The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting - slight spoilers

Published: 2009
Publisher: Headline
Pages: 336
Rating: 4/5

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 discover dead bodies - or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes 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 dead birds her cat had left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes that she might be the only one who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness of her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer - and Violet is unnerved by the hope 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.

I really enjoyed The Body Finder. I thought that the concept of someone with the ability to "find dead bodies" was really original, and the story had me hooked from the first few chapters. I really liked Violet as a heroine; her determinedness to find out who the killer was, and not stopping, even it means putting herself in danger a lot.

The actual murderer's chapters and points of view freaked me out quite a lot, I must say, and for that I've got to applaud Kimberly Derting for writing their scenes so well. Some parts of the book dragged a bit, but I liked Violet and Jay's steady romance; it was very sweet and lightened up an otherwise dark book. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series

Review - Fade Out by Rachel Caine - Spoilers

Fade Out (Morganville Vampires #7)
Published:2010
Publisher: Allison and Busby
Pages: 348

Description:
Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedom, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...
Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worse. Claire and Eve soon realise this film project, featuring the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger - and way more dangerous - than anyone suspected...

Review: 4/5
Well, what can I say about Rachel Caine and the Morganville Vampires. The stories are always full of action and plot twists that keep me reading, so it's really no wonder that I always get through the books fast. In this seventh installment of the series, the town of Morganville is recovering after the epic battle in the previous book, and Claire's friend Eve decides to join a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Eve's starring in it with her friend Kim, who Claire takes an instant disliking to, and the events of the book really start from there.

The story is really hooking in this one; I wanted to find out straightaway why Claire disliked Kim so quickly, and it is really one of those books that you just can't put down. I really enjoy reading Claire and Myrnin's scenes; he is sweet with just the right dose of insane-ness. I also enjoyed reading Ada's scenes; even though she isn't the nicest of characters, her bits are almsot always entertaining. Overall, I really enjoyed this installment in the Morganville Vampires series, and I enjoy reading on to find out what happens next to Claire and co. 4/5

Currently Reading, mini book haul

I haven't updated this page in a while, so I thought I would share what I am currently reading and what books I have bought in the last few months.
I bought:
The Demon Trappers: Forsaken by Jana Oliver;
Wildthorn by Jane Eagland;
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare;
Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson;
Cujo by Stephen King;
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud;
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

I have been quite good with buying books so far; the last one of these that I bought was City of Ashes, I also have 40+ books to get through on my bookshelf so I'm hoping to read a big chunk of them before I buy anymore (if I can!).

I am currently reading Fade Out by Rachel Caine. It is the seventh book of the Morganville Vampires series and I should have a review on it by the end of this week.