Monday, August 8, 2011

Desires of the Dead

Review Time! I had this review schedule all written out but then my plans changed and now I’m stuck with a massive review pile again. Anyway, Desires of the Dead is the second book in the Body Finder’s series by Kimberly Derting. Thanks to Hachette for the review copy!


(Goodreads)  Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.



As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger

The Short Story? – Another brilliant YA murder mystery! Engrossing, heart-pounding and full of suspense. Unpredictable, mysterious and maybe just a tad scary :) Fantastic plot, great characters and a captivating narrative voice. An exciting thriller that will leave you covered in goose bumps.

The Long Story? – I did the unforgiveable. I peeked at the ending before I got there, it’s a sin and I promise to go to confession but I have a love/hate relationship with mysteries. I love the suspense and dark secrets but I hate not knowing what it is. I like to be “in” the know ;)

The first thing that appealed to me about this series was the genre. I’m not sure whether it’s because authors don’t think we can handle murder mysteries or what but murder mysteries are extremely rare in YA. I love the suspense and the dark secrets and shadows lurking around waiting to be revealed. The heart-pounding tension that’s both engrossing and exciting. The captivating lure of solving the mystery that’s just out of reach. I love it all! I sit on the edge of my seat and hang onto every word. After The Body Finder and Desires of the Dead, I’ve come to the conclusion that Violet lives in a pretty morbid town, apparently this is where all the serial killers hang out. However it’s so interesting! Nice flow, well-written and a great ending!

As the 2nd book in the series, I’m already pretty familiar with the characters but there is still plenty of development in this novel. We examine our protagonists in depth, Violet who is brave, sweet and stubborn is also insecure. We can see the insecurity a lot clearer in this novel, I think it’s hard for her to trust people and all these flaws are bared for us to see in this novel. Jay, is an absolutely sweetie and we really get to see how much he loves Violet in this novel and how protective he is of her. I love the romantic drama between the two! The introduction of new characters – especially Rafe makes the novel a whole lot more exciting. I’m very, very curious about Rafe, I think he might be the third part of a love triangle but… I might be wrong ;)

Derting has written this novel in third person which fits with the novel since it’s a pretty all-knowing novel. We get a peek into everyone’s head including the “bad guys”. It’s a very strong and compelling narrative voice, I found it was very hard to put the book down once you start it. The series of events just flow so nicely you don’t want to disturb the flow ;) Greta use of language and excellent sentence structure, I look forward other works by Derting.

In a nutshell, The Desires of the Dead is everything you need in a book. Romance, suspense, chuck in a few serial killers and heart-attack worthy moments and you get great Friday night Entertainment! Ditch the horror movie, murder mystery thrillers are the new thing! Fantastic, original and very, very engrossing, this is definitely one you should be checking out!

Rating – 5/5


Badass Bookie xx

1 comment:

  1. I did get annoyed that she started keeping secrets from Jay. But I love a good thriller and this one does it well! I've been known to check out the ending too!

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