Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Clarity by Kim Harrington

Title: Clarity

Author: Kim Harrington

Publisher: Point

Summary:

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

My Thoughts: Clarity took me by surprise. I figured "Oh, this will be a nice short book" and what I got was something I could NOT put down. (Seriously, I was reading this in the ER while I got blood drawn & such.)

Clarity is a short novel but it's very well-rounded. There's a paranormal element but it's a realistic one (aka no vampires or witches or werewolves), there's a romantic subplot but it's not overpowering, there's a lot of focus on family relationships, particularly between Clare and her brother, which is something I LOVE to see in novels, and there's the mystery/suspense aspect of the novel. Basically, Clarity has everything.

It was so refreshing to read a novel that didn't need a hundred pages of backstory and just jumped right into the plot.

My favorite thing about Clarity was the fact it kept me guessing. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. I felt like I was solving the mystery right along with Clare and I really connected to her and her emotions, whether she was trying to catch a murdered or figure out her boy situation. The emotional pull to Clare really kept me intrigued in the novel.

Overall, I definitely recommend Clarity. I was ecstatic to find out there's going to be a Book 2 and I can't wait to read it! Fans of The Body Finder will definitely love this one as well.

2 comments:

The Insouciant Sophisticate said...

Cool-I did not know there was going to be a second but there's definitely room to expand on the world created here. I also thought the mystery was really good.

Marlene Detierro said...

One of the best things about this book is that it seems like it might be the beginning of a series. It would be fun to see Clarity again and there are certainly mysteries still to solve after the last page. What happened to her long gone father for instance? And What is she going to do about all those cute guys?
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