Book Review: The Last Echo (The Body Finder #3) by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Last Echo (The Body Finder #3)

Author: Kimberly Derting

Publisher: Headline

Publishing Date: March 29^th 2012

Length: 360 pages

Genre: YA mystery, romance

Source: Publisher

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....

Summary by Goodreads 

  

I expected THE LAST ECHO to differ from the two previous THE BODY FINDER novels. To be more controlled. Because this part of Violet’s story is determined by her being a professional now, professional investigator and a great help in the solving of murder cases.

In THE BODY FINDER and DESIRES OF THE DEAD Violet was on her own with her talent and had to use it randomly, unknowingly. Now that she joined Sara Priest’s team her talent has a purpose and is a force against law breakers. It's thrilling nevertheless.

Sara’s team is made up of a bunch of gifted kids like Rafe. Then there are Gemma, Krystal and Sam. The cool thing about them? They have psychometric talents. You can find out all about what they can do and see them in action in THE LAST ECHO. They’re a great addition to the THE BODY FINDER series cast.

You all remember Rafe? Mysterious boy who saved Vi’s life in DESIRES OF THE DEAD. He’s got a much bigger role in this book. And he is definitely a character whose personality deserves to be further explored. My heart opened up to him in this book and I definitely love to see him as a male protagonist… just not in Violet’s love life.

Because there’s still Jay. One of my favourite fictional boys out there. He is as caring, protective, supportive and sweet as ever. The problem is that with Vi spending to much time with Sara’s team, Jay’s presence in THE LAST ECHO is sporadic.

I loved the story, discovery of Rafe’s person and the wicked antagonists, just the Jay withdrawal was not to my liking.

THE LAST ECHO also has what I really liked about THE BODY FINDER and DESIRES OF THE DEAD. The chapters told from Vi’s perspective alternate with shorter chapters from the criminal’s sight on the case, in this case the collector’s.

Kimberly’s writing is as excellent as expected and her building of tension is formidable. I would love to see THE BODY FINDER in the movies one day.

The antagonists are as crazy as never before and I have no idea where Kimberly gets her inspiration for them but they do their job of giving me the creeps pretty well.

Especially the collector is a cleverly constructed evil mind. His characteristics: a distorted imagine of reality and personality disorder. I will have to avoid purple nail polish for a while!

There were scenes I felt my heart beating in my head, they were so full of dread and tension. THE LAST ECHO, just as THE BODY FINDER and DESIRES OF THE DEAD before, holds what it promises!

We might get a glimpse into the team’s work, their characters, technologies, talents, but there’s still a lot more left in the dark, like who is the head behind all that?

How are Vi’s relationships going to develop? What about Jay, Rafe, Sara and the team?

I’m dying to find out in the (hopefully not) last part of THE BODY FINDER series.

1) it gives us a deeper insight into mysterious Rafe’s mind

2) of a boyfriend extraordinaire
3) of new interesting echo creations
4) we love it when the story’s tension is so strong it could shatter windows
5) of Kimberly’s gift to think of ever new wicked murder cases

 

4,5/5 ****/* THE LAST ECHO- Eerie, haunting and just as endearing as THE BODY FINDER and DESIRES OF THE DEAD before.

I’ve been anticipating THE LAST ECHO since I read THE BODY FINDER and DESIRES OF THE DEAD in one sitting last year. I’m glad that this book was not the last in the series. The THE BODY FINDER series is one I highly recommend and appreciate, because it brings a new thrill to the YA book section!

 

* Check out Kimberly’s THE PLEDGE and THE ESSENCE!

* Read an excerpt of THE LAST ECHO here. 

* You want to meet Kimberly Derting? Check out her event schedule. 

* Visit www.kimberlyderting.com for further information about Kimberly Derting and her books. 

* A gigantic thanks to Sam Eades and Headline for sending me THE LAST ECHO for review. I love this series so so much!