Hey!! Don’t Dig There!

Dear Mysterious Powers and Angry Evil Dudes… my how I have missed you.

As you know by know (because I’m annoying and have said it about 500 times) I have been slammed with review request over the last month which, coincidentally enough, has left me little time to my OWN devises (aka the multitude of books I purchased that having been sitting on my Kindle like little sad puppies for a while now.)  So, when my husband had to make a sudden trip out of town, and offered to bring the kiddos with him, my first thought was Wahoo!!! I can read ALL NIGHT with no interruptions!!  Well, of course that didn’t happen, instead I went a little overboard with the Netflix, but regardless, I still managed to knock out not 1 but 2 of my lovely little paranormal ditties.

First up is “The Body Finder”

For most of you, you have already seen this book because it was a part of my “2010 Paranormal Book Preview” but for those that haven’t… it’s time to quit stalling and buy it already.

It’s not often that a title of a book and the plot of the book are one in the same (usually the title is much more abstract) but with “The Body Finder” what you read… is what you get.

Violet has a little problem.  Dead people talk to her. Not in the hey-how-are-you-I’m-a-ghost way one would expect, but more the what-is-that-ringing-oh-that’s-right-there’s-something-dead-buried-there way. Since she was a child the echos of the dead have spoken to her, and unless they are properly put to rest, Violet herself will get no sleep.  So, when her sleepy little town suddenly turns into the hot spot for kidnapped and murdered teenage girls, Violet does what she does best, she finds the body and then finds the echo that matches it.  With her best friend and local hottie Jay by her side nothing can go wrong right? Not so much.  When a nightmare, Violet thought had ended, suddenly turns into a game with her being the pawn, can she escape with her life or is she the next to be found beneath the trees?

Now, to be perfectly honest I’m not sure if I liked this book so much because of my recent paranormal absence or because I was expecting another “preview” let down, but the fact remains… this was one of the best YA books I have read so far this year.  “Derting” (this was her debut) was not flawless by any means, the first couple of chapters were sloppy and repetitive, and the character development was extremely lopsided; but by the time the action crept in her writing smoothed out enough for it to be enjoyable.  Her YA angst techniques were in full force and very well executed (loved the party scene) and the suspense towards the end of the book was not only dead on, it was surprising.  The one thing that discouraged me however was a misinterpretation about 70% through when I thought “Derting” had chopped the ending bluntly and unnecessarily, but have no fear… I was wrong, which made the last 2 chapters even more exciting.  I’m not sure what “Derting” has up here sleeve for her next novel, but lets just hope that she learns from her mistakes, tweaks them,  and runs like the wind… her knack for story telling is obviously natural, now all she needs is a little more focus and a mission.

There were bells in the cemetery, evil blondes, oil like substances in the lake, flat tires, over-protective boys, crutches, man hunts, unintentional cliff diving, and a chase through the woods that left several people breathless.

This one is a must read for paranormal lovers, I’m just glad the media finally got one right.

Happy Reading my fellow Finders and remember: peace and quiet is often over-rated…use the closest bathroom available.

For a complete book description click image.

[Rating:4/5]