Back in 2010, I went to a function at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena that was part of a tour called the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour. It was a panel discussion/book signing with a number of speculative fiction authors, including Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, Melissa De La Cruz, Kami Garcia, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Mary Pearson, Margaret Stohl, and Rachel Vincent.
At the time, one of my freelance gigs was proofreading for Locus Magazine, and they let me know about this event and wondered if I would be available to hang out and take photos and maybe ask questions and forward same to them. Of course I said yes, and even after several long bus rides there and back again, it was worth it.
Rachel Vincent was the only author in this group that I was familiar with at the time, but after the discussions and the question and answer period, I swore I would find the books these women had written and delve into them. They seemed to be a fun bunch of people, and the few moments that I was able to talk to some of them I was struck by their coolness, as well as their "funness" and sincerity factors.
Well, I did delve into some of their books at the time, or short stories that I happened to read in anthologies, but then I got distracted, life happened, and keeping track of these ladies kind of fell by the wayside.
Fast forward to the pandemic and my recent love affair with the audiobook. I'm trying to find a cool new book to listen to on Libby, and I feel like I've made some bad choices. Nothing is pulling me in. And then I see this cool cover, with an intriguing description, by Kelley Armstrong. The name made me stop. I haven't been paying attention to urban fantasy writers (other than old faves like Neil Gaiman) for a while now, but I knew the name so I stopped. I looked up the book, the author, and then I remembered what I learned about the author at this event, how I had enjoyed hearing her stories on stage. So, I check it out and begin listening and fall in love.
Told in first person, mostly present tense, Detective Casey Duncan, the main character, is reminiscent of Detective Benson of Law & Order: SVU. She's tough, with a marred interior. She's made mistakes, but she tries to be a good person. She's got some issues (introduced early on, mostly), but tries to make sure they don't get in the way of doing her job. Of Asian descent and with parents and a sibling who are all uber-smart and have gone into medicine, she's the outlier who has wanted to go into law enforcement ever since she was a teenager. A born rebel.
In the middle of trying to be a good person and help her best friend Diana flee an ex-boyfriend (and get herself out of a bad situation as well), she follows up on a suggestion by Diana to move to a small town in the Yukon that does not officially exist. It's a place where people can go to hide out, or disappear, for anywhere from two to five years, or longer, sometimes. They have to apply to be accepted; show that they have a real reason to fear for their lives. They also need to come up with the fee to get in, or have a vital skill to trade in return for living in this "haven," Rockton. We learn that the town, population about 200, is in the middle of the woods, somewhere outside Dawson City, and so isolated that if you disappear into those woods, you're either dead, or end up becoming one of the wild folk, "settlers" or "hostiles." There is no internet, no cell phones or computers, no mail, no contact with the outside world, no TV signals (though one character does admit to having DVDs and a DVD player and screen), no currency (just "credits"), and little electricity. Only essential services, like the infirmary, have access to generators. Most people in the town have to learn to live with wood stoves and oil lamps. Supplies are grown, caught (as in game hunting) or flown in, and at a premium. Recycling is a necessity. All residents are between the ages of 18 and 60. There is no mayor or town council, however there is a shadowy council "down south" that makes decisions on who is allowed in and also decides on punishments when crimes are more than the average bar brawl. The "law" is a sheriff, Eric Dalton, and his deputy, Will Anders. And now, a detective, Casey Duncan (now Butler).
And that's another thing. Almost everyone in town has a new name, not the name they had in the "real world." And while they might tell you they came to escape an abusive relationship or because they were being wrongfully accused of something, the backgrounds of these residents are shadowy, iffy, nebulous, and shifty. So, when some of the residents get murdered, Dalton, Anders, and Butler have to figure out who's stories they can trust, and who's lying. Nothing is as it seems.
It's an intriguing concept, this life of isolation and escape from the "real world." And again, while this isn't a scifi/fantasy story, it definitely has an alternative speculative feel that puts ii smack dab into genre territory. The spooky woods aspect, with the dangerous "settlers" and "hostiles," mixed with the mysterious person behind the murders, is what gives it the Twin Peaks feel, while the characters seem be, well, real characters. They reminded me of characters from Firefly. The sheriff is an asshole, kind of like a mix of "Capt. Mal," and "Jayne Cobb," while his deputy is the "nice guy," more like "Wash." Diana is like a teenager set loose on the bar scene for the first time, and seems to lose it at the drop of a hat. (I don't know who to compare her to because every time she struck out at someone — verbally, that is — I wanted to beat her about the head and shoulders.) Some of the others seem to be "normal," but in this town, you don't know, do you? One of the women, Isabelle, has the feel of "Nandi" from the "Heart of Gold" episode on Firefly.
The narrator, Plummer, is excellent. She gives Casey's voice a throaty, earthy feel, and creates distinct voices for each of the other characters as well (not all narrators do that). I felt comfortable listening to this at a 1.10 speed, although it probably would have been fine at a regular speed (I find I mostly like listening at a 1.10-1.15 speed, or 1.25 if I'm getting impatient because I don't like what's going on and just want to get through it).
I think I had figured out "whodunnit" a little before the reveal, but Armstrong keeps the story fast paced and twisty-turny enough that even if you figure it out sooner rather than later, you'd still have a good time. There's a hint of a romance, but not too much sex, with a "fade to black" for most scenes where it appears. (For some reason, I cringe at sex scenes in audiobooks. It's one thing to read them, and another to listen to someone else reading them.) This is the first in a seven-book series, and between the setting and the characters, I confess that I am hooked. I really wanted to listen to the next in the series, A Darkness Absolute, as soon as finished this one, but alas, I had work to do and all the other copies were already checked out! So I placed a hold and can't wait for it to show up! (I love using Libby.)
If you're looking for a fun thriller/whodunnit with a slight feel of being outside your own time and place, I definitely recommend City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong.
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