You know it's bad when they crawl out your eyes.

I am incapable of thinking of this book without comparing it to Christopher Golden's Body of Evidence series. Which I love (and have actually read all 10 books of). Alane Ferguson's The Christopher Killer may not be as good (to me) as Golden's, but it's a pretty darn good mystery in the gross-out CSI formula. In fact, it's been nominated for an Edgar Award.

Catch that gross-out comment? Yeah, I meant that. Really meant it. Cameryn knows what she wants to do when she grows up. Much to her grandmother's chagrin she is determined to become a forensic pathologist. As in the land of only-in-books, Cammie is fortunate enough that her father is the medical examiner of their small town and trusts his self-educated 17-year-old daughter to start assisting him on cases. Implausibility aside, Cammie hops onto the case when the small town is shocked by a rash of (convenient) murders. The connecting element is the St. Christopher Medal left with each victim. It won't be easy for her to crack the case; she faces the revulsion of a deeply decomposing body, the skepticism of officials (well, duh), a beau her father doesn't trust for unknown reasons, a long-lost mother, and a killer that might be coming after her next...

It might be a lot to cover in one short genre book, but since it's intended as a series, it's a good set-up and introduction to the characters. The nicely detailed crime scenes don't seem to hold anything back (yeah, got nothing backing that one up...I've only seen nicely embalmed bodies); the first one, a 'floater', (oh, jeeze, I'm grossed out just recalling this, and I read it months ago) includes odor, flies, sloughing skin, and everyone's favorite, maggots. I especially enjoyed this description: "Her peppermint oil, her finger, nothing could stem the sickly sweet scent of rotting flesh that filled her nose, her mouth, her very insides. She was breathing in particles of Larry Robertson" p37 (of my ARC, thanks Sleuth/Viking!).

Need a girl say more?

The sequel, Angel of Death is already out, and the third, Circle of Blood will be following shortly.

Also blogged:
Sara
Reading Junky
Reading Fool

Book Group, episode 2

Weight of Water by Anita Shreve. Not really something I'd normally choose to read, but my first choice for Book Group got turned down by the overlords, as they have their own designs on that title, so I had to choose quickly. I didn't really enjoy it. Most of the characters were unlikeable, which, ok, whatever, you can't like everyone. The time shifts were jarring and came without warning. I can make an argument saying real life is never as structured as a novel; suddenly displacing a reader better mimics how certain things in life trigger memories and thoughts regardless of what is really going on around you. But what really bugged me about the novel? It was cold. Not just because the setting was stark, although that didn't help. But our narrator was of the "Just the facts, ma'am" philosophy, and the book tended to read like dry non-fiction. I wasn't emotionally invested. At all.

The book group (3 new people this time! yay!), pointed out something I hadn't realized. Our primary narrator, Jean, never talks much about herself; her past; her emotions. I was so irritated with the obvious distance she created between herself and the story that it didn't even occur to me that we really knew next to nothing about her. While I know that Shreve has a very loyal following, I'll only give this book to those who enjoy a good depressing read. Myself? I don't think I need to read anymore Shreve.

Jean, a photojournalist, is sent to cover a scandalous double ax-murder that happened in 1873 on a remote rock off the coast of Maine. She brings along her family and as she delves deeper into the murder she begins to see parallels between the past and the present, with equally disastrous consequences.

The ladies, while not overcome with love for the title, did seem to be glad to have read it. And they said they'd come back for the next one, so, really, I can't ask for more, can I? =D