The Book Stacks

Twenty-seven-year-old Kristi Bentz is lucky to be alive, Not many people her age have nearly died twice at the hands of a serial killer, and lived to tell about it. Her dad, New Orleans detective, Rick Bentz, wants Kristi to stay in New Orleans and out of danger. But if anything, Kristi’s experiences have made her even more fascinated by the mind of the serial killer. She hasn’t given up her dream of being a true-crime writer – of exploring the darkest recesses of evil – and now she just may get her chance.

I’ll be honest with you – I’m not usually a murder mystery kind of woman. Nor am I a New York Time Bestseller reader. I should probably pay attention to that, but I simply don’t. So when Lost Souls by NYT Bestselling author Lisa Jackson arrived on my doorstep, I wasn’t quite sure what I was in for.

With a touch of the paranormal from the very beginning, Jackson presents you with a book that is outside the cookie cutter murder mystery. Thankfully, Jackson doesn’t stop there. She carries through the paranormal undertones all the way to her likeable – even though she’s a bit prickly – main character Kristi Bentz.

Kristi is just one of a cast of many strong characters Jackson has brought out to play in this dark and slightly twisted book. While it certainly good have gone deeper into the disgusting rituals involved in the murders, I, for one, was thankful Jackson kept the same mixture of strong characters, intruiging mystery, and just a dash of romance and the paranormal.

While Lost Souls can certainly stand on its own, Jackson treads a thin line with tapping on events of past books. I found myself occasionally feeling like I was missing out, having not read the previous books. However, hopefully this will work to Jackson’s advantage in boosting the sales of her previous books as well.

The ending leaves an obvious opening for another book involving the Bentz family, and I can happily say I like this book enough to want to read the next one.

I recommend Lost Souls even if mysteries or a touch of the paranormal isn’t your usual thing. It certainly isn’t mine, but I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and would definitely like some more.