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Friday, January 11, 2013

3) The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting

The Blurb :

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it’s Violet’s job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice.

When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by “the girlfriend collector” she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new “relationship” and Violet may have caught his eye...

My Thoughts :

I waited a long time for this third Body Finder book to be released on audio. I had listened to the first two books and wanted to keep listening to them. However after a long long wait it seemed obvious that this third part wasn't going to make it onto audio anytime soon. I gave up waiting and added the book to my Kindle wishlist.

Despite my long break between books two and three I didn't have much trouble getting back into the series. Something this unique and good is hard to forget. However while the first two books revolved around Violet just finding bodies and getting into trouble along the way, this time she has a whole group of people with 'gifts' like hers to hang about with. I was dubious about this new angle but in the end it seems like the author was too. The other people in the group were mentioned and sometimes had cameo like appearances but all in all they stayed in the background.

The group stayed behind but the main characters didn't. It was good to find out more about Rafe and Sara while I felt like I missed Jaye. Sure he was around but more in the capacity as a lap dog or doormat function. I wonder how long he will continue to be a part of the series at all. This also goes for Violet's parents who either too busy to care that much or are just too weirded out by their daughters special ability to step up and really get her out of harms way. This decision has however been taken out of their hands if the ending of this third installment has anything to do with it.

The plot this time around was as spectacular and spooky as the previous books. I wouldn't expect much else from a series about a girl who can find dead bodies. The author builds up a nice psychological murder mystery plot and you find yourself in a story not much different to an episode of Criminal Minds. Why this has to be Young Adult is beyond me and to be honest I wonder if any teenager could read this without being scared senseless. The subject matter is quite heavy even if the author tones it down and doesn't go into specifics about the crimes. It is just a matter of putting two and two together.

This is a great series and I am really enjoying it. I am not sure if I am going to like the whole conspiracy/secret bosses stuff which I saw coming a mile off. Book four is due out in the Spring and I will definitely be getting a copy. I like the style and the content of this one although I have to say I would highly recommend an adult read this first before giving it to a younger reader.

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