City of the lost

Casey and her college boyfriend, a mobster's son, are mugged; he takes off, leaving her to get beaten nearly to death. When she is sufficiently recovered, she kills the boyfriend and is never caught. In an ironic twist, Casey becomes a cop, quickly moving up the ladder to homicide detective. Her only personal relationships are with a bartender she's using for sex, and her friend Diana, whom she protects from a crazy, abusive ex-husband. The mobster finds Casey, and Diana's ex shows up; in desperation, they decide to try to get into Rockton, a nearly invisible town in the Yukon where people go to disappear. They apply and are accepted; it seems there has been a murder in Rockton, and a good detective would be an asset. Rockton is completely off the grid and is ruled by martial law. There are more gruesome murders, and in a town this small, everyone is suspect. At heart this is a blood-soaked, locked-room mystery on steroids; readers should prepare for an all-nighter to finish it.--Alesi, Stacy Copyright 2016 Booklist

Det. Casey Duncan's past may be catching up with her. When her friend's abusive ex-boyfriend comes to town, they decide it's time to pick up and run to a remote locale deep in the Yukon Territory that shelters those who don't want to be found. But Rockton is facing a wave of murders-and in a place where everyone is hiding from something, no one is quite who they seem to be. Although an outsider, Casey is recruited to the town's police force by Sheriff Eric Dalton and applies her professional experience to untangling the town's web of secrets before the killer strikes again. Armstrong, primarily known for her paranormal fantasies (Frostbitten), delivers a solid police procedural set in a frontier town cut off from the modern world. The novel's twists never feel out of character, and the story moves along at a brisk but not breakneck pace. Verdict The town of Rockton's strong, atmospheric presence will interest readers of Armstrong's "Cainsville" series and appeal to new readers, particularly fans of C.J. Box. [See Prepub Alert, 11/16/15.]-Carol Munroe, Frank L. Weyenberg Lib., Mequon, WI © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.