the 4 stars. That wasn't 'cause I liked the story - that was all Kelley being Kelley - an outstanding writer.
I really enjoyed this story- it kept me entertained from start to finish. The setting was unique, the characters each had their own secrets and flaws, and there were quite a few twists and turns to the story that I wasn't suspecting. There was also a bit of romance worked into the story between two main characters, which I felt enriched the story. The story does wrap itself up, but leaves lots of room for sequels. I've already downloaded book 2!
Can't give it a full 3 stars
I thought the premise of the story was going to be good, and it sounded good on the flap, going off to an unknown town to 'disappear' forever, BUT once you get to the town you have a bigoted sheriff to deal with who acts like an a*****e and the other characters in the town were just idiots or sounded like it
I didn't like the writing and when I hit half way when they got to 'the town' it just drug out, it needed to have something happening along the way but instead you had to read such boring dialogue mainly between the sheriff and Casey, for a first book it did not grab me enough to pursue the second book
I thought the premise of the story was going to be good, and it sounded good on the flap, going off to an unknown town to 'disappear' forever, BUT once you get to the town you have a bigoted sheriff to deal with who acts like an a*****e and the other characters in the town were just idiots or sounded like it
I didn't like the writing and when I hit half way when they got to 'the town' it just drug out, it needed to have something happening along the way but instead you had to read such boring dialogue mainly between the sheriff and Casey, for a first book it did not grab me enough to pursue the second book
