I love this series
( )

I can't believe the plot of this book. I would classify it as fantasy. It even has supernatural elements, with Eve hallucinating all the time and talking to the ghost of her dead daughter. The “hero” instantly irked me, and I wanted the heroine to shoot the bastard. Since all books have a formula, they end up sleeping together (fortunately at the end and off-page). The forced relationship/attraction is also something I dislike. The main character in any book must have a romantic or sexual relationship with someone they meet. Not all single people need a partner for intimacy.

Eve perseveres despite a challenging life. Her grief over losing her daughter inspires her to identify the skulls of missing and unidentified children. As the book progresses, she becomes a doormat… I hate it when books do that. Instead of arguing with the surrounding men, she bows down to them when they say boo. She keeps talking about how she’s standing up to them, but she’s not.

The villain is a cartoon character. He is so terrible it’s laughable. He committed a violent act on a minor character who had no significance to the story. A book should not include violence against women if it doesn't contribute to the plot or character development.

The plot and reasons make little sense. This could be science fiction. The reason behind everything is… politics! In order to prevent a republican from winning, someone wants a different candidate to win an election because the current one is an imposter. There is also the JFK conspiracy that isn’t. I dislike books that bombard you with heavy-handed politics. I wouldn’t have touched this book if I had known it contained so much political nonsense. A warning in the book blurb could prevent wasted time.

The book is ideal for someone who wants an easy yet engaging read. As an avid reader seeking immersion in a story, I'd steer clear of this book. ( )

Digital audiobook read by Laurel Lefkow

First in a series starring Eve Duncan, a forensic sculptor, whose job it is to create a likeness based on skulls retrieved from crime scenes. She particularly passionate about “finding” images of children, as her own daughter, Bonnie, was kidnapped and presumed murdered a few years before the beginning of this novel. But now she’s been asked by billionaire John Logan to work for him for two weeks, and an extremely high salary, plus an equally large donation to Eve’s favorite charity. The identity of the person whose skull she is given stuns Eve and explains why so many people are obviously trying to stop her and Logan from discovering and revealing the truth.

There are plenty of twists and turns and plenty of action as Eve moves from crisis to disaster to being chased and having her mother in danger. Political intrigue and power-hungry people with evil intentions further muddy the waters. Then Johansen throws in a romantic tension, with a push/pull attraction between Logan and Eve that just didn’t ring true for me. Plus, I wanted more about the forensics.

It held my attention and kept me reading – but I’ve already forgotten it.

Laurel Lefkow did a good job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and differentiates the characters enough so as to avoid confusion. ( )

The story is good, but I struggled a bit with believability some points. ( )

This was my first Eve Duncan mystery, but I'm really looking forward to others. There were moments where I wished for just a bit more depth of character in the people around Eve, but on the whole, I really enjoyed this work and it was an easy escape to fall into. The plot and characters also felt fairly believable--and considering the premise, I think that's impressive in and of itself. I'm sorry I didn't start with the beginning of the series, but then, this was a nice intro., so I'd certainly recommend it regardless. ( )