The Last Victim (Dr. Charlotte Stone, #1)

by Karen Robards

The first in a red-hot new paranormal romantic thriller series by New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards.

Dr Charlotte Stone sees what others do not.

An expert in criminal pathology, Charlie regularly sits face-to-face with madmen. She's been obsessed with learning what makes human monsters commit terrible crimes since she was sixteen, when a man butchered the family of her best friend Holly, then left the girl's body on a seaside boardwalk one week later.

Charlie kept quiet about her eerie postmortem visions of Holly and her mother. And even years later, knowing it might undermine her credibility as a psychological expert, she tells no one about the visits she gets from the spirit world.

Now all-too-handsome FBI agent Tony Bartoli suspects the Boardwalk Killer is back. A teenage girl is missing, her family slaughtered. With time running short for the innocent girl, Bartoli turns to the only person who could stop this vicious murderer.
But Dr Charlotte Stone sees what others do not. And she sees the Boardwalk Killer coming for her.

• ISBN10: 0345535405
• ISBN13: 9780345535405
• Publish Date: 7 August 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 321
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

This book had its good points and its bad points.

THE GOOD: I liked Charlotte (enough, at least), and I thought her ability to see ghosts was interesting. I also liked Bartolli, and the way they worked together. The murders were gory, but the premise was compelling, and the connection to Charlotte’s own life unmistakable. I didn’t even mind Garland, the dead serial killer, being attached to her. He added a needed bit of difficulty to her life.

THE BAD: Charlotte’s “relationship” with Garland is more than a little skeevy. I don’t mind her being somewhat attracted to him – handsome guys can be serial killers too – but when she acts on that attraction things get really weird.

There’s a sequel in the works, and I’m torn about whether or not I’ll read it. I think it will depend on where Robards intends to go with Garland.