The Last Victim

June 25, 2012
Bestseller Robards (Sleepwalker) kicks off a paranormal romantic suspense series with this engaging but uneven tale of serial murder and ghosts. When she was 17, Dr. Charlotte “Charlie” Stone was the sole survivor of a horrific attack by the Boardwalk Killer and has spent her life studying serial killers as a result. Fifteen years later, Charlie is called in to help the FBI solve a series of murders eerily similar to those committed by the Boardwalk Killer. In addition to her psychiatric knowledge, Charlie also has the ability to see ghosts, like Michael Garland, an inmate Charlie was studying before he was stabbed to death. Michael’s ghost becomes attached to Charlie, and Charlie surprisingly finds herself turning to Michael for comfort as the Boardwalk Killer, or a copycat, escalates his killing spree. Robards sets up an interesting dynamic between Charlie and Michael, but too much focus on their relationship overshadows the hunt for the Boardwalk Killer. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group.

August 1, 2012
Robards (Sleepwalker, 2011, etc.) combines a few of her favorite themes in the first of a series featuring a psychiatrist with paranormal abilities who researches serial killers. During her senior year in high school, Charlie Stone survived a vicious attack by a serial killer who slaughtered her friend Holly Palmer's family and then abducted Holly. Her classmate's body was found buried beneath the boardwalk less than a week later near the coastal North Carolina town where the family had lived. Dubbed the Boardwalk Killer, the murderer attacked several families with teenage daughters before the killings stopped, and the girls' bodies were always found within a week following their abduction. Fast-forward 15 years, and Charlie is now a psychiatrist researching serial killers at a Virginia prison when FBI special agent Tony Bartoli and his colleague come calling. It appears either the Boardwalk Killer has resurfaced or a copycat murderer is on the loose. Since Charlie is an expert on aberrant behavior and has seen the Boardwalk Killer, the FBI wants her help. They must act quickly, though, if they want to save the latest girl to be abducted. The team heads to Kill Devil Hills, the site of the most recent crime, and Charlie quickly discovers that she's brought along some extra baggage. The ghost of one of her subjects at the prison, a convicted serial killer named Michael Garland, has "attached" himself to her. (He claims he's innocent, but DNA proves otherwise.) It appears that in addition to being a brilliant, beautiful, serial-killer magnet, Charlie also can see and communicate with the spirits of some victims of violent deaths. And hot-looking Garland just happens to fit the bill--he died of a stab wound in Charlie's arms right before she left the prison. As the search for the Boardwalk Killer intensifies and Charlie wrestles with her attraction to the hunky dead serial killer, she has steamy erotic dreams about Garland that may or may not have actually occurred. Is there a ghost of a chance that Robards can conjure up a more believable--and less repulsive--love interest for Charlie in her next installment than the ghost of a convicted serial killer? Sadly, probably not.

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March 1, 2012

The Boardwalk Killer is back, having destroyed two vacationing families in Virginia Beach, and FBI agents Ryan Sinclair and Buzz Crane turn to Dr. Charlotte Stone for expert advice. Aside from her clinical knowledge, she was the only person to have survived his killing spree 15 years ago. Switching publishers to start a new series, Robards stays the course with romantic suspense but evidently adds some paranormal aspects I haven't yet gleaned.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2012
Charlie Stone, thirtysomething, single, and attractive, is the only known survivor of the infamous Boardwalk Killer. Fifteen years later, as a psychiatrist researching serial killers on death row, she encounters murderers in the safety of a cinder-block room with plenty of chains and a guard. That is, until the Boardwalk Killer returns, and she is called upon by the FBI to assist in the investigation. But there's more! The ever-popular and tireless Robards grants Charlie psychic abilities: she can see and talk to the ghosts of the recently, violently departed. Inconveniently for Charlie, she is also doggedly, comically haunted by the ghost of the devilishly handsome Garland, one of her research subjects. Robards successfully infuses the thrilling murder investigation with the unlikely, even otherworldly, but definitely steamy romance between specter and woman. Charlie's exasperation with Garland and his bad-boy-with-a-nice-side charm make for a tantalizing sexual tension. Readers may question the likelihood of a serial killer (alive or otherwise) sweeping Charlie off her feet, but that near taboo only adds to their chemistry. A fun and sexy read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)