Review: THE BODY FINDER by Kimberly Derting

TITLE: The Body Finder
AUTHOR: Kimberly Derting – Web, Blog
GENRE: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery
PARANORMAL ELEMENT: Sensing the Murdered
PUBLISHED: HarperCollins (March 16, 2010)
FORMAT: Hardcover
SOURCE: Borrowed from Library

SYNOPSIS:

Violet Ambrose is grappling with her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her childhood best friend, 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 . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

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.

REVIEW:

I love stories about people with unique abilities and this one is new and creative. Violet is able to sense the dead. She is able to see, feel, taste, hear or smell whatever imprint is left on a person after they’ve been murdered. Not only that, the same sensation is left on the killer too. This story was fun to follow from beginning to end.

Violet is pretty cool, even though she makes a some really stupid mistakes. I love the friendship between her and her childhood best friend, Jay. He is a great guy and smart too. Much of what he did surprised me and I much enjoyed his character. (He made this book.)

There are breif chapters from the point of view of the killer. It was rather nauseating to read and I thought it was unnecessary at first. But as the story builds there is a point in the story where it really makes it intense.

Concerning the serial killer-suspense aspect of the book, it was rather rushed and really could have been lengthened. I wasn’t exactly on pins & needles worrying. So I’m thinking it was intended to be more of a paranormal romance than a mystery thriller.

RATING:

I rather enjoyed this book. It was good for the imagination and I was glad that there was actually a family that wasn’t all broken apart. The crime solving was a little weak but the ending was satisifying. I’d rate this book at a 3. Good. A good read, no regrets. 

RECOMMENDATION:

I would recommend reading this book to teens. There is a bunch of heart pounding make-out scenes, one F-bomb and a few other swear words. But all in all, a good book.

VIDEO:

Books in the Series:

Book 1: The Body Finder
Book 2: Desires of the Dead
Book 3: The Last Echo
Book 4: Dead Silence