As promised, I read Her Final Breath by Robert Dugoni, simply because the first book was so great. At first, it appears there is no connection between the two, but that soon turns out not to be the case.
After reading, I was dissapointed to find that the third book in the series doesn’t come out until Spring, but until then I’ll have to fill my reading void with more traditional horror books, such as The Claiming by Ike Hamill and The Magpies by Mark Edwards, two books on my list. I’ll have those reviews up shortly.
This book took less than a week to read, and I flew through it, devouring the plot line. Just like the previous installment in the series, My Sister’s Grave, there was a key twist at the end and lots of tension in getting to that point. I would argue that this was even better than the first book.
Will I be able to find anything I disliked about it? Good question.
WHAT I LIKED:
- Enhanced Characters
This book took some of the background characters from the first and made them more prominent figures, most of them relating in how they relate to Tracy (the main character.) I enjoyed finding out about these characters. It was unique to already know their name and their basic description, but then this book kind of filled in the blanks as to who they were and how they were important.
Also, the characters from last time were enhanced even further, even Tracy herself. I wasn’t even sure that was possible.
- Struggles Within The Department
In a big city like Seattle (or wherever they are; I forget) there are bound to be power struggles, and definitely within the police department. These had been hinted at in the previous book, but until now had not been shown so obviously.
It was fun and intriguing to see it play out, and to learn about some of the intricacies of police departments. Just like the last book with the judicial system and court rooms, this one seemed to be more focused on the police and law enforcement side of things, which was similarly enjoyable to learn about.
WHAT I DISLIKED:
- Killer’s Identity
This is for a different reason than the last book. In the previous book, I thought that it was random, and a bit sudden. But it was just a twist that shocked me a lot.
In this book, you hardly even get to know the killer. That bugged me. Like, in those mystery shows, it was one where you barely even see the guy for ten seconds before he’s getting arrested and you’re all like, “Who’s this random dude getting shoved into a cop car?” It was like that feeling. I don’t really like that feeling.
- No Flashbacks *crying noises*
There was probably no real way to bring in the flashbacks, but they were so good! I miss them. I miss the italicized words. I miss the young Tracy. I miss that creepy dude on the road who kills people.
I mean… what.
But for real. Those flashbacks I do miss.
(Sorry. Yoda voice had to make one appearance.)
- Katie Pryor
She will probably become a major character in the next book if the pattern is continued, but Katie Pryor, or Officer Pryor, serves little to no purpose in this book. She makes an appearance in two chapters, and is part of the reason Tracy is at the shooting range when everything begins to happen in the very first.
She makes a final showing in the last chapter, where she is seen passing on lessons that Tracy taught her, although I wondered if one shooting practice with her could make that much of a difference.
MY RATING: 8.6/10
I added the .1 because it was better than the last book, but only by a slim margin. I apologize if this review seemed short or cramped, but I have to write like two more before I forget the other books I mentioned.
David Kummer 