Recluse, genius, professor and author Kylie Watts has a gift, she dreams of the lives of others and more specifically, their deaths. Kylie dreams of deaths throughout time, many of which have gone unsolved until Kylie dreams of them. Parlaying what she learns in her dreams into her teaching and her books has earned Kylie a tidy income and a world-wide reputation. For Kylie, the income allows her to remain as she likes to be, a recluse who only comes out into the “real” world when she absolutely has to.
Apparently the Confetti Killer wants Kylie out in the “real” world. For 50 years the Confetti Killer murders have gone unsolved and now, on the anniversary of the original killings, the madness is beginning again. Though just a child when the original murders occurred, Kylie has dreamt of the murders for as long as she can remember but has yet to be able to see the killer. With what is apparently a very well-informed copycat on the loose, Kylie is now working with the cops to solve both the old and new murders. To say the least, there are a multitude of problems including Kylie’s total lack of social skills, her extreme attraction to Detective Egan Lange, Lange’s addiction to a variety of narcotics and his ex-partner’s wife, the extremely gruesome nature of the current killings and, the fact that the old and new killings seem to share far, far more than anyone including Kylie ever suspected.
As the murder victims begin to pile up, Kylie and Egan are at a loss for who is committing the crimes and the list of suspects keeps getting longer. Though Kylie is absolutely drawn to Egan, she prefers to work alone and often finds it frustrating having to share her information with the seasoned detective. Her research into the old killings keeps taking the most unusual twists and turns, her dreams about the old murders are becoming increasingly intense and, someone keeps trying to kill Kylie. As Kylie is working on her on her own, Egan is trying desperately to keep up with her and solve the murders. Additionally, Egan’s personal life is way out of control and takes a seriously unexpected turn when his ex-partner’s wife is damn near killed in a brutal attack. For both Kylie and Egan, the world is spinning out of control and the stakes are rising with every single passing minute.
The Bottom Line: Holy crap was this read a weirdly intense ride. My biggest criticism of this read is the really slow start but once you get past the first part of the book, it is well worth the time and effort. Kylie is a very cold, very calculating character that is also incredibly likeable. She has a hard, hard past and Myers teases you with information about that past throughout the read. Kylie’s present is just as interesting as her past and reading about how she handles each and every moment of drama and danger is fascinating. Despite her cold nature, Kylie really is a very good character that I found absolutely intriguing. Though the plot does start out slowly, the middle and end of this read is crazy and I can honestly say I didn’t see that ending coming and am quite glad I stuck with this read. I like it when an author can still surprise me. :)
P.S. For those of you who are wondering if this is the same Chris Myers who writes the Ripsters and Lennon’s Girls series, yes, it is the same author. I am a HUGE fan of her Rispsters reads and believe me when I tell you, The Confetti Killer is nothing like her YA/NA books but still equally well-written and interesting.
