Dead Silence: Review, Book BFF, & Giveaway

Dead Silence (The Body Finder #4)

By: Kimberly Derting

Published By: HarperCollins

Publication Date: April 16, 2013

Page Count: 336

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: ARC Kindly Provided by Publisher

Audience: Young Adult - Paranormal Mystery

I had it in my mind that Dead Silence was the fourth and final book in the Body Finder series when I started reading this, but I sit here having finished and I realize that there is a lot more story left to come for Violet and Jay. They have come a long way since the first book; Violet went through a bit of a sulky and distrusting phase, and I am glad that Dead Silence saw her emerging from that, with a strong resolve to start telling the truth to the people who care about her. I have always felt that too many YA books see the protagonist lying to their loved ones, and I enjoyed the honest Violet from the first book, so I loved Violet’s resolution to play it straight here. It isn't always the easy option, but it usually feels better than lying, as Violet discovers.

Violet seemed to flounder about a bit in this story, her usual detective shenanigans took a back seat to her attempts to deal with her own imprint and the issues surrounding the team that she (supposedly) works with initially. In anticipation of reading Dead Silence, I spent quite a while thinking about how Violet could cope with possessing an imprint of her own, and had come to the conclusion that if I was her, I would probably be driven mad. I was not far wide of the mark; Violet barely knows what on Earth is happening to her to start with. She can’t think straight and quality sleep is nearly impossible. It is her discovery of a brand new scene of murder-most-horrid that gives her something to focus on, particularly because one of the victims doesn’t have an imprint, and that is something brand new for Violet. She starts to dig, trying to learn more about the murder, her own ability, and uncovers some really interesting information.

I wasn’t sure how much I liked Violet’s team of paranormally gifted individuals to start with in the series at all, however by the end of Dead Silence, this odd collective gained much more depth of back story and they have become a lot more interesting to me. I learned to like Rafe a little more, despite him provoking my ‘mamma bear’ protective response over Jay... Jay is my ultimate book boyfriend and he once again made me swoon several times. He is one of those gallant types, who is always there for Violet. Except when she endangers herself and then he can sulk with the best of them. But, you always know that at the end of the day, he is there for her unquestionably. In fact, sometimes it is only Jay’s anger with Violet that helps her see the truth in her actions, so even when he is being unreasonably moody, he is still awesome. *sigh* (I also love the fact that he refused to change his t-shirt and jeans to blend in a little better in one of the scenes. Jay is Jay, deal with it, end of. *swoon* Ladies, the line starts here.)

As always, it is the echoes & imprints that I find fascinating about this world. Murder victims give out extremely distinctive echoes, and the imprint of those echoes are attached to the murderers. I love how inventive Kimberly Derting is with those echoes; each one is unique and some of them affect Violet, who is the only one able to detect them, in really interesting ways. This time, Violet is virtually blinded by one of the imprints, and it made for a really good final scene as she came face to face with the murderer. As usual for a Body Finder book there are chapters from the point of view of the murderer, and they help to push the story forwards. I found this particular killer quite an interesting one; I felt quite sorry for them when I saw what their life was like. I also felt that this person needed more than a little psychiatric help, and watching their descent into dissociative madness to fulfill what was missing from their life was quite sad.

Dead Silence started with a really shocking prologue, and ended with a great crescendo which was made even better because of the drama revealed in the prologue, but I felt that the middle was a little slow to give it more than four birdies. It isn't Violet’s fault that it took her a while to figure things out, as she was going a little crazy, and she came through in the end. I think I would have also liked a touch more romance from Violet and Jay, because realistically I am a Jay-junkie and I would totally sit here and read a whole book about him!! The story was great though; the characters gained a little more substance (such that I care more about Chelsea and Rafe now), and the mythology surrounding Violet’s gift got a little more oomph to it too, so I really finish this book feeling quite pleased with it.

I look forward to there being a next installment of the story (*crosses fingers*), so we can find out a little more about who is really in control of the team at the Center, what they hope to achieve, and just how strong Violet can be in the face of it all.

Summary

Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers…that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.

When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.

About the Author

Kimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series (HarperCollins) and THE PLEDGE trilogy (Simon & Schuster). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter or Facebook for the entire world to see. 

You can visit her website at www.kimberlyderting.com

Violet Ambrose from The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting 

 Nickname: Vi 

 Appearance: 

Long, unruly curly hair 

Green eyes 

Pale skin 

Average height, athletic build 

 I like to think of Violet having coppery brown hair, and imagine her looking a bit like Emma Stone (with curlier hair). 

 Facts about Violet: 

She has been best friend with Jay Heaton since first grade, but only recently realized she loves him. 

Violet isn't so great at math; she usually gets Jay to re-teach it to her. 

Violet always takes the lead when she and Jay do something, and he always lets her. 

She can sense echoes from the corpses of murdered people and animals. 

Since she was very little Violet has been finding the remains of hunted animals and burying them in her own cemetery, Shady Acres, to give them peace. This makes their echoes less strong. 

Violet can sense the echoes from the murdered on the perpetrator of the crime too; so sometimes she has to put her cat out as he is a natural born predator! 

Violet can’t rest until she has helped the victim with the echo find some kind of resting peace, this usually means she feels awful until they have been buried. 

 Quotes: 

 Instead she accused him: “Well, maybe if you hadn’t pushed me I wouldn’t have fallen.” She made the outlandish accusation with a completely straight face. He shook his head. “You’ll never be able to prove it. There were no witnesses – it’s just your word against mine.” She giggled and hopped down. “Yeah, well, who’s gonna believe you over me? Weren’t you the one who shoplifted a candy bar from the Safeway?” 

 “I always thought you were kind of a bad seed.” He gave her a questioning look. “Seriously, a ‘bad seed’, Vi? When did you turn ninety and start saying things like ‘bad seed’? 

 “He nudged her with his shoulder but didn’t say anything. They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the silence of being alone and enjoying each other’s presence. It was easy... and comfortable.” 

 “Is that how it is now, we're back to just friends?" Violet asked, raising her eyebrows at him challengingly. "I'll remember to keep that in mind next time we're 'doing homework'.” 

 Why she’s my Book BFF: 

 Violet is just the luckiest girl in the world... she gets to hang out with Jay all the time. *sigh* (Please do visit the Jay Heaton Book Boyfriend Droolfest!) OK, actually I wouldn’t want to use her just to be near her and steal her boyfriend... Violet is a funny chick. She is determined, independent and she doesn’t let people mess with her or her loved ones. She has an amazing (and awful) gift, and somehow she manages to keep from going insane around all those death echoes. I’d love to tag along on one of her investigations, except for the fact that they get kind of dangerous. She is also seriously brave; she uses her gift to go out there and look for the most evil people, just so she can help people. 

 I also love the fact that she is a totally loyal friend to Jay, and has been for years. They mess around with each other, call each other names and banter back and forth, and I love that about them. It also makes their chemistry zinging!

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