Review: Desires of the Dead by Kimberely Derting

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.







Review:

Desires of the Dead brings back all the awesome and familiar things and people we were introduced to in the first of the series, The Body Finder.

The one thing that I love about these books is the suspense and, morbidly enough, all the murders! I finished The Body Finder really enjoying it and have had the sequel on hand for almost a year now just waiting to be read. One good thing about these books is that you can wait a year and a bit to read the next one because each book is kind of formed in the same way as the Heist Society series--stand alone novels within in a series. You could pick the second book or third book up and read it without reading the others and still understand everything.

One thing that was different though was the fact that Desires of the Dead is rather predictable. I had it all figured out before Violet did and at first that worried me. Am I going to be reading through this whole book knowing the ending and Violet being clueless? But Derting has made a smart character out of Violet and she's just as much on the ball as we are! And the bigger surprises which Violet doesn't get don't take all that long to be revealed either. Although, I do think their prologue definitely gave the biggest surprise away, which is a real shame because if it weren't for the prologue I may have stayed clueless a little longer.

Again, I didn't find the writing to be all that special or boring. It was plain, but the suspense definitely made up for it. There was definitely less focus on the love in this book, which I was kind of thankful for. I do like Jay, but there's nothing about their relationship that I find exciting. It just seems safe and kind of boring if I'm too be honest.

The introduction of the FBI has definitely moved this series into a new direction, one that I think I'll enjoy if it means more mysterious. Because, lets be honest, one girl cannot be involved in all the murder stories in her home town by accidentally coming across the echoes. But with the FBI and a few twists, Derting has set the series up for as many books as the readers and publishers want!

Overall, I was really happy with Desires of the Dead. It was suspenseful, pushed the series into a new direction, and an easy read since I read it in only a few hours.

Review: 4 stars
Date Published: February 15th 2011
Publisher: Headline Australia 
Source: bought
Format: paperback
Date Read: July 2012
Page Count: 355
Series/Stand Alone: The Body Finder #2