Christopher Rice | BLOOD ECHO

Plot (via Goodreads):

Kidnapped and raised by serial killers, Charlotte Rowe suffered an ordeal that made her infamous. Everyone in the world knew who she was. But no one in the world has any idea what she’s become…

Charlotte is an experiment. And a weapon. Enabled by a superpower drug, she’s partnered with a shadowy pharmaceutical company to hunt down and eliminate society’s most depraved human predators. But her latest mission goes off the rails in a horrifying way. Unsettled by her own capacity for violence, Charlotte wants some time to retreat so she can work on her new relationship with Luke, a sheriff’s deputy in the isolated Central California town she now calls home.

If only the threats hadn’t followed Charlotte there.

Something sinister is evolving in Altamira, California—a massive network of domestic terrorists with ties to Charlotte’s influential and corrupt employers. As a vast and explosive criminal conspiracy grows, the fate of Charlotte’s hometown hangs in the balance. With everyone she cares about in danger, Charlotte has no choice but to bring her powers home.

Charlotte Rowe has been triggered, and now she’ll have to take matters into her own powerful hands.

Review:

Last winter, Christopher Rice really brought it with the novel Bone Music. The first in a new series, this title was a perfect introduction to what I would consider a novel that is in its own genre. It is a supernatural thriller with a serial killer backdrop and I was obsessed. Now a year later, Blood Echo, the highly anticipated sequel to Bone Music is out and it is just as thrilling, campy, and hypnotic as ever.

This one begins a little bit more high-octane by featuring an intense sub-plot and jumping right into the action. I had initially wished the plot went more in this direction as I absolutely loved this story-line and was enjoying the direction that it was heading in. Around 100 pages in, Rice took a hard left and went into a new direction with this story and I found myself anticipating what was to come next...almost like the first quarter of the book was a novella and now we get to dive into the real story! I enjoyed this tactic and felt like I was at a reunion with the characters that I grew to love (especially one character in particular who I felt grew a lot and could use their own spin-off).

For about half of the novel, the pacing slows down and is definitely more character driven than its predecessor, but fear not because it still features Rice's spellbinding writing and a complex and tightly woven plot that is not only more intriguing than most of the thrillers I've read, but allows you to take a few deep breaths before an action-packed and intense finale that was fantastically executed. While I am not a huge fan of  the conspiracy plots, Rice does a fantastic job featuring enough detail that it made sense to me and wrapping it up in the end enough that I had a broad idea as to what had happened. Combining a supernatural novel with a conspiracy themed plot and an ending that brought out my inner Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan is the perfect storm. The very end not only gives you a glimpse into a character who was secondary for most of the novel, but featured an ending that has me already marking my calendar for the Burning Girl Book 3!

Special thanks to Christopher Rice for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5