Review: The Body Finder

Title: The Body Finder
Author: Kimberly Derting
Publisher: HarperCollins
Challenege: None
Pages: 336

My Rating:

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. -summary from goodreads.com

Violet has a little problem. Dead people talk to her. Not in the literal, “Hey I’m a ghost” kind of way, but more in the “Hear that noise? It’s my body’s echo; find my killer!” kind of way. Since she was a child the echoes of the dead have spoken to her, unless they are properly put to rest. So, when her small hometown suddenly turns into the hot spot for kidnapped and murdered teenage girls, Violet does what she does best, she finds the body and then finds the echo that matches it.

It's not often that a title of a book and the plot of the book are one in the same (usually the title is much more abstract) but with "The Body Finder" what you read is what you get; and you know what? …I LOVED IT! This was such a thrilling, fun, fast paced read! Mrs. Derting painted a vivid picture in my head when describing how the events/crimes took place. It was realistic and frightening. I especially loved reading from the point of view of the serial killer. It added a very interesting flavor to the book and certainly added to the suspense.

It was very easy to relate to Violet. She’s just an ordinary girl (with an extra twisted sense) that’s just trying to fit in. The main guy, Jay, is almost too good to be true although I definitely appreciate the fact that he is neither a vampire nor a werewolf. Jay is loyal and very protective towards Violet. They share an intense love story, and I literally loved the fact that Jay was a responsible and mature teenage boy, who was able to show Violet in many ways his love for her, and that he wasn't solely driven by his sexual desires for her. The awkwardness and sexual tension between them is really cute and realistic.

Overall, if you’re a fan of the supernatural, romance and/or thrillers- add The Body Finder to your pile. Trust me when I say, you won’t be sorry! I’m definitely pre-ordering the next book in the series; “Desires of the Dead”- which comes out next week! :) Yessss!