I am disappointed there are still no killer rabbits in A Stranger in Town…or any rabbits. Nor is there bear bowling-although there are bears, oh my. In A Stranger in Town human predators take center stage and hold it they do in another Rockton tour de force.
Rockton is the little Yukon town that does not exist on any map, nor do very many people know about it. Due to some sophisticated technology, it is almost impossible to find, unless you just stumble across it. It was started more that sixty years ago as a hide-out for the idealists who were caught up in ugly governmental witch hunts. Later, much later it became the home of last resort for those who are wrongly accused, wrongly convicted, or hunted by loved one. In very recent years it seems as if the main requirement is large amounts of money, morality not required. In Rockton you can reinvent yourself. Become who or want you want. Sometimes you can even become a better person.
Staying within the confines of Rockton, unless you are being guided, is a requirement. The forest isn’t really trying to kill you, it just seems that way. There are apex predators of both the human and animal kind. Not to mention how easy it is to lose your bearings.
Casey Duncan is the town detective who was tricked into coming to Rockton, but has since fallen in love, first with the loved/hated Sheriff Eric Dalton then with both Rockton and the Yukon. Oddly enough, with a town filled with criminals her work load is fairly light, until the times it isn’t.
One day she and Eric set out from Rockton to do a bit of trading with a group of settler teenagers who are partying at a lake along with teenaged Sebastian from Rockton. They are the children and grandchildren of people who left Rockton, not wanting to return south. They have a hard life, but they did not turn into “hostiles” as the main group of forest human predators is known.
While visiting with the teens a severely injured woman comes stumbling from the forest. They get her back to Rockton and Casey’s sister saves her from her injuries. It is almost impossible to find out her story as she is Danish, until they find a new resident who knows Danish.
Casey and Eric find her campsite and two other bodies, all showing signs of murder by hostiles and animal predation.
While Casey and Eric try to discover what is behind the death of the Danish campers, two other mysteries occupy Casey; how and why did the hostiles evolve from hippie type settlement, and why are people no longer arriving in Rockton or giving extensions to stay? Casey and Eric have always said they have a plan B in case the Council who runs Rockton try to separate them, they just didn’t think it would be needed for other reasons. Nor do they really have a plan B. Now the main question, who will stand with them?
Casey’s sister, April, although a brilliant doctor and researcher is on the autism spectrum and has always gone untreated, which has also had a very negative effect on Casey. Another Rockton resident is a young sociopath who killed his parents at age ll. He is being treated, but Casey and Eric hold their breaths hoping for the best. Not having experience with either condition, it still strikes me that Armstrong handles these two characters in a knowledgeable and sensitive way.
This is world building at its best. Kelley Armstrong’s world of Rockton is just as intriguing, just as fascinating as her paranormal and fantasy worlds. Her characters and storytelling is exceptional. I can’t think of anyone who does it better. Maybe as well, but not better.
I’ve told everyone I know who is interested in books that the Rockton series is in my top six series-fluid order; and that the first book City of the Lost is in my top five favorite books, again fluid order. With A Stranger in Town Rockton #6, I find no reason to change these comments. So once again I will be hounding friends and family to start or continue with the Rockton series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Press for an ARC.

Oh, I've been eagerly waiting for this next entry in Kelley Armstrong's addictive 'Rockton' series! The sixth book is A Stranger in Town.
Quick catch-up for those of you who haven't read this series yet. (Start at the beginning with City of the Lost!) Rockton is a town that doesn't exist on any map, completely off-grid, hidden in the Yukon. The residents? They're all running from something or hiding from someone. Nobody asks too many questions. A town full of liars, thieves and criminals provides a wealth of opportunities for story telling. But even this town needs some laws - and someone to enforce them. That's where Detective Casey Duncan comes in - she was a homicide cop 'down south'. She and Sheriff Eric Dalton are partners at work - and at home.

But occasionally the anonymity of Rockton is breached. In a Stranger in Town, a Danish tourist is found outside the barrier wall of Rockton, gravely injured. What - or maybe who -attacked her? Strangers aren't welcome in Rockton though, so the sooner she's gone, the better.

Why do I love this series so much? I'm fascinated with the idea of a hidden town in the northern reaches of Canada. It's certainly a possibility. Armstrong's imagining of this is so detailed, from settings inside the walls and beyond. The outlying settlements and other wilderness dwellers have opened up so many plot lines.

The characters are just as well drawn. Casey is such a great lead - she's tough, intelligent and determined - but not perfect. I really enjoy her internal reasoning and subsequent deductions as she investigates. Her relationship with Dalton is well written. I'm not a big romance reader, but Armstrong does it well. Their relationship is believable, not 'over the top' and enhances the book, rather than being the main focus. There are many, many supporting players, each with their own secrets, strengths and weaknesses. They all have a role to play and I've come to appreciate how they add to the overall depth of the plots and the fabric of Rockton. Storm the dog, with his baleful looks and chuffing, is a favorite of mine.

The mysteries Armstrong presents are not easily solved and I quite like being kept guessing .This latest is no exception.

There's always more to want from this series. The details on the settlements and the hostiles have been slowly eked out over the previous five books. A Stranger in Town gives us answers I couldn't have imagined. And there's a satisfying resolution that closes this latest case. But, that last chapter leaves the reader - and Rockton - wondering what's next for their town and the residents. I cannot wait for the next entry! Armstrong's work is just so, so...well, so readable! And addictive.

A Stranger in Town is the Sixth installment in author Kelly Armstrong's Rockton series. In this story, Detective Casey Duncan and Sheriff Eric Dalton will have to solve multiple mysteries while also trying to figure out how to save Rockton's future. As the story opens, Casey and Eric are out in the forest on a training exercise with their dog Scout. After catching up with some teens from the First Settlement and asking questions about former residents of Rockton who have apparently reverted back to a primal instinct, Casey encounters a woman who staggers out of the forest barefoot and bloody and with horrific injuries.

It's obvious that the woman been attacked but by what or whom? It's obvious that she's an outsider and not one of the Settlements by how she’s dressed. But where did she come from? The next problem is that she doesn't speak English which is required in Rockton. She speaks a language that no one recognizes. Luckily, a new resident just happens to speak Dutch and he is able to get her name. But Casey doesn’t have a good feeling about any of this. She’s got pretty good instincts when it comes to her spidey senses. When she and Eric do more searching, they find more bodies which makes Casey even more nervous that the Hostiles have finally decided to target the town.

To top off Casey's day, a woman named Emelie, one of the original founders of Rockton, decides to pay Rockton a visit. The Council has made it known that they don’t consider the Hostiles to be a threat but Emelie may know more than she can say. In fact, she may be the one person Casey can finally get her questions answered. It will be up to Casey to uncover the truth from the hyperbole. Casey has been pondering the reluctance of the council to admit to the problem of the hostiles, and as things go from bad to worse, Casey becomes more certain that the council is responsible for the hostiles, not simply for wanting to avoid doing anything about them.

Things are changing in Rockton. Residents who once had two years before they had to return to their former life’s, are being denied extensions to remain in Rockton. Rockton, it seems, is in trouble of being closed down because of the number of strangers who have been showing up in Rockton uninvited. Casey and Dalton have been trying to unravel the mystery behind the origination of the hostiles and how they ended up so far gone to the point where violence against Rockton and its residents is a given. If they can solve the mystery, maybe they can save the town.

When you understand that this story takes place over the course of several days, you can believe that Casey and Eric are burning themselves out. Casey's relationship with her sister April is explored in more depth and we see Casey come to understand her better and reevaluate their relationship. It is fair to say that this story foreshadows what to come next. Casey and Eric's relationship remains strong and they make a great team, personally and professionally. The most curious character, again, is Sebastian. Even though I don’t trust the boy, his character growth is remarkable. It is even possible that he’s made a friend from the First Settlement. I do believe that every single major character who has appeared in this series shows up in this book. From Isabel, to Will, to Matthias, to Diana, to Phil. Each plays some minor part in what happens during the story.

Casey and Eric find dead tourists in the woods who look like they have been attacked. When one of that group is found alive they take her back to Rockton but have to restrain her because she is totally out of her mind hallucinating and speaking a foreign language. As the law in their small town Casey and her boyfriend Sheriff need to find out who did this and if those people will be threatening their town.

I have read every one of the novels in this series and A Stranger in Town does a great job of answering some of the many questions that readers have had about these characters and the city they live in. How did Rockton get started? Who is the “council”? How did the separate colonies split off? How did one of them go crazy? I’m not going to spoil the novel by telling you any of these answers but I will say that there were a couple of surprises and the answers are definitely worth reading.

I have enjoyed reading about these characters and watching the evolution of their relationships with each other. When Casey’s sister April became the doctor in Rockton and all of their past ill feelings towards each other was brought to light I loved how reading Casey’s inner conflict and watching her struggle to read an exchange with her sister with the knowledge she now has as an adult is fascinating. I really like how they are using this experience in being in this small town of 100-150 people to really repair their relationship. Another relationship that has kept going through an evolution is the one between Casey and her boyfriend Eric. They are most definitely in love, but that has not kept them from hurting each other by seeing situations through their past individual experiences. Of course we all do that but in their case, Eric was raised in Rockton from a small child, and Casey’s experiences are from outside. Those differences have crafted their personalities and in this novel we see them actively dis-engaging from those experiences to treat each other in a more healthy manner.

The mystery in this novel was intricate, fun, kind of gross, and turned everyone on their heads. The best kind of mystery, right? So why do I get the feeling this author might be finished with this series? I can only hope I’m wrong because i’m not done with these characters, I’d really like to see them go through another evolution perhaps raising a family or a litter of puppies.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest.

A Stranger in Town: A Rockton Novel
By Kelley Armstrong
Minotaur Books
February 2021

Review by Cynthia Chow

People come to the Yukon town of Rockton to escape from the world. They pay a lot to live off of the grid, away from the Internet, electricity, and modern conveniences. It’s a sacrifice they’re willing to make in order to disappear from the modern world and hide from their pasts, violent threats, or the authorities. Detective Casey Duncan and her partner Sheriff Eric Dalton are in charge of these “non-violent” residents, who have temporary stays within the small community. It’s a population that seems to be growing smaller as fewer are granted extensions, but it’s a new unexpected guest who is throwing their strictly controlled society off track. While hiking with her Newfoundland pup and self-improving sociopath Sebastian, Casey comes across a critically wounded, delusional, non-English-speaking woman. After several attempts to communicate they discover than the strange woman is speaking Danish, but more alarming is when they learn that she was not alone in the woods. As Casey and Dalton must determine whether they need to recover bodies or search for survivors, politics controlling Rockton threaten to complicate their survival as much as the Hostiles preying on them nearby.

Since Casey came to Rockton two years ago, she has learned more about the other factions that branched off from the original town. The first two settlements were those who refused to return to modern society when the rules had them outstaying their residencies, with their members becoming off-the-grid communes of foragers and hunters. The other far more deadly offshoot became the Hostiles, Rockton residents who regressed to a primal, near-feral state. Both helping and complicating Rockton’s functioning has been the arrival of Casey’s own sister April, a genius-level doctor only recently diagnosed as being on the spectrum. Casey and April are still navigating through a lifetime of hurt feelings, misinterpreted reactions, and resentments, but they are unable to deny the value they each bring to Rockton. Dalton still has his own recovered past memories to deal with, having himself learned that the stories of being “rescued” as a child from Hostiles were less than true.

This 6th in the series continues to build on the extraordinary town of Rockton that feels like a real-life version of a cultural anthropology and sociological experiment. Through the years the town has developed an infrastructure based on trade that includes one licensed brothel, while assigned chores and duties have them both contributing to operations and occupied. As Rockton’s only law enforcement Dalton and Casey have become judge and jurors, which initially made Casey uncomfortable but practicality and their limited size made effective. The arrival of their council liaison has changed town dynamics greatly, making what was once a disapproving representative of authority far more sympathetic to their viewpoints and often complicit in their actions. Woven into the town dynamics is the mystery of the Danish tourist, who may not be as innocent as she seems. The balance between the exploration of Rockton’s interactions amongst themselves, the nearby settlements, and the intrusion of murder deftly keeps the pace moving along swiftly as everything is gradually revealed. Without Internet, running on generators and solar power, and constantly at the mercy of the Yukon’s brutal wilderness, Rockton comes alive as a fully realized town where the threats come as much as from its residents as from its wild borders. The traits that allow them to calmly but quickly react as law enforcement officers – namely Casey’s wry humor and Dalton’s deadpan observations - also make them as perfect for one another as a couple. They will need the support of one another and all of their investigative skills as they together maintain order and protect their adopted hometown.

A Stranger in Town is the sixth book in Kelley Armstrong's unsettling and intriguing Rockton series. I highly recommend reading this series in order. I admit I have not; I started this series with book five. Am I lost having missed the first ones? Heck, yes! I feel I have missed very important background information on all the characters. Yet I loved Rockton so much after reading the previous book that I could not wait to go back to visit!

Detective Casey Duncan and Sheriff Eric Dalton live in the hidden town of Rockton, an off-the-grid settlement in the Yukon. Fewer new residents are appearing, and those current residents who request extensions to stay there are being denied. Casey thinks something's amiss, but then a sudden distraction hits the town: a severely injured hiker, a stranger to Rockton, bursts from the woods. Who was she, and why was she in the area? It's believed she was attacked by hostiles - a group of vicious, almost animalistic outcasts. When Casey and Eric finds the hiker's companions, things become much more serious. An old member of the Rockton council also shows up...just what is happening to their home? Hopefully they'll live long enough to find out.

This was a humdinger of a story! As much as I loved it, I really think it would have been off-the-charts fantastic if I knew more of the backgrounds of this weird little town and its inhabitants, especially Casey and Eric. Oh, and Storm, Casey's huge beast of a Newfoundland pup. She had as much personality as the humans in Rockton! Casey and Eric were an incredible couple; they made an odd sort of family with the other residents, all of whom seem to have different reasons for being in this hidden place. I loved the interactions between Eric and Casey; they cared about the others, but all they really needed was each other. There was much intrigue and action here, with the Rockton residents and its council, the hikers, settlers, hostiles and even a big pharmaceutical company all in the mix. Things were a bit murky for me trying to keep track of all the various groups and whom belonged to which group. But I didn't care. I just went along for the exciting ride, and I can't wait to go back and visit this odd little place hidden in the Yukon again!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

If you mix the Wild West with a social experiment, add a couple hot law enforcers, sprinkle with dead bodies and serve in a town hidden in the middle of the Yukon Wilderness, you get the Rockton Series. An off-site “Council” makes the rules and controls the purse strings. No less than three uneasy or downright hostile factions surround the little town of Rockton in the middle of nowhere. There’s the hot, but grouchy, sheriff who uses the f-word as a noun, verb and adjective, and his equally hot detective girlfriend who has a kickass dog. It’s a thoroughly entertaining series.

The sixth book in the series, A Stranger In Town, starts out strong when Dalton and Casey find a wounded woman in the forest. Bleeding from knife wounds, the woman speaks no English and is unable tell them what happened. Suspecting the hostiles, the wild people who are a constant thorn in their sides, Dalton and Casey begin a long, very involved, sometimes convoluted, search for her attacker, or attackers.

The story became overloaded with characters, dead bodies, storylines, and an info dump. The author brought in almost every First Settlement/Second Settlement character from the first five books, reminding us that every character living outside Rockton does have some earlier life connection to the little town. We learn how, and why, the hostiles became so wild and erratic. And then we finally learn who attacked the stranger but at that time I was power skimming. (Did we ever learn who was missing a foot? I think I missed that part.) As much as I love this series, I was able to put this one down for almost a week in order to read another book, something I just don’t do.

Not the strongest in the series but I’m not dropping Rockton. It’s too entertaining.

(Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review)

So I need to start this review by saying: I have not read any other Rockton novels! This is my first one and it's the 6th in the series, so obviously, this has affected my opinion of the book. The mystery starts and ends in the book though so technically it can be read without reading the previous books in the series, but after trying this myself I do not recommend it. Kelley Armstrong is one of my all-time favorite authors so believe me when I say it is very difficult for me to give her anything less than 5 stars.

It took me some time to figure out what Rockton was all about, and who the various characters were, but once I did, I found myself enjoying the book more. It definitely wasn't a "can't put it down" book, it took me about a week to get through. Even aside from the characters that I know are in previous books, I felt like the addition of so many new characters was difficult to follow. There were the tourists, the hostiles, the different settler groups, the discussion of scientists from back in the day, the newcomer, etc. It was just a lot to sort through and I felt like trying to keep up with who was who made the book less enjoyable and a bit tedious.

I love the idea of Rockton - from what I gather, it is a tiny little community for those who have nowhere else to go. Those who have been caught up in political messes, those who are abused/hunted by people in their lives, those who are wrongfully convicted, etc. This is such a great concept! In this book, however, it seems that those who want to be a part of this community must have a lot of money to donate to be allowed entry.

I really enjoyed Casey and Dalton. Their relationship was fantastic - supportive, great communication, no toxic traits anywhere to be seen! I liked reading the book from Casey's perspective.

Then comes the plot of this book. So I have heard many, many times that the Rockton series is superb. I've read some fantastic reviews and have always been excited to get to it one day. I'm hoping that it's just this book, but I didn't absolutely love the storyline here. The mystery was alright, and I did enjoy the different twists and turns that it took, but I just didn't... love it. I went through this book with a kind of "meh" feeling. Again, I hate saying this because I LOVE Kelley Armstrong (adult and young adult series) but this just wasn't what I have come to expect from her. The book felt kind of long and drawn out, and then at the end, it was like all of a sudden a bunch of things happened, and bam! it was solved.

Perhaps it's the addition of so many new characters to keep track of, or the fact that it technically wasn't just one mystery, but 2-3 somewhat connected ones. It just seemed a bit cluttered and messy. That being said, the aspects that I did enjoy have made me decide to start at the beginning and give the other books in this series a try. And if the series continues after this book (which I believe it does), I will be giving it a shot!

Another excellent installment in Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series. I really enjoyed her Cainsville urban fantasy series and picked up the first two books in this one, City of the Lost and A Darkness Absolute. I was hooked! its about a very small town hidden in the Yukon wilderness where people can go to hide out from the law, the mod, an abusive partner, etc.

I say it every year but I love the lead character in this series! Casey is strong, level-headed and doesn’t take herself too seriously. Her amazing and supportive boyfriend/boss/sheriff/tough guy-total softie, Dalton, is an excellent character and i love him too. But Casey's definitely the star of this show and she’s earned it! The mysteries and tragedies that befall the residents of Rockton are always fascinating but it’s really Casey I come back for each time. :)

This story involves a new resident in town and some outsiders who need help. Casey and Dalton are on the case. Armstrong has been building an overarching mystery about the town itself and A Stranger in Town takes more steps in revealing whats actually going on.

I believe new readers could pick this up and enjoy it-youll likely want to go back and read them all! Long time readers will enjoy the current mystery as well as the new developments on Rockton itself.

Highly recommend!

Trouble always seems to find Detective Casey Duncan and her boyfriend and boss Sheriff Eric Dalton, particularly when they’re off-piste, looking for some R&R in the wilderness surrounding Rockton. For readers who are new to Rockton, a thumbnail explanation—

First, let me explain Rockton to those new to the series: it’s a small, isolated town in the Yukon wilderness, built decades ago as a haven for those running from their pasts. It’s completely off the grid, with no electricity, no Internet, no cell phones, and not even postal mail. Prospective residents are heavily vetted by a shadowy council who serves as Rockton’s only channel to modern life. No one gets in or out without the council’s permission.

Kelley Armstrong unveils the wonders of the Yukon in a compelling way. Dawson City, the town a few privileged citizens of Rockton visit occasionally for supplies, is familiar to me. I lived there as a child and came back in the summer of 2016 for the 125th celebration of the Dawson City Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation. Dawson City is a protected Klondike National Historic Site i.e., it’s very much visually as it was a century ago. On Casey and Eric’s recent supply run, they overhear a “Germanic speaker wearing overpriced outdoor gear.” Casey recalls the moment.

My memory shuffles through images and stops at one from today’s supply run. We’d been walking along the wooden sidewalks of Dawson City. It’s so quiet at this time of year that it reminds me of a Wild West town at high noon, and I half expect tumbleweeds rolling down the dirt roads. When we did hear voices, they rang as loud as church bells. It’d been a quartet speaking in a Germanic language, all dressed in expensive outdoor wear as they prepared for a trip to Tombstone Park.



“Guess we didn’t beat tourist season after all,” I’d said to Dalton.

Rockton, “a haven for those running from their pasts,” caps its population at around two hundred people. Lately, it has seemed to Detective Casey Duncan that the mysterious town council is applying those guidelines more draconically than ever. She wonders why fewer and fewer newcomers are allowed into Rockton, and even more puzzling, why no extensions are being given to folks who are living there. Eric is more sanguine about the ebb and flow of people but it’s in Casey’s nature to be suspicious.

When Casey and Eric are about an hour away from Rockton, relaxing in the forest with their marvelous Newfoundland dog Storm and a few friends, a strange woman erupts from the woods. She’s hysterical, injured, and most unusually, barefoot. She doesn’t speak English.

I glance at the bloody bandage around her waist. It’s crimson now, fresh blood seeping through. I move up the woman’s side.



The bandage is only roughly tucked in, a haphazard job. As others hold the woman still, I unravel the dressing, blocking out her screams and curses. I don’t even have it halfway open before the smell hits me.



“What is that?” Sebastian says, hand flying to his nose.



Rotting flesh.



Infection.



I wheel to Sebastian. “Get April. Now.”

April is Rockton’s doctor and Casey’s older sister. The council disapproves of anyone entering Rockton’s perimeter without their permission, but Casey makes a split-second decision to treat the stranger in the town. It helps that she doesn’t speak English because the townspeople will be both alarmed and intrigued to have a stranger in their midst. It turns out the woman is Danish—interestingly, a newcomer to Rockton speaks Danish and attempts to translate. What happened to her? Who injured her? Casey and Eric make the horrific discovery of two, maybe three mutilated bodies in the wilderness. They conclude that the stranger was part of the Germanic-speaking quartet they spotted in Dawson City. Were they tourists, looking for an unusual off-the-grid adventure in the Yukon, or was their presence somehow connected to Rockton? The story gets more and more complicated and no answers are easily forthcoming.

The vicissitudes of the natural world are never to be ignored either. A stand-off between Casey and the Momma Bear is worthy of a Viking Saga Song. Casey inadvertently gets between a grizzly and her cubs—fortunately for the outcome, the bear is more curious than hungry. It’s an intense, cinematic scene.

There is a bear standing over my head, looking down, face barely a foot over mine. Not the juvenile who’d knocked me down. Its mother.



A growl off to my side. One that has the mother bear’s head jerking up, and a moment of sheer relief that vanishes when I see what she’s looking at. Storm facing off with the young bear that tripped me.

Casey gets Eric to call off their protective dog and all’s well that ends well but it’s unforgettable. Imagine being in Casey’s position: “I listen to the sound of her breathing. I inhale the musky scent of her. I feel her hot breath on my face.”

Readers need to remember that no one inside or outside Rockton is to be taken at face value. Everyone has a backstory that very few people are privy to. Casey suspects that the mysterious stranger in town is not a foreign tourist and that she is not who she purports to be. Casey uses the “analogy of the internet.”

On it, you can present whatever version of yourself you choose. While you can be a better person online—kinder and wittier and more open-minded than you are in real life—it’s easier to be your worst self, freed from expectations.

Hovering over every step forward Casey and Eric make in their quest to solve the mystery in their midst, is the omniscient and taciturn council. Casey wonders frequently if the council has a vision for the future (or not) of Rockton that it hasn’t shared with the residents. If Casey is correct, Rockton #7 may take an unexpected turn into an unknown future.

A Stranger in Town by Kelley Armstrong (Rockton #6) 3.5 stars

This is an ongoing series about the town of Rockton and its inhabitants. Casey, the main character arrives in Rockton with her friend Diana in the first book. The town of Rockton is located in the Yukon Territory, Canada - a mysterious town not located in any maps. It is a town established by the mysterious :"Council" to house people that can pay for the privilege of "disappearing". Casey and her boyfriend, Eric the town sheriff are visiting some people outside the town boundaries, when a woman stumbles out of the woods - wounded and feverish, her identity is a mystery that leads to other clues on a long running question in the last few books. Who is the woman and what is her connection to the the town of Rockton?

This is a series where you have to invest the time to read every entry or you will be lost in the "woods". Every entry advances the story and the relationships of the major characters. - new characters are introduced at various times. Not every book is a winner and this entry was lukewarm for me. I enjoyed the interaction between characters, but the plot was a bit slow at times. I hope that this is a setup for more action in the next book.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC.

Detective Casey Duncan has noticed fewer and fewer residents coming in to the hidden town of Rockton, and no extensions being granted. Her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, presumes it’s the natural flux of things, but Casey’s not so sure. Something bigger is happening in the small town they call home.
I had a hard time getting into this book. Maybe because I didn't read the other books in the series.
Casey and Eric must now race to save the town that has allowed residents to have a fresh start, away from the mistakes of their past, while also getting to the bottom of this latest attack.
I felt that there were lot of characters and groups that had me scratching my head. So like I said it might be because I didn't read the other books.
There are settlers and Hostils. Who is with who had me confused. And why they are the way they are.
Thank you to NetGalley for letting me review this.

This review contains a small spoiler.

I am a big fan of Kelley Armstrong. I prefer her YA's but A Stranger in Town is a great addition to the Rockton series. I enjoyed the mystery, characters, and conspiracy in this volume. It was great reading about so many strong female characters, who's chemistry doesn't feel forced or too much. I also enjoyed how Casey and Eric's dream is consistently reoccurring and therefore not a random thought to the rest of plot.

My only gripe about the book is that two characters get kidnapped randomly in the middle of the book. They then pop up later as an after thought after the crimes have been solved to quickly rap up the book. I would have preferred a longer book with the two characters being found than a quick "Oh, btw, we saved those two characters we talked about earlier. It's all cool now."

All in all, if your a fan of Kelley Armstrong or wilderness mysteries, you will enjoy this book.


Netgalley gave me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic read as always! Rockton is a fascinating place to visit (sincerely do not want to live there). The story continues with Casey and Eric finding a stranger and a body or two, and trying to figure out what happened. New people are introduced, new mysteries are to be solved, And one very old mystery is solved by our intrepid detective.

I love the characters in this series. They are what keep me coming back. Eric and Casey are perfection. The secondary characters always help to move the plot along. The descriptions of the land and the people are well thought out. The only issue I had was that it ended and I know I won't have a new story for about a year.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.

The discovery of a horribly wounded hiker in the woods leads to the unraveling of a long held secret about Rockton and the settlements outside it. This one is definitely for those who have read the series; while it would be possible to enjoy it as a standalone, there's so much unexplained backstory that the value of what Casey figures out might not mean as much to the new reader. And that's the key- Rockton, a concealed settlement deep in the Yukon, has long dealt with the First and Second Settlements of those who left Rockton, as well as those known as the hostiles, people who have gone feral. Now, though, when the hiker stumbles in, Casey and Eric realize she would not have been alone and go hunting for her companions. They find much more. Then one of the board of Rockton flies in and things get more complicated. I love this series for the world building of Rockton, the characters (I'm especially fond of Casey's sister April), and the complicated plot that has spooled out over the books. The villain here was a surprise (although it's a currently popular one). What happens next? Thanks to the publisher for the ARC, The storytelling is good, it's complex, and it's a real page turner. A terrific addition to the series.

Set in the Yukon, Rockton is a small town with a population that is dwindling, although we don't know why until much later. It is never easy to read a book that has had several installments and this is the first one you read. There are many people introduced and it was hard to follow. The plot was odd, several people not from Rockton, are discovered murdered by "hostiles" but are found to have been shot first and then stabbed repeatedly to cover the shooting. I can't really relate to a town of people with dangerous secrets are hidden and allowed to get away from their mistakes in order to have a fresh start. I would say start with the first and if you enjoy it read on otherwise this is not a storyline that makes sense.

I loved this book! I am a huge fan of this series so I went into this book with rather high expectations and I am happy to report that they were all met. I was so excited to check in with Casey, Eric, and the rest of the Rockton residents and to find out what their next adventure would be. This was a book that I didn't want to put down once I started reading. I had a fantastic time with this book!

Casey and Eric encounter a wounded woman in the woods who is in very bad shape. It looks like the rest of her party has died and they are not sure what might have happened to the woman they are caring for in town. Rockton soon receives an important visitor, who brings a few answers but a lot more questions. Casey and Eric need to figure out what happened to the woman and what is going on with their town.

This book kept me guessing! There was a lot of excitement in this story and the mystery element was very well done. It was so good to finally get some answers to some of the bigger mysteries surrounding the town of Rockton. I wasn't sure how everything would be connected but I loved that we saw so many characters and elements from previous books play a role in this installment.

I would highly recommend this series to others! I do think that this is a series that is best when read in order since each book builds on the events from previous installments. I had a great time with this page-turner and believe that readers will find this to be a book filled with great characters and a nicely plotted mystery. I cannot wait to find out what will happen next in Rockton!

I received a digital review copy of this book from St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books via NetGalley.

Wow, this was intense, with a lot happening. There's actually more than one stranger in town and all of them are bad news in one way or another. Casey and Eric are trying to solve multiple mysteries while also trying to figure out Rockton's future. Each book in the series gives us more information about Rockton; how it was founded, who founded it, and its residents past and present. This one pulls together threads from earlier books and wraps up most of them, though Rockton's future is in doubt at the end of the story and I am curious to see where Armstrong takes this in the next book.

Casey uncovers extensive information about Rockton's founding and the subsequent splinter groups. At times the information was overwhelming and I had to backtrack to keep track of it all. The story itself got confusing at times and there were a lot of people to keep track of. Despite that, I was fascinated and the story was engaging. It was hard to put down. It was interesting to see which of my theories, and which of Casey's, were wrong and which were right.

I love the relationships Armstrong has developed; relationships and characterizations are some of her strengths as a writer. Casey's relationship with her sister April is explored in more depth and we see Casey come to understand her better and reevaluate their relationship. Casey and Eric's relationship remains strong and they make a great team, personally and professionally. All of the characters are well developed and continue to grow and change.

"A Stranger in Town" was twisty, full of surprises, and more than enough action to satisfy anyone. If you are new to the series, don't start here. The books should really be read in order and they are worth reading.

I've really enjoyed binging on this series to catch up - and now that I am all caught up, I certainly don't want to wait a whole year for the next installment! The mystery of the hostile, feral folk in the woods - a thread introduced five books earlier! It's the main focus of this one. It opens six months after the conclusion of the fifth book with all familiar faces until a barefooted stranger stumbles into their path, apparently attacked by the wild people in the woods. More bodies pile up and there's definitely more than one stranger in isolated Rockton here.

As fast-paced as the rest of the series, once again I had a hard time setting this one down for any reason at all! Based on the previous book, I had thought that this one would deal more with Dalton's past, but it wasn't at all - so maybe that will be the focus of the seventh book. Although the council continues to present an ongoing problem, so perhaps that will be the next turn for the series? But, this one is certainly entertaining - plus there's the first real grizzly encounter, great dialogue and more of the characters that I've grown to love so much. I genuinely can't wait for the next book - Armstrong is such a talented author!

I love this series but almost gave up on this book. A slow monotonous start that did not pick-up speed until the last third, and then I couldn’t get to the end fast enough.

Things are changing in Rockton, subtle changes, but Det. Casey Duncan and her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, will figure it out - they always do. But first, they must deal with a hiker that has stumbled out of the forest with an infected wound, possible head injury, bare feet, and incoherent babbling in an unfamiliar language. Coincidentally, a Nordic studies professor has just moved to Rockton and begins to translate a farfetched story of a wild man and that her three companions are missing.

Sounding like a description of the local hostiles, Casey and Eric set out to find what has riled up the locals only to discover that the backstory of Rockton goes deeper than they thought. Once the narrative gets going, Kelley Armstrong weaves a deep tail of duplicity, experimentation, and the possible downfall of the sanctuary they call home.

To understand the interaction of all the characters, this is a series best started from the beginning. There is odd humor, and each book has you liking some more than others. I do have to admit, April and Sebastian are turning into the most fascinating facets of Rockton, with Mathias finishing out the group. As I said, a slog of a start, but stick with it -- the ending leaves you with more questions and a profound wonder of where they will go next.