Las rosas de mayo

I remember running to Amazon and purchasing this second book in The Collector series right after I finished the first one because it was fantastic and totally messed up and I felt like the author really could do no wrong in my eyes. Well, almost a year later, I finally got to The Roses of May and let me just tell you, I have never been more disappointed in my life probably. Not only was the plot totally predictable but the writing really did not vibe well with me this time around. I might pick up the next book just because it has better reviews then this one but I am in no hurry to do so.

To begin with, The Roses of May picks up where the first book in the series ended and our favorite detectives are not investigating a serial killer who leaves flowers on his victims' doorstep and they realize that the clock is ticking and that it's almost time for him to kill again. I thought that the plot was interesting enough when I read the excerpt on the back of the book but in execution it was mediocre at best. For one, I was able to guess the killer correctly a few chapters in and that NEVER happens to me. On the contrary, I am usually the last one who can ever get that stuff right. I thought the pacing was also kind of slow and tedious in most parts and it took until the end of the book to get into some real action and the build up to that was not worth it in my opinion. After the first book was so unique and took my breath away, this one was a huge let down.

Further on, the characterization was probably the strongest point in this book and even that was just okay. The characters kind of let us see into their psyches but they still felt a bit standoffish and for this reason I just couldn't get to know them well enough to really care about what their fates would ultimately be. I feel like the author was keeping us at a distance and I don't think the writing helped either. The new characters definitely didn't stand out like the ones in the previous book did.

Finally, the writing was extremely problematic to me in this one. I don't remember how it was in the previous book but in this one it was choppy and didn't flow whatsoever. There were times when I had a hard time understanding what was happening or what the characters were talking about because phrases that I am not familiar with were used often. I had to reread quite a few paragraphs and for that reason couldn't finish this book as quickly as I really wanted to. It was on the shorter side for a novel and yet it stretched on endlessly because the writing style really did not do it any favors.

In conclusion, while the first book in this series was a home-run, the continuation was severely lacking and was not a joy to read. I thought that not only was the plot and murder rather predictable, but the characters and the writing style left much to be desired. I actually went to see what the next book was about and because the next one has much better ratings on Goodreads, I might pick it up just for that reason. However, this will not be happening anytime soon. While I recommend you read the first book ASAP, I would not recommend you pick up this second one in the series. What a major let down.