The Last Victim: A Novel (Dr. Charlotte Stone)

I really like Karen Robards newer books. This was no exception They have pretty good suspense, love story, and character development all rapped up in one. If you like Jayne ann Krentz, Melida Leigh..ect this is a great read. Worth the money.

Loved this story. Fast paced and although in the beginning I struggled a bit with the relationship between Michael and Charlie, I grew to root for them. My only problem with this book is that Michael is a ghost and I just can't figure out how this is going to end well. The serial killer thing didn't bother me as much because I feel Michael was an innocent man, wrongly convicted of murder before he died. Hopefully book two will resolve all of these issues. All in all, I love Karen Robards and this is a great read!

I was enjoying the build up between the characters right up until the abrupt, implausible end. It's as if the author decided she had better things to do and chose to reveal the bad guys, tie up the relationship between the H & h and move the new family to DC all within 3 pages.

Robards is an okay writer that has her moments but her books are not very imaginative at best. The Last Victim had a good premise but didn't quite live up to it. I see that everyone is complaining about her love interest but I wasn't that weirded out about that because I know that the heroine will find out somewhere down the road that he isn't a serial killer. The sexual tension between the hero and the herione was intense but it had some very funny moments too. The relationship (be it that he's supposedly a serial killer or that there is only one sex scene between them) is described and flows perfectly it is the murder part that sucks.
It's like Robards watched every single Criminal Minds episode and made notes whenever a serial killer was described and used that to spout words from the heroine's mouth. It was like watching Criminal Minds on a loop. Every fact you learn about a serial killer on tv and the movies made the cut in this book and it was repeated over and over. The killer will have a violent past and he'll have hurt animals in the past. It was like the heroine was reading from a script.
Then there's the whole knock off of the show Medium. I love the concept don't get me wrong but there was absolutely no background on the heroine, like when she started seeing ghosts, was there a family history of it, or how she had come to deal with it. It says that she started at a young age but yet she still isn't used to it and she's in her 30's. Then everytime she sees a ghost she wants to puke not only that but Robards probably spends five pages combined telling of how sick she is and it makes her look extremely weak as a character. She supposed to have these techniques that send a ghost away but it never tells you how she came to learn of this and the techniques are kind of ridiculous..
Then there's the murder of her friend when she was a teen. It never describes the murders and it says that she went back to the basement to hide after she saw she couldn't escape but it never says how she hid or what all she saw happen in the basement.
I will admit though that Garland is hot (which she constantly has the heroine thinking over and over) and funny. He has no qualms about telling Charlotte how much he wants her. The relationship is great and the ending has a twist that I didn't see coming and that's saying alot because I can usually guess who the killer is by the second chapter. I would buy this book again but I wouldn't pay $8 for it, I'd wait till it was cheaper.

I absolutely loved this book. Have read the second in the series. Can't wait for the third one. I don't normally re read the books but I have with these. Love the friction between Dr Charlotte Stone and her friendly ghost former serial killer Michael Garland. Also the way she helps FBI agent Tony Bartoli and his crew catch the serial killers with her physic ability and help from Garland. Very hard to put the book down

This was a disappointing read. The first portion of the book dragged and by the time it picked up, it was obvious this was going to be a series. It seemed to be written (or edited) to be marketed to the largest audience possible by including many characters, all of whom had little depth. Robards is usually adept at mixing lightness with suspense. The attempts in this novel seemed to fall flat due to the timing and somewhat more graphic descriptions and numbers of victims involved in the story. The gravity of the storyline was also more intense than I expected or wanted.

Ms. Robards has delivered another great book. My other favorites are Wild Orchids and Night Magic. This books is similar to her earlier books, but still has everything you want in a romance. You will not be disappointed in this one!

I thought this might be an entertaining book, and I haven't read a romantic suspense in a while. It was a little to easy to wrap up. There was some pretty good suspense, and a decent plot. It just wasn't great in my opinion.

The characters in the book were strong and well developed. I liked the fact that Sam developed feelings for someone (Marco) that she thought to be a criminal, as his actions spoke to her not justs his supposed deeds.

I really enjoy Robards and she always delivers. This book is a page turner and I never read the end before I finish reading the but this time I was sorely tempted before I got the book read. Really a good read.

Sorry this is the worst book of Karen Roberts that I have ever read. Not the fault of the author but I don't like books that are so weird. Dead bodies talking and being in the present time are not my scene. Finished it because I'd bought it b ut I don't want to read anything else like it. Was not aware of what it was like when I bought it but if I'd known .... no way.