1.5 starsInterested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!This is the one series that I have read longer than any series, at least a decade. I read all 11 of her Eve Duncan series and when the author announced that she’d be making a final trilogy to fully resolve everything, well, I was ecstatic. The Eve Duncan series chronicles a mother losing her child and never having the closure she needed, never knowing what happened to her, her daughter Bonnie simply disappeared off the face of the Earth. This kick started her career in forensic sculpting and she began helping other families who had lost children bring them home finally. So, this is essentially the conclusion to a 14 book series that I’ve read from the very beginning and loved. I had a lot riding on Iris Johansen being able to pull this off in making it feel the series came full circle and I wasn’t left with any nagging questions. I’m thinking I set the bar too high.The writing seemed a bit too literal, especially since it’s such a long term series it seemed as if she was writing so that someone could jump into the series at any point and completely understand what was going on. I think people need to just read from the beginning so the author isn’t making statements like this: ”You’ve been trained in police sketching as part of your training, Eve.”No shit? Trained as part of her training? Redundant much?Bottom line, the constant repeating of everything that was gone over millions of times already was irritating. And I swear, the last 50 pages from the previous book were pasted at the beginning of this one. I appreciate the refresher but seriously?The EndingThis is going to be one ginormous spoiler but I HAVE to say it.Okay so in the Eve Duncan series she’s doing her part to solve brutal crimes against children and all the while she fears that her daughter Bonnie suffered in the same manner. I expected it, I think we all expected it. What I did not expect was for her to turn her death into some fluffy bunny ‘oh everything’s okay because her death was an accident.’ And to top it off? She was IMMEDIATELY accepting of it after her YEARS of searching she’s just ‘okay’ in the blink of an eye. She didn’t even cry finally knowing what happened to her daughter. But that’s the real kicker. Bonnie’s ‘killer’ was her father’s uncle who was supposedly schizophrenic and had ‘demons’ who did things and he couldn’t stop them. So apparently the day that Bonnie was taken, the uncle saw that she was being followed by bad men so he decides he’s going to SAVE her so he shoves her in the TRUNK of his car and takes off. Oh yeah, by the way? It’s in the middle of summer. So she dies of heatstroke, the end. It was all one big accident…Are you fucking kidding me?! I have nothing more to say… am just blown away at how her death was accepted as ‘okay’ because of course he didn’t mean to do it, that he had demons, that he was trying to save her. Well why the trunk? Why couldn’t she be thrown into the backseat? Ridiculous.I have nothing more to say, but even if I did I don’t feel like wasting my time on this series anymore. It’s over, the big finale has been read after so many years of waiting, and I’m one seriously disappointed reader.
