Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Release Day: 15th February, 2011

Publishers: Harper Collins

Pages: 368pgs

The Story

The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found.

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered - and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

The Review

I loved The Body Finder but now since reading the sequel, I'm totally smitten with Violet and her loveable, adorable and totally guy-love-interest-worthy, Jay! A lot of the time, the first book in a series is awesome - you know, when you're left wanting more - and then once you dive into the sequel . . . you usually don't get your money's worth . . . but I absolutely LOVED this book! From it's high-tension, from its sweet-and-sometimes-frustrating-but-still-kind-of-great-swoony-lovey-dovey romance and of course . . . you also get an awesome mystery all blended in together!

In DESIRES OF THE DEAD, you finally get to see a more serious side to Violet and Jay's relationship. In the first book, The Body Finder, it focused more on the long-time friendship between these two main characters and how their romantic relationship came about, however in this sequel, you get to see them away from the "best friend" light. To prove a point but without giving away spoilers, I will say that there's a scene in the book that was sooooo sweet (if you guys have read this, then you know what I mean by this SCENE) and I loved the way the author dealt with their relationship this time round. I guess you could say that the development of their characters was built more on attraction and any girl will fall for this! Trust me! Meanwhile, readers will get to explore how Violet is coming into her own - what with her "gift" of hearing echoes of the dead - and how she struggles in using this power.

But what I love most about this book is how Kimberly Derting develops her mysteries and how well she writes. Like my favourite Nancy Drew novels, this author knows how to make you KEEP GOING in reading and you don't want to stop until you have reached the very end! At times, the book was quite predictable in terms of who's the KILLER and how things may wrap up in the last pages (since I'm such a Nancy Drew super-freak sleuth) , but nonetheless, while the case is closed . . . there are still many questions that need to be answered. If you haven't devoured this series yet, please do because DESIRES OF THE DEAD was a great addition to the YA series and I'm looking forward to the third installment of The Body Finder series!

The Rating

5/5 stars