REVIEW: Whispers of the Dead

Whispers of the Dead
Author: Spencer Kope

A federal judge in Texas comes home to a strange cooler left in his house. The cooler contains a pair of severed feet. Magnus "Steps'' Craig and Jimmy Donovan are sent to investigate. They are members of a special FBI group, the Special Tracking Unit. Steps has an unusual gift. He sees people in varying colors, which allows him to see if victims have been killed by the same person because of traces of color left on the bodies. His gift has to be kept secret. And, although his gift helps them in investigations, it can't be used as evidence at a trial, so the tracking unit has to find concrete proof usable in court. More severed feet are found, so Steps and Jimmy are racing against time to identify the killer.

I have to admit the plot of this book is really strange. Severed feet in ice coolers. Creative and disturbing. If it had been in the least overdone, it would have come off as ridiculous....but this book is well-written and it was just dead on creepy and suspenseful. I liked how the two FBI agents work so well together. I also enjoyed how Steps' power comes with a cost -- blinding headaches and the need to keep it completely secret. Interesting concept for a crime series....I like it!

Whispers of the Dead is the 2nd book in the Special Tracking Unit series. I'm definitely going back to read book one! I jumped in at book 2 easily and was still able to understand the characters and the plot, but book one obviously contains more background on the unit and the main characters. It isn't necessary to read book one though. I still totally loved this story without reading the first book in the series.

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**