Desires of the Dead & The Last Echo

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly 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.

The Body Finder was the most original book that I’d read in a long while. But it took me awhile to pick up Desires of the Dead, because it wasn’t in stock in any of my local bookstores. I finally bought this on Kindle and finished it the day before I was to go to the Dark Days Tour which featured Kimberly Derting, Jill Hathaway (author of Slide), and Dan Hathaway (author of Partials and John Cleaver series.)
I read this book very quickly; I simply could not get enough. I am finding myself addicted to this darker YA with serial killers and dead bodies. It’s a nice change for me to get away from Paranormal Romance. This could, technically be classified as such, but I find that these books focus much more on the mystery and suspense than the romance.
The plot of the book was very entertaining. Kimberly Derting kept me guessing until the end, something that is hard to do. Although, my original prediction was correct, I contradicted it many times throughout the book. My favorite chapters were the ones that veered away from Violet’s perspective, and focused in on the bad guys. I was astonished when I put together that the titles of these chapters in this book were the Seven Deadly Sins. These chapters make the books for me.
The character development was awesome. I could see how both Violet and the mystery bad guy changed.  Violet’s feelings and instincts were very different at the end of the book that they were at the beginning. But seeing the bad guy's thoughts change so drastically change was amazing, and added so much to the book.
The romance part of Desires of the Dead was excruciating. Jay and Violet’s relationship is so painful to read about at some points. They have such a rough time. I appreciate the fact that they were best friends for years before they got together, it makes their love seem more realistic. But when they fought my heart ached.  I wanted them to work out so badly.
Reading Desires of the Dead was so much fun for me. I didn’t automatically know what would happen, and I love to be surprised. I am giving this book 4/5 stars. 

The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting

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 read this book right after I finished Desires. I’m glad I did, because I had needed a little refresh to remember what happened in The Body Finder before I read Book 2. One thing that I love about this book--and the entire series--was that I was enthralled from the first sentence. Kimberly Derting really knows how to hook a reader in, and she doesn’t disappoint.
What really made this book stick out from the others was the fear factor. It was a whole other level of creepy, and I loved that.  The connection between the color of the cover and one of the elements in the story gives me the heebie-jeebies. It’s the coolest.
What I also love about all the books is the minor characters. Although they don’t really change, they each have their own distinct personalities. They aren’t empty names.
I love the plot of this book. It was so unpredictable, except for some reason, I knew that one of the characters was just no good. And I was surprisingly right.
Violet was a badass like usual. And her relationship with Jay was as electric and strained as it was in the last book.
This book is a recent release so I don’t want to spoil anything, but I thought it was the best Body Finder book yet. I give it 5/5 stars. It was amazing!

See you soon!
Jill