Her Last Whisper: A Novel (Dr. Charlotte Stone)

I remember when I received an ARC of The Last Victim through Amazon Vine and had no idea what I was in store for. The reviews were mixed, because of all things, the "hero" in the story appeared to be a serial killer, which grossed people out, but following the genre of paranormal romance and urban fanstasy, I knew there was more to this than meets the eye. For Karen Robards fans, this series is very different than what you're used to and some people love it, while others hate it, but I for one, love the series. One of the biggest differences is the frenetic way the book is written. It's edgy with lots of long, disrupted sentences that give it a crazy, fast paced quality. The first installment is very similar to Darynda Jones's Charlie Davidson series, which is another fantastic urban fantasy/paranormal romance suspense series, but over the last three books, this series has come into it's own and although I love the journey so far, I do think we need a major leap forward to get this series on sturdy ground. If you haven't read this series from the beginning, you could pick it up here, but the dynamics will not be as fulfilling so it's best if you're already on this ride to pick up book 3.Dr. Charlie Stone is an expert psychologist who profiles serial killers. She's determined to find a correlation in their nature or nuture that leads to this behavior. She often helps the FBI in profiling, but since the last novel, where she was almost killed, she's a little slow to join the hunt these days. That, and she's distracted not only by the ghosts she can see and hear, but also by the gorgeous ghost whom she's apparently falling in love with.This go around, we learn alot more about Michael's past as he gets closer and closer to leaving this earthly plane forever. Charlie is desperate to keep him with her, but constantly jeopardizes the situation by running into scrape after scrape which calls for desperate measures from Michael to protect her, thus thrusting him out of the human realm of the living. This viscious cycle is what leaves this a four star instead of a five for me. Charlie is absolutely deranged and can't make up her mind about what she wants and what is good for her. This angst dragged on quite a bit and the push pull of her feelings for Michael get a bit tiring. The ending is definitely a bit of a cliff hanger and I'm curious to see where it brings us, but if we go back to denials or worse yet, the end of Michael, then this series has no place to go. He is the very essence of what makes this series so good.

First, I have to vent a few gripes, even though I thoroughly enjoyed this book:GRIPE #1: The cliffhangers are growing old; at some point we readers need answers. As a reminder, Book 1 is  The Last Victim: A Novel (Dr. Charlotte Stone) , and Book 2 is  The Last Kiss Goodbye: A Novel (Dr. Charlotte Stone) . It was implied in Book 2's ending cliffhanger that Dr. Charlie Stone would finally investigate how it was Michael Garland came to be falsely accused and convicted of multiple murders before being murdered himself while serving his life-sentence in prison. Instead, Robards uses Book 3 to delay readers' gratification and endanger our hopes for that HEA. Rather than uncovering the mystery that surrounds Michael's life and death, Charlie once again agrees to help out FBI Agent Tony Bartoli and his crew in apprehending another wacko serial killer. Okay, that's dismissive of Book 3's sufficiently horrifying thriller premise. But from now on, I hope Michael's frame-up and death take priority with Charlie.GRIPE #2: While I was very pleased by Charlie and Michael's evolving romance (such chemistry, such repartee--great stuff!), I didn't like the implication that Charlie should settle for less than Michael. Enough already with posing Tony as a possible romantic alternative. Tony's a great guy, yes, but Book 2 made it clear that he doesn't float Charlie's boat, so give it up already. Charlie and Michael have earned their karmic return on investment...Despite the above gripes, Robards really is a master at the top of her form in the romantic suspense genre. ****SPOILER**** After Giselle Kaminsky, sister of the prickly FBI Agent Lena Kaminsky, is abducted from her Las Vegas hotel, Lena calls in the cavalry. They soon learn that Giselle has fallen prey to a snuff-film conspiracy and is next in line to be strung up and disemboweled on camera (always such grisly and gruesome ends for Robards' unlucky victims). The crew are by now a well-oiled crime-solving machine: they race against the clock to locate Giselle before she is executed for entertainment. The inevitable confrontation between Charlie and the killer(s) is as dangerous and hair-raising as readers have come to expect from Robards.Ultimately though, Charlie and Michael are the star attraction of this show. Whenever the stress of the investigation drives Charlie to the end of her tether, it's Michael who reels her back in. He may throw down the occasional bad-boy quip to get a rise out of Charlie in front of an unaware audience, but he never loses focus on her well-being or wavers in his commitment to her. And did I mention their sexual tension is smoking hot? As the series evolves, Charlie grows more vulnerable with Michael, and he more protective. Their yearning for one another deserves a happy ending...somehow.

I love Karen Robards' Dr. Stone books. Although this one wasn't as exciting as the first two, it is still very entertaining. Dr. Charlotte "Charlie" Stone is a psychologist specializing in the study of serial killers. In the first book Charlie acquired Michael her own sexy ghost, who tries to keep her out of danger.In this book a serial killer was kidnapping and killing women in Las Vegas. FBI Agent Lena Kaminsky's sister has been taken. Although Lena doesn't like Charlie, she ask for her help. Following is a very fast moving race against time to save Lena's sister.The story is full of suspense and plenty of funny, sarcastic, and sexy dialogue between Charlie and Michael. Ms. Robards' description of a procedural forensic investigation is very believable. Of course there were also psychics, walking and talking ghosts, but that just added to the story and made it more interesting in my opinion. I gave the book a 4.5 for 2 reasons. 1.) I thought Lena was overly hateful to everyone who was trying to find her sister. 2.) Michael vanished quickly without a hint of returning.I hope this isn't the end of the series. I want to read more of Charlie and Michael.Good reading to all,"retired to read"

Good to lose yourself in

again a wonderful read, Karen Robards is such a good writer, this is another great crime thriller

Absolutely loved this could not put it down, sad when it finished on a cliffhanger though as wanted to read more, can not wait for the next instalment

superb story.... got me hooked and am looking forward to the next soon to be released one!

Looking forward to reading book 4