Brad About Books: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

THE BODY FINDER
Published: March 16, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 327 pages
Source: Amazon.com
Series: The Body Finder #1
First Line: "Violet Ambrose wandered away from the safety of her father as she listened to the harmony of sounds weaving delicately around her."

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 that 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 the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping 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 was a creepy and scary read with a supernatural twist that kept me up into the dark hours in the night on the edge of my seat, fearing for the characters in the book. 

I was first turned off by this book because of the slow beginning and third-person writing style. This all changed by the third chapter. I was hooked into the story and didn’t want to stop reading. The way that Kimberly Derting made this novel come to life was beyond belief. She describes this book in a way that makes it seem like it is real life.

I loved how the killer had some chapters to himself. They were terrifying in a way that made me want to shut my eyes really tight, so I wouldn’t have to read what would happen to his victims. Of course, I couldn’t help myself but read away.

Violet is such a complex character. She can detect dead people through “echoes”, or imprints left from a killer. That idea alone was what made me want to read this book. She is not afraid to go out into the real world and find the killer herself.

I think Jay is perfect for Violet. They have been best friends since they were young, and they enjoy the same things. I think Kimberly Derting has made a great YA couple in THE BODY FINDER.

Speaking of page numbers, around page 250 is what made me the most frightened. The suspense and climax leading up to this scene is unbelievable. And when this big scene does happen, I had to set the book down and take a step away from the book. It was that scary.

Overall, THE BODY FINDER was a great novel that makes for a great first novel. I can’t wait to read more of the series! 

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