The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

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 sense 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 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 she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her 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.
{taken from goodreads.com}

I normally can't handle suspense thrillers - especially involving "realistic murders".  I'm a wimp when it comes to scary stuff.  The more real it comes across, the more frightened I become.  Most of my reading gets done while I'm at work, during the day, surrounded by loads of people.  But this book was just too good that I had to keep reading at home, during the night, when I was alone - and that was NOT a good combination!!

The story begins explaining Violet's "gift".  She is able to sense the deceased (whether they be animal or human) after they've been murdered.  What a horrible gift to have, right?  Over time she is able to live with this sixth sense by avoiding hospitals, graveyards, and funerals.  The "echo" - as she calls it - that surrounds their bodies become white noise & she's capable of living as normal of a life as she can.  Until one day, a certain echo that she comes across hits way too close to home.  Young girls in her small town are reported missing & then shortly after their bodies are found (some accidentally by Violet).  News spreads that a serial killer is on the loose.

Mean while Violet is trying to deal with her own teenage hormonal issues.  The biggest one being, Jay Heaton.  The two of them have been friends since they were little kids.  From running around the playground at recess, to watching movies at each others houses.  Violet starts to look at Jay in a different light after he encounters something that most teenage boys do: adolescents & puberty :-)  She realizes that her feelings for him are more than just best-buds & she starts to fantasize about him in a not-so-friendly way.  Like so many young girls at her age, she is certain that Jay doesn't return the same feelings and is too embarrassed to speak up about them.  As the tension in their small town rises about the girls missing & their murders followed, Violet leans on Jay for security.  He knows about her gift & decides to help her put it to good use.

Violet not only senses the echos of those who have been murdered, but she can also sense the imprints on those who committed the act.  Sometimes it is unfortunate if it is someone like a police officer, or from the military.  However - she realizes that she may be able to detect who this serial killer is by the imprints he carries around with him.  The hunt begins & Violet is determined to find this man & stop his killing spree once & for all.  As her plan progresses so do her feelings for Jay.  The two of them have issues of their own to sort out & in the midst of all this chaos, Violet discovers that Jay has been in love with her all this time.

I really enjoyed reading about the relationship between Violet and Jay.  Seeing them progress from childhood friends in to young lovers was very realistic and very romantic.  Jay's character swept me away.  He is the type of friend every girl wants to have at the age of 16.  And better yet, he's the guy every girl wants to fall in love with at the age of 16.  He is devoted to Violet 100%, always putting her best interest before his own.  He simply took my breath away!  I loved that this book took you from deep emotional, swoon-worthy moments to teeth chattering, skin crawling eerie moments.

The story continues with Violet's conquest to find the killer putting her in harms way.  She is now the prey that is being hunted. Can she find him & stop him in time before he strikes again?  Will her sense of discovering his imprints help her, or haunt her?  This book took me for a suspenseful ride!  If you enjoy reading about paranormal, young adult romance, and suspenseful thrillers - then this book is for you!  Kimberly Derting has written a second novel in this series, titled Desires of the Dead, which comes out in February 2011.  I will definitely be picking up that book as well!