Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong

Deceptions (Cainsville, #3)

by Kelley Armstrong

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Otherworld series and Hemlock Island delivers her most suspenseful novel yet, where the discovery of Cainsville’s dark past and the true nature of its inhabitants leads to murder, redemption, love, and unspeakable loss.

Olivia Taylor Jones’s life has exploded. She’s discovered she is not only adopted, but her real parents are convicted serial killers. Fleeing the media frenzy, she took refuge in the oddly secluded town of Cainsville. She has since solved the town’s mysteries and finds herself not only the target of its secretive elders but also her stalker ex-fiancé.

Visions continue to haunt her: particularly a little blond girl in a green sundress who insists she has an important message for Olivia, one that may help her balance the light and darkness within herself. Death stalks both Olivia and the two men most important to her, as she desperately searches to understand whether ancient scripts are dictating the triangle that connects them. Will darkness prevail, or does Olivia have the power to prevent a tragic fate?

Reviewed by kimbacaffeinate on

3 of 5 stars

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Caffeinated Aspects

  • Cainsville, the Fae, visions and supernatural creatures surrounding this tale continue to draw me in. Armstrong’s weaving of mythology into this series is like crack and I am always looking for a fix.

  • The overall mystery and sub-mysteries lure you in. The questions regarding Oliva, her parent’s, the murders, Gabriel and Cainsville have all been fascinating. Deceptions answered many of those questions.

  • Armstrong is brilliant writer and her stories have a flow to them that allows the reader to slip into the world. Despite my decaffeinated aspects, I enjoyed Deceptions and devoured it.

  • Gabriel. Ah Gabriel, he is quirky, strong, determined, misunderstood and odd. Sometimes he is pushy, and socially inapt. I find I want to hug him, but I know he would hate it.

  • This book focused more on Olivia and her relationships with Gabriel and Ricky. I know many folks have issues with the TRIANGLE, but honestly, in this instance I did not. I found the answers through Olivia’s visions of who they are fascinating. I also find their friendship interesting, and enjoy when the three work together.


Decaffeinated Aspects

  • What happen to Olivia? Ugh. I love strong, confident female protagonist, and in Deceptions Olivia was whiny. Towards the end of the book, she seemed to be a tad strong and I hope we see more of that in Betrayals.

  • I like Ricky, I find him to be charming and even like that he belongs to a Biker Club. However, a scene where Olivia goes with him to their club pissed me off. It had to do with biker mentality about their woman. Olivia played submissive.

  • Deceptions suffered middle book syndrome. Most of the reveals, I had already pieced together as the reader. Olivia seems to be struggling and her thought process was all over the place. The mystery took a back seat to the relationship dynamics and while the sex scenes were hot, they were not all necessary.

This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 5 March, 2016: Finished reading
  • 5 March, 2016: Reviewed