You knew it wasn't going to be easy!  Worth it?  Yes.  Easy?  Not a chance.  Even before the first people move to the new town, murder and mayhem ensue.  Casey and Eric walk into a double disappearance, a murdered woman who turns out to be an extra layer of mystery and a cranky site manager.  I like the new cast of characters in this book, it refreshes the series.  Combining the new and old will make for some interesting situations to come, I'm sure.  Being able to build this new town from scratch the way they want is exciting and nerve wracking for our dynamic duo.  There is still the fear they won't be able to pull if off and that the whole endeavor will fall apart around their ears.  

The mystery itself is an interesting one.  Where did the missing workers go and why?  How did they end up with an extra body?  The first Haven's Rock book kept my interest, which is no mean feat for a series that has gone on this long.  I haven't found myself getting bored with the characters and the mysteries are staying fresh and interesting.  This change up breathes new life into the series without losing the features that made it great.  Can't wait for more!!

 

I keep thinking about this.  When I first started the book, I mentally rolled my eyes a few times because I THOUGHT I knew where it was going.  Boy was I wrong.  There was almost a "Village" movie vibe at first.  Isolated community where only a few "elders" know what is really going on behind the scenes.  That was why the mental eye roll started.  Trust me, that only lasted a few chapters.  Cronin is one of my all time favorite authors, his world building is complex and layered.  I really should have known that it wouldn't be that easy to figure out.  There are a lot of characters in the mix here, but I never felt that any of them were one dimensional or not fleshed out.  As the story unfolds and you think you understand motivations, there is always an undercurrent of confusion, both Proctor's confusion and mine.  So many elements seem mystical and shrouded in secrecy in Prospera it's hard to know if Proctor is slowly going crazy or if there is a reason behind the madness.

The reason behind the madness blew my mind.  I literally had to put the book down and think it through.  Re-read some pages.  Think about it some more.  I am in no way going to spoil this, but holy cow!  Buckle up.  The social and political unrest of the Support Staff was a biting backdrop to Proctor's personal issues.  I'm so impressed with how Cronin tied everything together and delivered another completely original engrossing story. 

 

The last Rockton novel?  Say it ain't so!  Going into this book, we knew the town was in trouble. The powers that be had stopped sending new people to town and no one was getting extensions to stay longer.  The writing was on the wall.  Does that mean things will slow down and get boring out there in the middle of nowhere?  Of course not.  Put together a pile of people who needed to disappear for one reason or another and tensions always rise.  This time around, there is blackmail, secrets exposed and, of course, murder.  

Casey and Eric need to make some decisions.  First and foremost, what are they going to do when the town shuts down?  Who is going to be part of their new and improved refuge?  Oh, and how hard do they want to investigate missing persons and murders when the missing and murdered were doing their best to cause as much trouble as possible?  The Deepest of Secrets concentrated mostly on the "core" townies.  There were touches about the supporting cast of characters, but I liked that the mystery was mainly kept local this time.  The conflict of wanting to do the right thing even when no one cares anymore was interesting.  But now I need to know what happens next!  Yes, this is the last Rockton novel... will there be a town X novel?  I will be very disappointed if this is the end of the story, the characters are too interesting and the concept of the whole story is too intriguing to leave as is.  This was another winner, Armstrong is definitely on her game and having fun with this!