Book Review: Collecting the Dead by Spencer Kope

Collecting the Dead
Author: Spencer Kope
Series: Special Tracking Unit (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (June 28, 2016)

Description: Magnus “Steps” Craig is part of an elite three-man Special Tracking Unit of the FBI, charged with finding the lost or abducted and bringing them home. Dubbed “The Human Bloodhound,” Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface. He has a special skill―known only to his partner―that has enabled his team to stop seventeen serial killers over the past five years. But now there’s a new monster at-large, and the bodies are piling up.

When the remains of one young woman are found, Steps recognizes the “signature” from another crime scene: the mark of a sad face. Meanwhile, a serial killer that Steps has been trying to track for over ten years, code name “Leonardo,” is back in play―and on Steps’s trail. Just as the investigation seems to be closing in on Leonardo, the hunt for Sad Face heats up. Now, it’s up to Steps to outrun and outwit one of the most twisted serial killers he’s ever encountered. . .as time ticks away on the lives of the victims. Will this be another one of Steps’s miraculously-solved cases―or his last?

My Thoughts: "Steps" Craig is part of a three-man Special Tracking Unit of the FBI. Everyone thinks that he is just a superb tracker. Only a few people know that Steps tracks using a psychic ability that lets him see the shine left by people. Steps is pretty sure that this isn't really a gift because he can't not see the shine that surrounds everyone. Only a special pair of lead crystal glasses hides the shine. And, while he and his team have stopped seventeen serial killers over the past five years, Steps still feels his failure to save the victims. His sleep is plagued with nightmares.

When the team is called in and the remains of a young woman are found, Steps recognizes the shine of the killer as someone he has seen before at another death. As the team investigates they find the shine of a person that they name the Sad Face Killer for the sad faces he leaves at crime scenes and begin linking a number of other deaths to the same killer. When they find a list the killer left, they know that they have just a short time to track him down before he kills again.

This was a great story told by Steps who has a unique gift and a unique way of looking at the world. I was immediately pulled into the story and couldn't put it down. I was moved by the high personal cost that the team has to pay in order to do the jobs they do.

This was a fast-paced story and an intense one. I highly recommend it.

Favorite Quote:

I'm probably a bravo male.

Bravo males are important because they help out the alpha males and say, Bravo! Bravo! whenever they do something right, even if it's infrequently. This positive reinforcement is vital because alpha males have large egos that constantly need refilling.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.