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MY REVIEW
The Color of Trauma by Hollie Smurthwaite was an awesome surprise for me. I thought it would be a good fit. The premise had a twist and finding something different is very unusual. Needless to say, it made the book very hard to put down in the wee hours of the morning.
I love that Kiera is not a ‘young adult’, but a mature woman. She has a gift that leaves her with few friends, spending many hours alone, and sex…well, she has a friend that money can buy.
She is a memory surgeon. She does most of her work for free, taking on one or two big paying jobs a year. She couldn’t tell you why she does them, but it does give her clients a little bit of peace. She takes a traumatic experience a person has suffered, erases the facts from their mind yet leaving the memory that something bad did happen, and takes it as her own. She has a driver, no need for a license, because her ‘job’ has triggers that muddles her mind and her actions, making it too dangerous to drive.
Chicago has a serial killer and Dean Matthson is the head detective on the case. He, and others at the precinct, call her and others like her memory munchers. It is an apt description, though it does sound kinda rude. He knows it is frowned on using them for an investigation, but he is going to do it anyway. The clock is ticking and it won’t be long before another life is lost.
I love the character of Kiera. She may come across as weak, but stand back when she gets her hackles up. She can take care herself, doesn’t back down from a fight, and has some spicy language. I love that she finds humor amongst the darkness, in the dialogue. It’s not bad enough that the trauma she takes into her mind, her home life left a lot to be desired. Her scars were invisible, but that doesn’t mean there is no pain, pain that can be debilitating.
If Kiera ever wrote a memoir, which she would never do, she would title it The Color of Trauma Is Pink…The worst memories were always a shade of pink.
I can understand someone’s fear over memory surgeons abilities, but everything good can be used for bad. Some major damage could be done, but so much good could come from it too. It’s that age old question: Just because you can do something, should you?
The attraction is quick, instalove, maybe, but when you feel the spark how do you avoid the fire? It would take a special person for her, but also for him. Dean is a homicide detective. He never knew when he would be called out or when his shift would end. They both have baggage and I am eager to see how they handle it. I feel confident there will be some kind of happy ever after…won’t there?
The psychopath serial killer finds a target and zeroes in on her. He had researched her, reading lots of articles. He thought if he ever wrote a memoir, he would name it The Psychopath And The Empath. I knew this would happen, but that’s okay.
There was one blip that bothered me, but maybe because I saw something similar in one of my favorite TV crime shows. I thought about it for a minute or two and wondered how much time passed during that blip. That could make a huge difference that is not always easy to determine.
I am loving the The Psychic Color series by HollyieSmurthwaite and I can hardly wait to see what she does in Book II, The Color Of Betrayal, Jolene and Cass’ story.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Color Of Trauma by Hollie Smurthwaite.
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“I’m not sure how much Ms. Morten has shared with you, but—”
Kiera lifted a finger; thankfully, her index. “Dr. Patty told us you had questions about memory reading as it might apply to one of your cases. Read memories aren’t admissible in court. You’re wasting your time.”
“I don’t need evidence like that,” Dean said, deciding not to point out that Patty hadn’t graduated yet and wasn’t, technically, a doctor.
“Whew,” the blond he didn’t recognize said. “It’s one of the frustrating things about what we do.” The memory surgeons all winced when she spoke, though the blond didn’t appear to notice.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
She beamed. “Amy Carter.”
“Do you mind telling me what’s your specialty?”
“Bitching and complaining,” Kiera replied in a tight voice.
Amy’s lips compressed, but she didn’t say anything. Was Kiera the group’s bully? Was that how she controlled the narrative? Everyone looked to her, even Patty.
Kiera sighed. “Dr. Schwartz is the expert in the field. Look into his research. Gilfoile and Roberts are hacks, and the rest don’t know shit but still want to capitalize on the memory-surgeon thing.”
He wrote down “Schwartz” in his notebook, surprised at her generosity. “Thank you.”
She stared at him with those blue eyes that didn’t blink enough. “That all?”
“Not quite.”
“Yeah, I figured.” She shook her head. “They don’t fully understand how memory works, so it’s going to be a while before they figure out how we’re able to access people’s memories and how they can be removed and kept in someone else’s mind. We can’t help you with the science stuff.”
“I’m more interested in how it works from a practical standpoint.” He directed his questions at everyone else, but the only one looking directly at him was Kiera. Fine. If he won her over, the others would follow. “I’m trying to ascertain what you can and can’t do.”
“Why?”
No time to finesse. With his attention still on Kiera, he handed Brittany Kolchek’s picture to Ramon and asked him to look and pass it on.
“I’ve never seen her before,” Ramon said. “Is she missing?”
Dean waited until everyone had viewed the photo, because he didn’t want to give them the opportunity to refuse.
Beth looked last, and she studied Brittany for several seconds. “She seems nice.” Then she walked the photo back to him.
“Her name is Brittany Kolchek,” he said. “She’s in a coma.” As a group, they cringed, even Kiera. Good—they cared. “The doctors say she won’t wake.”
“You don’t want information. You want one of us to jump into her memories,” Kiera said, her face as hard as her voice.
“We believe she’s the third victim of a serial killer targeting young women. All three scenes have little physical evidence. This might be our only chance to catch a break.” When nobody spoke or moved, he added, “He’ll kill again.”
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