This Fallen Prey: A Rockton Novel

At the outset of bestseller Armstrong’s gripping third novel set in the Canadian Yukon (after 2017’s A Darkness Absolute), the council members who manage Rockton, the off-the-grid refuge for those needing to disappear, receives Oliver Brady, an accused murderer they’ve agreed to take in exchange for a large sum of money from a classified source. Unprepared to house a dangerous criminal, Rockton’s residents scramble to build a facility to imprison him. But they’re split on whether Brady is innocent and being mistreated, or a risk to others; riots, maybe even a lynching, threaten to erupt. When Brady escapes with the help of a town insider, he leaves a trail of carnage in his wake, and Det. Casey Butler and her boss, Eric Dalton, face difficult decisions—and the perils of the wilderness—in their effort to restore peace and security to Rockton. The empathetic central characters grapple with the nature of violence and the choices they’re willing to make to protect loved ones. Armstrong delivers surprising twists and keeps readers guessing about who the next victim might be. Agent: Helen Heller, Helen Heller Agency (Canada). (Feb.)