Desires of the Dead: The Body Finder 2 (ARC)

Author: Kimberly Derting
Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal, Mystery
Publication Date: February 15, 2011
Age Range: Young-Adult
Pages:  368
Date Scoot Read: January 2011
Source: ARC from Book It Forward Tours

Scoot's Rating: 9-  Great read! Couldn’t put it down.

Synopsis (via Goodreads): 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 they 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. 

Scoot's Review:
*Spoiler-ish Warning!* After looking over it again I feel that a few things in this review might be considered spoilers to some readers.  So don’t read it unless you REALLY want to know!

I LOVED The Body Finder, and meeting the bar of that first novel is pretty tough... and sadly, Desires of the Dead didn’t quite reach my ‘awesomeness-level expectations’.  Was it a great read? Yes. Was it an epic read? No.  In the story, Violet’s life is settling back into ‘normal’ a few months after the traumatic experiences of the last book.  When someone new moves into town, and Violet discovers another tragic death her life is thrown off kilter.  Filled with danger, mystery and betrayals this book will often have you on the edge of your seat.  The pace is not as quick as the first novel, but it still manages to keep you wanting more. I think what bothered me about this book was one of my favorite characters, Violet, changing in negative ways.  She turns up the angst to high and then decides to start hiding things from Jay ... and she wonders why everything is going wrong. Hmm, I wonder?  Luckily Jay was still his amazing self and the haunting mystery was still enthralling, making this a great read.  I was happy with the book overall, but it did leave me with a lot of questions (aka – Rafe?!) and I REALLY want to the next book to come out soon.  A year seems like a long time!  If you enjoyed The Body Finder make sure to pick up a copy of Desires of The Dead when it releases next week! 

YA Content Warnings: non-graphic love scene – implied sex