Early Review – The Boy Who Cried Bear (Haven’s Rock, Book 2) by Kelley Armstrong (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date: February 20, 2024
ASIN: B0C1X77GLZ
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Haven’s Rock series
Source: eBook for Review from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
“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.”
Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Haven’s Rock series. I got a copy of this to review on ebook through NetGalley.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this overall. It started a bit slow but then the pace really picked up about 25% of the way in.
The story starts some time after Casey and Eric have opened Haven’s Rock and started accepting residents. Haven’s Rock is different from Rockton in that they are allowing families and couples. However, trouble arises when one of the kids sees a bear while on a group hike. While investigating the bear they find out it might not be a bear at all but something more sinister. Then one of the kids goes missing and the hunt is on.
This book switches POV between Casey and Matt (the kid that goes missing). I think that the POV switching made the beginning a bit slow. It just took some time for us to meet the new characters and get going before the story really grabbed me and started pulling me in.
In addition to the overall mystery about the bear in the woods and Matt’s disappearance, there is also some drama going on in Casey and Eric’s life that should be intriguing as the series moves forward.
While I wasn’t huge on the turn the story ended up taking, (without spoilers I can only say it ends up involving the miners that are camped nearby) I did find the story very engaging. There are numerous twists and turns which kept me guessing.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this, I just thought it started a bit slow. I did enjoy a lot of the new characters introduced and also liked the twists and turns to the mystery here. I also enjoyed some of the new story elements introduced and am curious where future books will go with those.
