Bonnie

1.5 stars

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This is the one series that I have read longer than any series, at least a decade. I read all 11 of her Eve Duncan series and when the author announced that she’d be making a final trilogy to fully resolve everything, well, I was ecstatic. The Eve Duncan series chronicles a mother losing her child and never having the closure she needed, never knowing what happened to her, her daughter Bonnie simply disappeared off the face of the Earth. This kick started her career in forensic sculpting and she began helping other families who had lost children bring them home finally. So, this is essentially the conclusion to a 14 book series that I’ve read from the very beginning and loved. I had a lot riding on Iris Johansen being able to pull this off in making it feel the series came full circle and I wasn’t left with any nagging questions. I’m thinking I set the bar too high.

The writing seemed a bit too literal, especially since it’s such a long term series it seemed as if she was writing so that someone could jump into the series at any point and completely understand what was going on. I think people need to just read from the beginning so the author isn’t making statements like this:

”You’ve been trained in police sketching as part of your training, Eve.”

No shit? Trained as part of her training? Redundant much?

Bottom line, the constant repeating of everything that was gone over millions of times already was irritating. And I swear, the last 50 pages from the previous book were pasted at the beginning of this one. I appreciate the refresher but seriously?

The Ending
This is going to be one ginormous spoiler but I HAVE to say it.
Okay so in the Eve Duncan series she’s doing her part to solve brutal crimes against children and all the while she fears that her daughter Bonnie suffered in the same manner. I expected it, I think we all expected it. What I did not expect was for her to turn her death into some fluffy bunny ‘oh everything’s okay because her death was an accident.’ And to top it off? She was IMMEDIATELY accepting of it after her YEARS of searching she’s just ‘okay’ in the blink of an eye. She didn’t even cry finally knowing what happened to her daughter. But that’s the real kicker. Bonnie’s ‘killer’ was her father’s uncle who was supposedly schizophrenic and had ‘demons’ who did things and he couldn’t stop them. So apparently the day that Bonnie was taken, the uncle saw that she was being followed by bad men so he decides he’s going to SAVE her so he shoves her in the TRUNK of his car and takes off. Oh yeah, by the way? It’s in the middle of summer. So she dies of heatstroke, the end. It was all one big accident…

Are you fucking kidding me?! I have nothing more to say… am just blown away at how her death was accepted as ‘okay’ because of course he didn’t mean to do it, that he had demons, that he was trying to save her. Well why the trunk? Why couldn’t she be thrown into the backseat? Ridiculous.

I have nothing more to say, but even if I did I don’t feel like wasting my time on this series anymore. It’s over, the big finale has been read after so many years of waiting, and I’m one seriously disappointed reader. ( )

"Fresh Meat" by Leigh Neely for Criminal Element

Bonnie is a book long anticipated by Iris Johansen readers. The beautiful daughter of longtime character, Eve Duncan, Bonnie was abducted at age seven and hasn’t been seen since except in her mother’s dreams. (Or is her ghostly presence real?) Trying to go on with her life after facing a parent’s worst nightmare is difficult for Eve. However, she pulls on her inner resources, finishes her schooling, and becomes a forensic sculptor in order to help other families locate their missing relatives.

Johansen has said in various interviews that one of the questions she is always asked is, “When we will know what happened to Bonnie?” She always told readers she didn’t know. A writer dedicated to letting her characters evolve on their own timeline, Johansen wrote seven books featuring Eve Duncan and other recurring characters before deciding it was time to answer that question.

(Read the rest at http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/10/fresh-meat-iris-johansens-bonnie )

"We see a little bit, but not the entire story. And no matter how hard we try, we're not going to be able to finish it until she's ready for it to be finished" (pg 46).....

The above quote pretty much sums up how I felt through the first half of this book. I have followed the series for years and was very excited about finally finding out what happened to Bonnie. I was expecting a grand finale...something explosive! In reality, it was a review of everything we already new and the predictable chase that ensued. Disappointment.

The only interesting aspect of the book was the secondary character Ben Hudson, and one can only assume judging by Iris Johansen's previous patterns, that we will most likely see him in a spin off book. The mystery surrounding Father Barnabas had promise with the implanting of memories scenario, but that storyline was quickly abandoned in favour of a much shorter and uninteresting outcome.

The book did improve in the last half (thus why I gave it 2 stars) and I guess I finally know what happened to Bonnie. The bottom line is that I think I have outgrown this author and am tired of the same repeated plots. I can't say I will never read her books again, but I certainly won't be rushing to do so. ( )

A convoluted mystery about a little girl who went missing decades ago and the link to a currently missing boy. Had to skim through some of this because I found it tedious. ( )

Eve finally finds Bonnie, and the person who took her. Bonnie's death was an accident. ( )