by Kimberly Derting
5
Pub. Date: March 16th 2010
Pages: 329
Summary: Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.
Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.
I absolutely loved this book! I am a slow reader and I read this book in only a few hours, it was THAT good. I really enjoyed the mystery, paranormal, and romance combo. Out of all the books that I've read for the 2010 Debut Author Challenge this was definitely my favorite so far. I thought it was really cool how each soul that Violet sensed had an original smell or taste. Getting glimpses into the killer's mind helped pick up the pace of the story for me. It just gave me chills knowing what was happening before Violet did. Derting was also good at keeping me guessing throughout the story. There were a couple of times where I thought I knew what was happening and then I found out I was completely wrong. I love when I have trouble figuring out what is going to happen next in a book. I like when I don't see things coming and just HAVE to continue to read to find out the next twist. I loved watching the interactions between Violet and Jay. I feel like that's how I act when I like guys, playfully hitting one another and teasing the pants off them.I've never been the type of person to actively seek out a mystery to read, but this book made me want to delve into the genre. I know that it wasn't a strict mystery because there was a lot more going on in the plot, but I felt it was a good introduction for me. I don't usually plug bookstores or online bookstores, but I just discovered that BN.com has an e-book version of "The Body Finder" for only $1.99. I'm not sure if this is a sale price, but I just had to share this fantastic deal with you! I can't wait to see what Derting writes next, but according to her website she does have a book coming out in 2011 called "Desires of the Dead". Here is the book trailer for "The Body Finder" that I got off Derting's website.
