Saturday, October 23, 2010

The Body Finder

THE BODY FINDER, BY KIMBERLY DERTING, published 2010 by HarperTeen 327 pages
OVERALL RATING: 5/5


Check out author Kimberly Derting's blog at http://www.kimberlyderting.com for more about her upcoming novel.

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com): 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 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 dead birds her cat left for her. But now that 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.  Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope 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. 

The Body Finder is one of the most talked-about YA debut novels of 2010.  And it's a book well-deserving of all the hub-bub and praise which surrounds it!  It took me two days during which I hardly slept, studied, or ate, to read The Body Finder.  Every page, every sentence is exhilarating and full of the mystery and suspense its reputation promises.  It's a thrilling read evenly saturated with romance and chilling suspense.  

Our heroine Violet is not quite like the tough, fearless heroines and brilliant detectives who populate other recent debuts (I'm thinking Nightshade, Rampant, Graceling-- books whose take-no-prisoners heroines more than make-up for the passiveness of Bella in Twilight).  But Violet is a detective in her own right and her determination to catch the serial killer is admirable.  The chemistry between Violet and Jay was one of my favorite things about the book.  The mystery of the serial killer stalking young girls is one that never fails to quicken my heartbeat whenever I'm walking across a grocery store parking lot at night or taking a jog down a lonely road... In short, The Body Finder is chilling and disturbing, beautifully-written, and masterfully crafted.  It's a book that is certainly not to be missed.    

And on March 15th, 2011 , Kimberly Derting is releasing the sequel to The Body Finder: Desires of the Dead!!  It's definitely one for everyone's to-read list.  I can't wait to read this continuation of Violet and Jay's story and see more of her uncanny ability.

2 comments:

Kristina Barnes♥ said...

Awesome review! I have The Body Finder checked out from the library and have been dying to get my hands into it! :P Definitely going to move it to the top of my tbr as soon as exams are over. :)

Faye( Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm) said...

wow! I need to read this one then! sounds exciting!! I got an ARC of the second one.

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