Book Review: The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Last Echo

Author: Kimberly Derting
Series: The Body Finder series, #3
Pages: 358
Publisher: Headline
Date of Publication: 29th March 2012
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: 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....

There may be tiny, tiny, tiny spoilers... Sorry but I went into a little bit of a rant concerning Jay and Rafe ;P

My Thoughts:
When I read the first two books in The Body Finder series this time last year, it was one of my favourites I'd read in a long long while, so when I finally got my grubby little hands on a copy of The Last Echo, I was so excited. I started it as soon as I could.

However, there was something about the beginning that was a little off for me. I think it's probably because I didn't really know what was going on because I'd completely forgotten everything that had happened at the end of the last book, and I'd forgotten who everyone apart from Violet, Jay and Rafe were. There were all these names, all these people and I couldn't for the life of me remember who they were... After about 50 pages it started coming back to me, but before reading this I'd recommend a recap of the first two books, or a reread if possible ;)

The plot of this book was amazing. I loved it. There's a killer - a man who's collecting girls to try and make them love him. He wants a girlfriend, and he's picking them out from the streets, stealing them from their homes and tying them up, painting their nails, and then killing them when he realises that they're not going to love him. He's the slimiest, creepiest, and most shiver-inducing characters I've ever read about. Seriously, he made me feel sick. Eurgh I don't know why I was affected so much by him, but I literally had nightmares about him. *shudder*

Of course though, this made for really exciting reading. It felt like I read the last 100 pages of the book in about 10 minutes (in reality it was probably about 50 minutes, but whatever) because I just could not put it down. I was glued to the pages, needing to make sure that the characters would be all right, that the Girlfriend Collector would not come out victorious. If I'd had the time to read the whole book in one sitting, I would have, just like I did with the first two books - Kimberly's writing had everything I expected from it.

My only complaint, and the reason it lost a half a star, is that THERE IS NOT ENOUGH JAY. There was far too much Rafe and not nearly enough Jay. Violet and Jay were the most adorable couple ever, and the threat of a love triangle emerging really, really annoyed me. Why do you have to ruin a perfect relationship that makes a perfect book, with a completely unnecessary and book-ruining love triangle (not that it did, Violet stays faithful I PROMISE)?! I don't have anything against them (believe it or not) but I think that ONLY when it adds to the story, and I don't think any potential relationship with Rafe would have made the book better. Violet and Jay belong together, and these books would never be as good if they're not. And that's all I'll say, it's already getting quite rant-ish ;P

The Last Echo had (almost) everything I expected from it (the almost being for Jay, of course). It was a fast-paced, action-packed mystery thriller, and I loved it. This series continues to be one of my favourites, and I'm hanging on the edge of my seat, waiting for the final book in the series, which isn't coming out for ANOTHER WHOLE YEAR. It's too long to wait, seriously, I don't know how I will survive. I recommend this series if you haven't started it already - you will NOT be disappointed! :D

*Huge thanks to Headline for sending me this in exchange for an honest review! :) In no way has this affected my opinion of the book.