Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Release Day Review: The Boy Who Cried Bear(Haven's Rock #2) by Kelley Armstrong

 

In The Boy Who Cried Bear, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong keeps readers on the edge of their seats while detective Casey Duncan tries to locate the threat before it’s too late. . .

Haven’s Rock is a well-hidden town surrounded by forest. And it’s supposed to be, being that it’s a refuge for those who need to disappear. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton already feel at home in their new town, which reminds them of where they first met in Rockton. And while they know how to navigate the woods and its various dangers, other residents don’t. Which is why people aren't allowed to wander off alone.

When Max, the town’s youngest resident—taught to track animals by Eric—fears a bear is stalking a hiking party, alarms are raised. Even stranger, the ten-year-old swears the bear had human eyes. Casey and Eric know the dangers a bear can present, so they’re taking it seriously. But odd occurrences are happening all around them, and when a dead body turns up, they’re not sure what they’re up against.

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What I thought about The Boy Who Cried Bear

Haven's Rock is a sanctuary of sorts -- one where people can go with things in their past that aren't held against them.  Think witness protection or just bad bad luck.  The town is run by the people who live there and they have built their own little world that is their safe zone.  This safe zone is threatened multiple times and multiple ways in The Boy Who Cried Bear.
 
Max and his family were formerly in a witness protection program that went bad, and now they are recovering in Haven's Rock.  One of Max's favorite things to do is to go into the forest.  When out hiking one day, he sees what the thinks is a bear -- but a strange bear with human eyes.  When Max goes missing days later, the search is on for the ten year old and the bear. 

Complicating everything is the mining village in close proximity.  They are very secretive and want to dictate just what and where Eric Dalton (the town sheriff) and Casey (his detective wife) are doing to search for the boy.  I just really liked these two characters -- the way they interact, how they solve the mystery, and how they deal with some personal life things that happen to them along the way. Oh, and their dog Storm is pretty awesome too!

I had no idea that there was a first book in this series, so this one reads well as a standalone.  It took a few pages to understand who was who, but that wasn't a big deal.  I was hooked on this story early on and found every single free moment to read this to its conclusion in just a day or two. The story held my interest throughout and now I want to go back and read that first book in this series.
 
The Boy Who Cried Bear is an action-packed mystery set in a secluded northern location. While this mystery is sort of concluded by the final pages, I can sense there are many more stories that could come out of Haven's Rock, so I'm putting this on my favorites of 2024 and going to keep my eyes out for more in this series.  Loved it!



About the Author

Kelley Armstrong believes experience is the best teacher, though she’s been told this shouldn’t apply to writing her murder scenes. To craft her books, she has studied aikido, archery and fencing. She sucks at all of them. She has also crawled through very shallow cave systems and climbed half a mountain before chickening out. She is however an expert coffee drinker and a true connoisseur of chocolate-chip cookies.

Kelley Armstrong's social handles: 


 

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