I Know What You Did Last Summer.... You Read Those Books (Ha ha!)

Released: March 1st, 2010

The Body Finder
Kimberly Derting
Hardcover; 336 pages
HarperCollins

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.

Brent’s opinion of the novel:
     One of my best friends, Emily, recommended I read this way back in March. I was uber busy back then, and only got ten pages in, giving it up. Well, now about two weeks ago, Emily forced (no, she  like forced) me to start back up. And I thanked her when I was done! The Body Finder was a thrilling  mystery novel with a delightful love story.
     The novel opens with a little girl, playing in the  woods. Something’s calling to her. Pulling her in with a rhythmic pulse. Echoes, she calls them. The little girl—Violet, her name is—finds the deteriorating body of a dead girl. That’s when her parents know she’s different. Ten years later, now sixteen, Violet is still drawn to the Echoes of dead things, mostly animals. But then she happens  across the body of another teenage girl, and the local news channels keep reporting missing people—the same girls Violet is finding. A serial killer is terrorizing her small town. Violet enlists the help of her best-friend-that-she-totally-has-a-major-crush-on-who-has-a-crush-on-her-back-but-is-too-scared-to-say-anything, and together they set out to find the killer.
     First off, the characters in The Body Finder grabbed my attention more so than the mystery. I thought they were perfectly believable and easy to like. I could picture them as members of my family, so that’s a good thing—ha ha! Violet had a close connection with her parents, which was sweet. And omg girl, her best friend. She had this wonderful best-friend-that-she-totally-has-a-major-crush-on-who-has-a-crush-on-her-back-but-is-too-scared-to-say-anything-but-they-were-totally-meant-to-be-and-it’s-bs-they-won’t-do-anything-I-mean-because-they’d-be-so-cute-together-and-they-both-need-to-start-dating-today-before-I-get-mad type thing going on, and that was a joy to read.
     The other big part of the storyline, the mystery, was equally as great as the romance. I wanted to know who was killing the girls as much as Violet wanted to kiss Jay—which is a lot! Some chapters were actually in the killer’s perspective, which was I kind-of enjoyed, in a twisted sad-but-hopeful kind of way. Though, I do have to admit: when the killer was revealed, it was expected, and sort of a let-down. I expected more. But I was still pleased with the ending and the reveal.
     The Body Finder was mysterious and romantic. The storyline was original; the characters were fresh; the book was fan-tastic.

Book Trailer: