Review: The Last Echo

The Last Echo (The Body Finder #3)
By Kimberly Derting
Published April 17th, 2012 by HarperCollins

"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...."
-goodreads

Rating: 4 stars

As is the case with many other series, The Body Finder series debuted with a strong, gripping first book, an okay-but-not-as-good second book, and then a third book that made readers remember why they started this series in the first place.

In many aspects, The Last Echo has upped the ante and is way more intense that the other two books have been. In terms of mystery, this one might be my favorite. Be warned, it is a heck of a lot creepier, but goodness gracious, it will keep you hooked. Especially the last half of the book. Time flew by while I was reading, and I knew I should’ve gone to bed, but I just kept telling myself, “one more chapter!” Yeah. Right. I couldn’t put it down till five chapters later!

The storyline of The Last Echo focuses more on Violet in relation to Sara Priest’s kick-butt team of psychics who hunt down bad guys, which was neat because I got to meet more characters with super cool abilities and learn more about Sara and the mysterious Rafe—who definitely became one of my favorite characters in the series.

The downside to this is that I didn’t get to see as much of Jay as I wanted to. Violet and Jay’s relationship made book 1 my favorite in the whole series and, unfortunately, he was relegated to a more minor role in The Last Echo. I guess that’s because Kimberly Derting used this book to focus more on Rafe as another possible love interest….

For me, this is rather conflicting because I was totally Team Violet and Jay… but now… I can’t help but really like Rafe!

With regards to Violet’s character, I, surprisingly didn’t really like her that much in the first half of the book—surprising because in the past two books, I’ve always really liked her—it’s just that there were some instances where  I found her to be a tad annoying and insensitive to other people worries. Also, I just had a hard time really connecting with her as a character because of the third-person narration. I’m normally not a fan of third-person—though there are some authors that have been exceptions—and in this case, the narration just made me feel like…meh.

However, in the second half of the book, Vi totally kicked some major creeper butt!! I was super impressed; in the face of danger, she totally stepped up to the plate, and I wanted to applaud her bravery! So…in short, I started this novel slightly peeved with Violet, but by the end, I ended up liking her again. Let’s see where this goes in book 4.

All in all: I loved the mystery aspect of this book--very chilling, but in a good way--and I love where Kimberly Derting is taking the story. I am most definitely anxious to read book 4!

My Book Boyfriend: Jay Heaton

Yay! My Book Boyfriend Day! This is a super fun meme hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader--you can read all about it here!

My literary crush of this week is none other than Jay Heaton from The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting.
Oh Jay...(smiles dreamily) he is just such a sweet guy! He's one of the few literary males out there who is a great best friend and boyfriend! Goodness, I just love how well he and Violet fit each other like two pieces of a puzzle! He's sweet and pretty protective, but not in a macho/alpha-male way.

“I've been so worried about strange men following you around that I forgot how dangerous Homecoming Queens can be.”       

“He loved her.
Jay Heaton, her best friend since childhood was in love with her. He didn't say it but she knew that it was true.
And the part that really freaked her out, the part that caught her completely off guard, is that he wasn't alone. Because even though she'd been denying it for a long, long time, it had always been there... waiting beneath the surface of their friendship. And now that it was out there was no going back.
And it was so weird to even be thinking it but...... she was in love with him too.” 


Violet: "You don't get to tell me what to do! You're not my father, you know."
Jay: "Thanks for clarifying that, Violet," he said sardonically. "It would be creepy if you got your boyfriend and your father confused.


“I was just waiting for you to want me as much as I wanted you.” His words were quiet but carried one hell of an impact. “I knew we were going to be together; it was just a matter of time. I kept hoping that you would figure it out. But for a smart girl, you’re a little dense, Vi. I kept bringing up Lissie Adams, and showing you the notes she was leaving me, hoping that you’d get pissed enough to finally admit how you felt about me.”


 "I can't lose you," he explained, shrugging as if those weren't the most wonderful words she'd ever heard before. "not now that I finally have you."