Something a bit different from me, but I thought it only fitting seeing as this series took up a fairly substantial chunk of my life. I read the four books included in the series in the collective time of approximately 15hours – quick in reading terms, but slow if you imagine I was engrossed for 15hours of my life ignoring anyone and anything.
I know I’m a bit late hitching on the band wagon of reading this, but I have and I WILL talk about it because it’s definitely worth a chat.
The Nitty Gritty Bit
Author: Kimberley Derting
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Dates: March 16th 2010, February 15th 2011, April 17th 2012 and April 16th 2013.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Paranormal
I rate: 4/5
Plot Summaries (Goodreads.com):
The Body Finder #1
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 that 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 the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping 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.
Desires of the Dead #2
The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found. 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.
The Last Echo #3
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…
Dead Silence #4
Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers…that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.
When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.
My thoughts
My usual tactics when choosing are book are to keep away from the ‘teen fiction’ section. I usually find it shallow, unrealistic (what and dead body echo’s aren’t?) and stuck on annoying teenage ‘issues’ like their first kiss, what clothes to wear, the local bitch and demanding parents… I also think they are really patronising and also tend to linger on descriptions of someone holding another persons hand – thrilling. This series, has ALL of those things, in small doses; so why did I like it so much?! One reason, I think, is because the mystery surrounding the increasingly tense and approaching murder’s pre-occupied me. Another reason is that the intensity of the echo’s and the lifelike descriptions touching all of the senses almost made the possibility of the body ‘echo’s’ seem realistic…almost. The events surrounding the murder’s and subsequent body finding, made the storyline seem less like a teen mystery and more like an adult crime thriller, as nothing was touched on delicately; gruesome area’s were cleverly approached without avoiding them completely and plonking a cherry on top. One of my favorite points that made this series unique, were the chapters from the killer’s point of view. This incredibly creepy method gave an insight into the mind of the killer and allowed me to pre-meditate the next move, with the frustrating inability to warn the other characters. To read from the killer’s perspective was disturbing, however, I found myself; not feeling sorry for them, but wanting to understand them and to know what made them want to take the route they were taking.
In Short
I liked:
The writing style – It wasn’t all ”Violet stepped out in her pink sweater, white converse and with her hair tied neatly off her face and swipe of red, Rimmel, lipstick” the descriptions stuck to feelings and thoughts. Kimberley Derting created a thorough mental image and therefore grabbed me from the first page. The characters she created were likeable and the smaller events fairly enjoyable. I’m making this brief as I don’t want to give away plot’s and also because I am talking about the four books in general!
Jay – He was always there for Violet, he was supportive, loving and a generally nice guy. (He’s also made it onto my dislike list).
Violet – Stubborn, independent and carefree and a bit of a creative introvert. I could sympathise with her as I think we shared some similarities!
The killer’s chapters – creepy and dark, made even more creepy by the fact they sounded ordinary and completely unaware of their delusional minds!
The descriptions of the echo’s – the echo’s took on many forms; smells, sounds, visions or feelings. Kimberley Derting was very inventive with the different echo’s and made them discreetly apt to each victim. The matching imprints that followed the killers made it a real search, I was tense in the hope that she may feel, see or hear an imprint.
Rafe – a little something to mix up the romantic equilibrium…everybody loves a torn heart and a choice of men!
Uncle – a cool bloke with a lot of love to give and a masculine outlook. Although I do picture him to look like a slightly softer-faced version of Phil Mitchell. I like that just when I was feeling like I was about to fall off my chair with anticipation, whenever he showed up he made it aaallll okay.
The secret – not many people knew about Violet Ambrose’s secret, it made me feel like I was in with the secret, a bit special.
The unique idea – I have not heard of the idea of an imprint or echo carried by a murderer and their victim, so this was a fresh surprise, something new to get my head around and a really interesting idea, one which you begin to learn has a lot of difficulties but would also be hugely beneficial!
The romance – It was shy and realistic and gradually appeared, neither were sure whether to jump in from childhood friendship or whether that would be an unrepairable mistake. It was a relief when they finally got it on, I was getting a bit tired of will they won’t they as I was too busy trying to be a murder detective!
I disliked:
Jay – okay so he was supportive, but sometimes he was around TOO much. A girl needs some space, why was he always turning up on her doorstep? Or watching Violet at school? Cut it out Jay you sick puppy!
Her parents – Well I didn’t dislike them, they were probably great, but I disliked the way they were portrayed. They were clearly being maternal and parental and worrying about very reasonable things to worry about (wouldn’t you worry if your daughter was following dead bodies and murderers?), but the author made them sound like they were real nags and completely unreasonable. So did Violet.
Violet – pain in the ass, stubborn and irresponsible!
That it ended – I felt a bit sad getting to the end of the fourth book, I kind of connected with their life and felt like I was checking up on them every time I opened the book…then it just stopped, oh well I’m sure they are all fine.
Okay waffle over!
I’m glad I got that out of my system. Now I’ve burst the bubble and returned to my usual genre’s of various romances, travel books, true stories and classics. I recommend this series, whether its to continue your love of this genre or to step out of your boundary and take a risk, it’s a good risk to take