Maureen Carden's Reviews > The Deepest of Secrets

Everything about Rockton is a deep secret. Its very existence, its location way off the grid, the crimes or criminals the residents are escaping, the crimes behind the crimes that gain certain residents entry for large amounts of money, the mysterious background of the young sheriff, and with two exceptions, the faceless council existing only behind a radio receiver.
In The Deepest of Secrets Rockton #7 the biggest secret of all to the town’s leaders is whether or not the council is shutting Rockton down. Suddenly the council isn’t adding new residents, nor are they allowing extensions to the current residents.
Rockton was originally established to protect people from the political craziness of the fifties, then the protestors of the sixties, now…it’s become just another money making operation. Those killer rabbits Casey and Eric are always waiting to appear? They must be the far-away, never seen town council.
The residents of Rockton see the deepest secret differently; for them the reason for their flight to Rockton is the deepest secret of all. When someone maliciously exposes the background of one of Rockton’s most beloved residents, well, “Things fall apart, the center cannot hold”.
Other backgrounds are threatened with exposure. Then the real fun begins with the violence, the mistrust, blackmail and the underlying ugliness of people turning on one another.
It seems as if the town council made a big mistake in adding the former Casey Duncan to the population of Rockville. A detective was desperately needed to solve some horrific crimes.
Casey and the Sheriff, Eric Dalton fell in love and over time became Rockton’s true town leaders with the help of their deputy, the town madam, the sociopath butcher (how perfect is that?), the council assassin (yes indeedy) and a few others. No one is boring in Rockton. In fact the old saw about watching out for the quiet ones…
The council’s mistake: Eric and Casey will do almost anything to keep Rockton safe and on an even keel; including circumventing the council. Once again Eric and Casey have almost too much to contend with in having to finding out who is releasing secrets, who is blackmailing whom, who is killing people and if maybe one person is doing it all.
Halfway through the book, the boom is lowered and the council declares Rockton closed down to the last board in the last house. They will transfer the current residents to a new location. This is no surprise, the last few books have strongly hinted about this, and Armstrong has made no bones about this being a seven book contract.
Luckily Eric and Casey have made a plan B, others have made their homes in the Yukon forest; but it is an extremely hard life. The forest isn’t trying to kill you, it just does. Their plan B might be vague, but they have people who want to join them.
Rockton is located far off the grid in the boreal forests of the Yukon with the wilderness and wildness beyond imagining. Armstrong beautifully writes of the beauty and danger of the flora and fauna. Armstrong can also combine humor and terror in one encounter as she does with a previous episode of Casey and her bear cub bowling.
Yet in The Deepest of Secrets too many people seem to ignore Rockton's number #1 rule of not going into the forest alone; too easy to get lost, too easy for a deadly predator encounter.
Or is it the characters that fascinate? They actually act in mature ways. The characters talk to one another to solve problems; friendships might be severely damaged at some points, but grown up people usually find their ways back. So Casey and Eric are shocked to see how the townspeople react to this first exposure.
Secondary characters are sometimes introduced the Rockton way, with their true selves revealed as the books go on. Some are charming, some not so much.
The Rockton books are always action packed but underneath is always a layer of sweetness.
I feel as if the last half was rushed, I wanted more details about plan B. What I really want is another series detailing what happens next.
This might be book # 7 in one of the three best series I have ever read, but Armstrong writes a prologue that quickly brings new and old readers up to speed.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press and Minotaur books for sending me an ARC. The opinions are entirely my own.