Review of The Last Echo

My review of The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting is an ARC that I received from Kimberly Derting herself as a winner of a giveaway. The following review is my honest opinion.

Goodreads Summary: "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...."

First off let me begin this review by putting your minds at ease, or at least the minds that aren't busy stalking...err following Kimberly Derting's twitter feed. The Last Echo is not in fact the LAST echo in the sense that the series is ending, there will be at least a fourth Body Finder novel coming...sometime in the future.

Now for the review...

If I'm going to be completely honest, and I owe it to you guys to be, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in Desires of the Dead. The Body Finder was totally epic, I absolutely loved that book. With that in mind I wasn't sure what to expect from this third volume despite it's totally gorgeous cover. After all, we're not supposed to judge books by those. In theory.

The Last Echo blew me away. Literally blew me away. While I wouldn't say there was nonstop action there was more of that foreboding tone to the book that lured me into The Body Finder in the first place. It's the kind of book that leaves you constantly glancing over your shoulder, flinching at every sound and positive that everyone is out to get you.

Again one of my favorite aspects of Derting's novel is the fact that you get the dual perspectives; not quite alternating chapters between Violet, our body finding heroine, and our resident killer. The first time I read one of her novels I was wary of this, I thought for sure it would scare me out of my mind and send me running in the opposite direction. And I was right. Being in a serial killer's mind is INSANELY SCARY, and I give Kimberly Derting major props for being able to put herself in that position in order to write it. The extra angle adds so much to the creep factor.

The romance between Violet and Jay is as steamy as always while not quite being the forefront of the plot. Something else that Kimberly Derting does amazingly well. You get how intense the two of them are, you get the feel for their relationship without it ever distracting the reader from the actual plot of the novel. I absolutely love this couple, Jay is the ultimate in boyfriends. And while on the topic of relationships I have to again bring out the fact that the talented authoress once again brought Violet's parents into the mix. I love how she bridges the gap between having them involved in their daughter's life while still allowing Violet to be independent. You really just don't see enough of that in YA.

And OMGOMGOMG THE ENDING. :o

I'm giving The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting a five out of five stars review. For those of you, who like me were disappointed ever so slightly by Desires of the Dead, you'll find all of your faith in Derting restored with this latest addition to her series. There was romance, a hint of drama, and of course the mystery that we have all come to know and love. I'm eagerly awaiting her next installment and so glad that the series isn't coming to an end quite yet because I'm sure Violet has some more amazing adventures to take us on with her extraordinary talent.