Collecting the Dead

First Rate Psychological Thriller

I would like to thank Minotaur Books & NetGalley for a copy of this e-ARC to review. While I received this ebook for free, that has no impact upon the honesty of my review.

Goodreads Teaser: "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 skills and the resources of the Bureau, it is a race against time to find the killer before it's too late."

Let me start off by saying that I truly enjoyed this book. It was a very well balanced blend of action and introspection. The action covered all of the characters we get to know, most specifically Steps, Jimmy, and a few other law enforcement officials we meet. The introspection is solely in Steps purview. While there are evil killers, and their victims, they remain mostly on the peripheral.

Steps is a really well crafted character. We can feel his horror and pain, what drives him, and what holds him back. Jimmy is the perfect counterbalance to Steps, and Steps, well Steps is a horse of a different color altogether. I really liked getting Step's mini flashbacks as this story was unfolding around him. They helped explain him to a degree, how he might have become what/who he is, as well as what drives him. I loved how real he was, and that he showed his emotions instead of maintaining a professional facade at all times; he became more human through those actions, and I found it also made him more appealing.

The fact that Steps made mistakes was glorious in my mind, for had he been portrayed as perfect it would have sorely diminished the book. The level and range of emotions that Steps and Jimmy shared enhanced this story, raising it above the majority of police procedurals I've encountered. Yet for all that there were times that I found myself wishing the story would move on, as it seemed to linger on just a few issues a tad longer than I wanted - probably the only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars.

As stories go this one had it all, and in spades. Drama, action, intense emotions, humor; essentially everything you could want wrapped up in one story. Even the end was fantastic, for it didn't stop where I expected it to. Instead, there was a dozy of a cliffhanger, one that I should have seen coming but somehow missed; one that left me anxiously awaiting what's to come.