Her Lost Soul – Helen Phifer

Summary

Shortly before midnight, four teenagers broke into the old abandoned psychiatric hospital on Beacon Hill. Only three came out again. The missing girl – Riley Holt – is the seventeen-year-old daughter of the local police chief and she appears to have vanished into thin air. Called from Manhattan to take over the case, Detective Maria Miller and her partner Frankie Conroy uncover the sinister past of the abandoned hospital, which was once the hiding place of the notorious College Kid Killer, who never revealed the burial site of his final victim.

Then a fresh grave is discovered in the hospital’s old cemetery and Maria expects the worst. But when the remains of two young women are recovered, it appears that neither belongs to Riley. Maria and her team make the connection between the secret grave and the College Kid Killer, but with Riley still missing and her three friends unable to shed any light on her whereabouts, the case gets more complex by the minute.

Maria must delve into the hospital’s tragic past – and into the girl’s own family history – to work out what happened to Riley Holt. While the girl’s father acts the part of the distraught parent, Maria’s instincts tell her that something isn’t right. And the elderly former caretaker of the hospital seems to know more than he’s letting on. As she comes close to the terrifying truth, eyes follow Maria’s every move. She’s about to put her own life on the line but can she find Riley before it’s too late?

Review

Definitely recommend reading this title with the full acknowledgement that this is a paranormal book.

While Detective Maria Miller and Riley were well-developed characters, along with the supporting cast in Her Lost Soul, I couldn’t help but feel a tad bit disappointed as the book neared the third act, and I definitely changed my whole view of it when the “final battle” happened. The tonal departure from the first half of the book was too sudden and definitely impacted my overall reading experience.

The supernatural elements that were slowly injected into the story suddenly became too over-the-top and, to be honest, comical towards the end. It felt like the book was trying too hard to wrap up all loose ends and achieve shocking plot twists, but instead, for me, it reached a point where all I could think was that it reminded me of a cheesy Disney horror film.

Despite its flaws, one thing I do have to point out is that Phifer knows how to build a mystery vibe, and despite it being the second book in its series, Her Lost Soul can be read as a standalone just fine.

The writing was solid, with a good balance of descriptive language and dialogue; the plot was intriguing; and the characters were all likeable; however,I just can’t help saying ‘no thank you’ to this book.

If you enjoy ghost stories, then I recommend checking this out, but if you are expecting a more traditional mystery thriller, you may be disappointed. I am torn between giving this a 2-star rating, as I initially wanted to, and a 3-star rating, as there were not many negative aspects of the book that would warrant a lower rating. Ultimately, I have decided to leave it with 2.5 stars.

Overall, this book had the potential to be a great read but fell short in the final act.