Reviews

The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong

Only show reviews with written explanations

Second in the Haven's Rock thriller series (ninth in the Rockton/Casey Duncan universe) and revolving around the new “Rockton”, still a place of refuge for people fleeing disaster and based in Yukon Territory in Canada. The focus is on young Max.

My Take
That title is too funny, a very practical take on “the boy who cried wolf”, for Max is terrified of being laughed at, for telling the adults, again, that he saw a wild animal.

It’s a fear that will color his moves and lead to disaster.

Armstrong uses third person protagonist point-of-view from Max’s perspective — we hear his thoughts, feel his emotions, and view events he witnesses. Armstrong also incorporates a first person protagonist point-of-view from Casey's perspective.

Casey and Eric are quite practical in their vision of Haven’s Rock. They want everyone treated well and fairly but to have no say in how things run. I did enjoy Armstrong's description of the town, and I gotta say, those 16-inch walls sound formidable.

That Carson. Wow. I get it. I understand why he has that log on his shoulder. I know, I know, it’s supposed to be a chip. It’s not. He’s mouthy, denigrating, and terrified. Max has his issues too, but he’s making the best of it. He thinks Haven’s Rock is like summer camp, and he’s learning a lot from the sheriff.

Lol, at least one person is all up about protecting nature when Kendra talks of turning bear into sausage.

We get some of Gunnar’s back history, and yeah, it does make him well-suited to be Max’s confidant. Casey’s back history leads to her concerns about her future. Egods, we finally get confirmation about Mathias’ past.

Casey and Eric are discovering the extra worries of allowing children into the town, balancing safety issues with PTSD. Dealing with the difference between Rockton’s social activity versus the separateness in Haven’s Rock.

Yeah, I get that Yolanda is likely to be wealthy, but how can she justify abandoning her construction company to hang out in Haven’s Rock? I think her real reason is her fear of hurting her grandmother.

It’s a freer environment for Casey and Duncan and yet more restrictive.

I do “enjoy” Casey and Eric’s encounters with “Mr Rogers”. Casey’s thoughts about his purposes, his angles are fascinating. I want to re-read the story just to relive those moments.

Casey makes an excellent point about people blaming the victim.

There’s character-driven action and “characters”, making this an interesting story, if somewhat lacking in drama — I gotta say I was a bit disappointed with The Boy Who Cried Bear. Sure, I enjoyed hearing of the progress the town is making, the eternal issues of dealing with a bunch of know-it-alls and their plotting and judgmental attitudes — that Louie!, Eric and Casey’s fears for their future and their determination to be honest with each other, the progress Casey is making in understanding herself and her sister, and the betrayals — all sorts of betrayals. I do wish Armstrong had played up Carson’s issues more.

I’d say The Boy Who Cried Bear is more of a bridge to get to the real conflict Armstrong plans to delve into.

The Story
The refugees are settling in and Casey and Eric are coping with their new challenges and setting up activities for people. It’s one activity, hiking, that leads to yet another encounter with that bear. The one Max is afraid to mention.

Then everything goes wrong when the bear “attacks” and Max disappears.

The Characters
Detective Casey Dalton is independent-minded with a guilty past while the over-protective Sheriff Eric Dalton is Casey’s new husband. Storm is their Newfoundland tracking dog. Dr April Butler, Casey’s older sister, is a brilliant neurosurgeon with autism, who is in a relationship!

Haven’s Rock is . . .
. . . the newer, healthier version of Rockton, a sanctuary town hidden in the woods. Primarily financed by Émilie, a billionaire and one of the earliest Rockton board members, who is also the abrasive Yolanda’s grandmother. Yolanda had been the suspicious construction boss, with her own company, who built Haven’s Rock.

The ten-year-old Max and his older brother, the thirteen-year-old Carson, suffer from PTSD after events in their last “home”. They and their mother, the amazingly paranoid and judgmental Dana, are fleeing witness protection.

Deputy Will Anders is a former soldier with medical training. Kenny had been a high school math teacher and now he’s the town carpenter and head of the militia and involved with April. Kendra is a plumber pursuing her master’s in social work — she’s the on-site person with mental-health training as well as a hike leader. Mathias is the town butcher and a serial-killing criminal psychiatrist. Raoul is Mathias’ wolf-dog. Isabel is a psychologist who runs the town bar, er, I mean, the saloon, the Roc. Phil is the town manager. Gunnar, the local Lothario, had been on the construction crew in Murder at Haven's Rock, 1, and blackmailed his way into staying. Twenty-one-year-old Sebastian is the town sociopath. Felicity is Sebastian’s girlfriend. Devon still runs the bakery.

Lynn and Grant are constantly fighting. Louie is an obnoxious know-it-all with a hidden agenda.

Jacob is Dalton’s brother who lives in the wild with Nicole, a former resident, and their baby boy, Stephen. Tyrone Cypher, the former sheriff of Rockton lives in a cabin with his Rockton girlfriend, Jen. Neighbors include Lilith, a wildlife photographer, who lives with Nero, her protective wolf. The hostiles have finally been dealt with.

Just on the other side of the mountain is the secret mining camp with the unfriendly, unhelpful “Mr Rogers” the mining-operation leader. Some of the employees include Sandy, “Joe”, and Jay.

The Cover and Title
The cover is a pretty range of blues and greens highlighting the black silhouettes of tall tree trunks in the forest. At the bottom, the ground is heaps of orange autumn leaves with Max, on the left, standing in a quarter profile, looking into the woods. At the very top is an info blurb in white. The title takes up most of the cover in a slightly distressed pale orange, the letters interweaving with the trees. Below the title, to the right, is the series info. The author’s name is centered at the bottom in the same distressed font in a gradated gray to white to gray.

The title refers to several characters, both are The Boy Who Cried Bear.