Violet has the strange ability to sense an “echo” from people (and animals) that have been killed. The echo is unique for each killing although it matches the echo given off by the killer. Usually, this “talent” is a nuisance – Violet can’t even go near her cat because he kills mice. But when a serial killer starts offing teen girls in her area, Violet’s power might just come in handy.If that premise sounds enticing to you, take note: the actual novel is 1 part thriller to 6 parts teen romance. Now, on paper, such a set-up shouldn’t work for me, since I don’t seek out romance as a genre. And, truthfully, I was a bit worried at first. Once Violet’s ability is established and the serial killer makes his first snatch, the plot concentrates on Violet’s super-crush on her best friend of many years – once just Jay, now the hottest guy at school. Everyone but Violet can see that Jay carries a major torch for her, and there are a bunch of high-sexual-tension and avoidance scenes that make you scream “get it on already you two!”
But let me tell you, once those two best friends finally connect romantically, the resulting fireworks are totally worth it. As I was telling Trish on Twitter the other day, I am a very emotional rater – which is why I don’t usually give ratings on my blog reviews (dystopian fiction being the exception). I do give ratings on GoodReads and LibraryThing though, and this one got a big fat satisfied 5 star rating from me for the emotional impact alone.
5 stars for a book that had a character taking foolish risks to fit the plot (a pet peeve of mine)? Yep, it was THAT emotionally engaging that when all was said and done, I came away able to overlook certain deficits (such as the at times strange pacing and some logic problems concerning the serial killer part), and just revel in the experience of reading.
THE BODY FINDER comes out tomorrow in hardcover. Find out more about it at the author’s website.
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