Book Review: The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison

Roses of May (The Collector #2)
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pub Date: 23 May 2017
Genre: Horror Thriller Mystery

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Four months after the explosion at the Garden, a place where young women known as the Butterflies were kept captive, FBI agents Brandon Eddison, Victor Hanoverian, and Mercedes Ramirez are still entrenched in the aftermath, helping survivors in the process of adjusting to life on the outside. With winter coming to an end, the Butterflies have longer, warmer days of healing ahead. But for the agents, the impending thaw means one gruesome thing: a chilling guarantee that somewhere in the country, another young woman will turn up dead in a church with her throat slit and her body surrounded by flowers.

Priya Sravasti’s sister fell victim to the killer years ago. Now she and her mother move every few months, hoping for a new beginning. But when she ends up in the madman’s crosshairs, the hunt takes on new urgency. Only with Priya’s help can the killer be found—but will her desperate hope for closure compel her to put her very life on the line?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Paedophilia, incest, rape & sexual assault, eating disorder, PTSD, suicide, blood & gore depiction, murder, stalking

TL;DR: The second book in The Collector series was engaging and horrifying and I was hooked from the first page. It’s not very fast-paced but I loved the characters and their relationships, and I appreciated how the author explored all their trauma, grief, loss and means of coping. I loved the Sravasti women and rooted for these badasses the whole way through. Recommended for those who enjoy thrillers featuring serial killers and likeable but flawed characters.

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