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Friday, August 31, 2018

REVIEW: Collecting the Dead by Spencer Kope @stmartinspress @spencerkope

Collecting the Dead
by Spencer Kope

Thanks so much to my book soul sister, Danielle, for sending this book to me. ❤


Publisher:  St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publish Date:  April 4, 2017
Paperback
384 Pages
Series:  Special Tracking Unit #1
Genres:  Mystery, Thriller, Supsense

Magnus "Steps" Craig is part of the elite three-man Special Tracking Unit of the FBI. Called in on special cases where his skills are particularly needed, he works as a tracker. The media dubs him "The Human Bloodhound," since Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface better than anyone else. But there's a secret to his success. Steps has a special ability---a kind of synesthesia---where he can see the 'essence' of a person, something he calls 'shine,' on everything they've touched. His ability is known to only a few people---his father, the director of the FBI, and his partner, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan.

When the remains of a murdered woman are found, Steps recognizes the shine left by the murderer from another crime scene with a physically similar victim. And he uncovers the signature at both scenes---the mark of a sad face. At the same time, another killer, one Steps has dubbed Leonardo and has been trying to track for over ten years, appears again, taunting Steps. But while Steps tries to find a clue that will lead him to Leonardo, the case of the Sad Face Killer heats up. The team uncovers eleven possible victims: missing women who fit the same pattern. Using his skill and the resources of the Bureau, it is a race against time to find the killer before it's too late.

My Review:


One of the best things about the Bookstagram community is meeting people who just get you, the exchanging/gifting of books and having a vast amount of people you can discuss your reading passion with.  For those reading this, if you don't know what this community is, get on Instagram and search #Bookstagram and come on in!!  Thanks so much to Danielle for sending me this copy!  Another good fit - I'm not surprised at all! 😉

Steps is a special character and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him.  Having to hide his special ability makes for a lonely life... though I'm not sure why he's THAT set on it keeping it such a secret - at least from more of his lovables.  I mean, I get it... but I just don't want him to have this struggle.  He does a good job in covering his tracks (some pun intended) by pretending to see clues other than what he actually sees.  People know he's special - they just don't realize HOW special.

I'll be honest, I enjoyed the dialogue and interactions between the characters more than I did the actual case of the Sad Faced Killer.  The banter is fantastic and I found myself giggling through various scenes.  Not to take away from the case itself.  I felt at times this was a humorous thriller that brushed the line of darkness.  A solid opening and introduction to the Special Tracking Unit series.  Very happy to be introduced to this series.

★★★★

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the kind words, Chandra. More on the way :-)

    ReplyDelete