Review: Kimberly Derting - The Last Echo

Kimberly Derting - The Last Echo

The Body Finder #3

• Pub Date: April 17, 2012
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Format: Hardcover 360pp
• Age Range: Young Adult

In the end, all that's left is an echo...

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....

I bought this book on Amazon. Here is my honest review:

The Body Finder series is so unique and fresh. Each book is a mystery to solve, combined with Violet's paranormal ability of being able to sense echoes that lead her to bodies. Plus she has the hot, sweet, protective boyfriend. Gotta love this series!

This installment of the series is especially creepy. The murderer in this one is just downright bizarre. I got chills a couple times reading his POV. How gross and weird. But by the end it's obvious as to why he turned out a bit weird. He just didn't need to take it that far. Ew. Either way, Violet is on the supernatural team of misfits, and they need to figure out who he is and stop him.

Violet always gets herself in a predicament. That's generally a given in these books, which makes them slightly predictable. But Derting does a great job of diverting our attention from that by introducing this other "problem" in the middle of the novel. Whoa. That was intense there for a while!

And then there's Rafe. Rafe.. how do I feel about him? He's part of this newly made triangle. Even Vi doesn't seem to be sure. He's so closed off but so vulnerable, and who doesn't love that? We all do for some reason. He opens up to her. Bah. It's confusing. It will be interesting to see where this leads.

There were a couple shockers strategically placed throughout the book, and those were pretty good. And the end. Oh the end. What the heck is that about?! I cannot WAIT for the next one!

What I liked:

• The creep factor. Yeah, I guess I kind of enjoyed seeing how sick this guy could get, seeing as this is fiction. Yuck, I know. Oh well.
• Jay. We all love Jay, too. He's just a pretty great boyfriend. He loves Vi and just wants her to be safe. And he's a little jealous but still secure. Yep. Love that too.
• The mystery. We know who the killer is since parts of the book are from his POV (which I also like), but it's still a mystery as to how they're going to catch him. There isn't enough of that in YA literature.
  

What I didn't like:

• Predictability. Sometimes these books are predictable. It doesn't take away from the story somehow because she writes great stuff in the midst of the mysteries.
  
• POV. I wish these were in first person from Violet's POV with alternating chapters of the killer's POV. Third person isn't my thing. Oh well!

Bottom line: If you've read the first two, definitely check out this continuation! If you haven't read the first two, get on it!

Rating:

3.5 / 5 book sharks