A Darkness Absolute by Kelley Armstrong
Narrator: Therese Plummer
Series: Rockton #2
Published on: February 7, 2017
Genres: Suspense
Length: 13 hours and 39 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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The follow-up to #1 NYT bestseller Kelley Armstrong’s acclaimed City of the Lost, Rockton town detective Casey Duncan makes a terrible—and dangerous—discovery in the woods outside of town.
When experienced homicide detective Casey Duncan first moved to the secret town of Rockton, she expected a safe haven for people like her, people running from their past misdeeds and past lives. She knew living in Rockton meant living off-the-grid completely: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council’s approval. What she didn’t expect is that Rockton comes with its own set of secrets and dangers.
Now, in A Darkness Absolute, Casey and her fellow Rockton sheriff’s deputy Will chase a cabin-fevered resident into the woods, where they are stranded in a blizzard. Taking shelter in a cave, they discover a former resident who’s been held captive for over a year. When the bodies of two other women turn up, Casey and her colleagues must find out if it’s an outsider behind the killings or if the answer is more complicated than that...before another victim goes missing.
Casey Duncan returns in another heart-racing thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.
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After finishing City of the Lost, I was very excited to get back into the world of Rockton. This book takes place not long after the end of the first book. Casey and Will Anders, the other deputy in the small, secretive town, are out looking for a man who fled. Her boss and lover, Sheriff Eric Dalton is out of town on a supply run, so Casey and Will go out looking for them. That is until a blizzard hits. Then they must find shelter.
While hiding out in a cave, they start to hear another person. While searching, they find a woman in a hole. It is a small hole, so small that she can’t lay flat out. This girl, Nicole Chavez, had been missing for over a year. They had found a body wearing her clothes, so she was presumed dead.
So now, Casey, Will and Eric must find out who put her in that hole. They also have to find the missing man. So they decide to enlist the help of the town butcher, who in his real life was psychiatrist who studied psychopaths, sociopaths and people with antisocial personality disorder. While he has a medical degree and a psychology degree, he pretty much refuses to use either, if he can help it. He is willing to talk with Casey about a few things, but refuses to do treatment. Since the brothel owner is a former psychologist, he feels that she should be the one to treat this girl.
I won’t go into much detail, because this whole book is full of spoilery type of things. Just know that Kelley Armstrong really pushes boundaries with this story. There are some really tough subjects that are discussed, but she doesn’t go into any real detail. I loved the addition of Mathias, the butcher/psychiatrist. I really hope to see more of him in the third book.
This book keeps you guessing all the way until the end. If you enjoyed book one, then you will love book two. I would recommend reading book one first. There are parts about the town that are learned in book one that will help you to understand this book.
Narration
Thérèse Plummer continues to nail the narration. There is a lot of French in this book (that is how she got in good with Mathias, who is French and Casey learned it in school, as a good Canadian). I felt she did a really good job with the French (though I will admit that I have no idea if she pronounced stuff correctly or not, but sounded good to me 🙂 ).
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I’m Melanie and I live in Ohio. I have two horses and a dog. I’m an animal lover, avid book reader and audiobook listener. I like to live vicariously through fictional characters. I enjoy reading and listening to mostly fictional books in the paranormal genre, including Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Horror. My favorite paranormal creatures are shifters, doesn’t matter the flavor.
I think I’m going to give this series try at some point in 2018. Great review.
Jennifer recently posted…Closing Time . . .
It is a great suspense story. He also has the great characters that Kelley Armstrong has in all of her series.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Haunted Blade by J.C. Daniels (@mlsimmons)
I really want to try this series. I’ve got the first one from the library, a few times and just need to get to it! It always sounds so good when I read about it. Enjoyed the review! Anne
Northwoman recently posted…2017 Library Love Challenge Wrap Up
If you like a suspense story, this is great. Plus, Kelley Armstrong. 🙂
Melanie recently posted…Review: Haunted Blade by J.C. Daniels (@mlsimmons)
So the audiobook just checked itself out to me from the library yesterday so hopefully I can get to it in the next couple weeks, Anne
Northwoman recently posted…Happy New Year! Happy New Blog!
It’s funny how much I really like this series. I love that it keeps me guessing and I love the weird quirky town. A lot of the citizens have really grown on me. I think you will really like book three as well.
kindlemom1 recently posted…Best of 2017 in Mysteries and Thrillers!
The citizens have grown on me too. I’m excited for the third book, but I will wait for the audiobook.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Haunted Blade by J.C. Daniels (@mlsimmons)
Oh yes, this is a series I definitely want to read. The isolated, secretive setting of the town and its characters really has me curious.
I’ve listened to a mystery Theresa Plummer did once and I thought she did great with the southern accents. Huh, guess she’s pretty flexible since she did great French Canadian, too.
Sophia Rose recently posted…The Book Report December 2017
I think you would enjoy this series. I hope you get a chance to try it.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Haunted Blade by J.C. Daniels (@mlsimmons)
I read a couple of her books a long time ago but haven’t read anything by her for quite some time. I should probably give her another try.
Mary Kirkland recently posted…Happy Raturday!
I really love Kelley Armstrong. I really enjoyed her Women of the Otherworld series, which more Urban Fantasy/PNR. I even like her two YA series set in that same world. Nadia Stafford is great too, it is a straight human suspense, which I really enjoyed. I do need to get more of her series.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Haunted Blade by J.C. Daniels (@mlsimmons)
It really has been ages since I read a book by her
blodeuedd recently posted…The rogue is back in town – Anna Bennett
I really love her work. I need to read more of it. I’ve gotten behind these last few years.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Haunted Blade by J.C. Daniels (@mlsimmons)
I really need to try a good mystery. This series sounds like it might be something I would like. I love Kelley Armstrong’s writing, so I’m already ahead there!
She is great with suspense/mysteries too. I hope you get a chance to try this.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Haunted Blade by J.C. Daniels (@mlsimmons)
Can you believe that I still haven’t read this one? I loved book 1 so I would’ve figured I would read book 2 soon after release, but still haven’t managed to get around to reading it. Good to know there isn’t too much detail about the tough subjects, I love Kelley’s writing, but the first book already pushed the boundary of how dark I can stomach my books. Mathias does sound like a great character. And it sounds like a great sequel. I hope I can get around to reading it this year.
Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #264
This one is darker than book one, but it is a great story. I hope you get around to reading it soon.
Melanie recently posted…Review: When A Lioness Growls by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
I just finished the Darkest Hours trilogy so am looking for a new Kelley Armstrong series to get into.
This sounds great.
Thanks for the review,
I really enjoyed that series too. You could also try Women of the Otherworld. It is set in the same world as Darkest Hours/Darkest Powers trilogies, but with adults. The first book is just werewolves, but she adds other supernaturals in the second book. It is a fun series. I love pretty much everything she’s written.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines (@mlsimmons, @JimCHines)
I loved this book when I read it last year. I am really looking forward to starting the third book very soon. I wondered how the narration was for this series. This is a series that I could see myself wanting to revisit and it sounds like audio may be the way to go. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m waiting for the audio, but I’m excited for book three too. I love Therese Plummer. I’ve listened to a few things with her in the past. I would highly recommend revisiting on audio.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines (@mlsimmons, @JimCHines)