Last Breath: A gripping serial killer thriller that will have you hooked

A young woman found tortured and dead in a dumpster was reported missing after going out to meet a man she met on the internet. Erika Foster, no longer part of the Murder Investigation Team is close by when the call goes out to attend the site and can't help but get involved. After she discovers a similar case, she eventually gets to lead a team looking for the murderer and it becomes a race against time to stop him abducting more young girls.This series is developing nicely with more insight into Erika's prickly character and difficulty with personal relationships. She's quite brash and forceful in pushing her way into the murder investigation (but for some reason gets away with it) but it's clearly where she belongs. She's also becoming more open to others and her relationship with Peterson is developing nicely. The novel is written in short punchy chapters which move between the police investigation and the murderer as he grooms his victims until they are ready to lure into meeting him resulting in a fast paced novel with the tension building to a thrilling finish. Highly recommended!

If you’ve been following my blog at all this past month, you’ll know that I’ve been raving about Robert Bryndza’s Erika Foster series. I finally caught up to the newest book, Last Breath, and it is just as intense and addicting as the first three books! It follows Erika as she inserts herself into an investigation into the body of a woman found in the dumpster. Things quickly escalate as a second victim is found, and the link that ties them all together is his preying on them through social media using fake identities.We know early on who the killer is, so that element of suspense is removed from the story. What you are left with is the chilling suspense as you are in his mind in varying chapters, and see him stalk his next victim. It is truly chilling and makes you want to make sure your social media is secure, and maybe get a degree in detective work to check out those new people who have friend requested you.I need book five!

Detective Erika Foster is suffering the consequences of her unfiltered speaking and has been turned down for her reassignment to the murder unit. Of course that doesn't stop her from butting herself into the newest case: the torture, murder, and dumping of a young co-ed. Through Foster's diligence, and inability to directly and openly work the case, she finds a link to a previous case and a new serial killer is born! This discovery gives her a wedge back into the murder unit, at least temporarily. Without giving anything away, I especially enjoyed Foster's character development in this book. She seems to be coming to some peace with her husband Mark's death. Maybe that anguish has been the source of her professional missteps? Maybe her relationship with Peterson can help smooth her edges (just a bit though, not too much)? I look forward to seeing where book #5 takes Foster and what devious villain Mr. Bryndza comes up with next.A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review.

I'd have given this five stars were it not for one scene -- (spoiler alert) I simply cannot stretch my imagination far enough to envision a young girl with an injured arm, informed only by episodes of CSI, successfully using a broken safety pin to pick a lock located behind her head, then go on to pick two others. Except for that one scene, this is a well-plotted, well-characterized, tight story. I love the naturalness of the dialog, the relationships between characters (not just the police, but the very natural relationships of villains and victims as well), and the twists of plot which are always surprising, never telegraphed. I do think, perhaps, the outbreak of shingles at an opportune moment was a bit overdone -- shingles really doesn't spread over the whole body, but is confined to, usually, either the upper torso or the face. Still, I could overlook that were it not for the lock picking episode. I have read (and own) all four books in the series (this one scene is the first that felt false to me), and I will buy and read the fifth.

You know when you pick up a book and you become immediately absorbed by it? When the writing is so good, the characters so engaging and the mystery just begging to be solved, so much so that you don’t want to turn away? When it ticks all of the boxes of the very things you look for in your favourite reads. You know the things I mean… Fast action page turner – check. Edge of the seat tension – check. More chemistry between Erika and Peterson than in a GlaxoSmithKline laboratory – check. From the very first page this book has it all.This is a book with rather dark overtones – a young girl tortured and murdered and then her body dumped as though she was simply another piece of trash. The killer appears merciless and yet very meticulous in the execution of their plans, leaving no clues for the police. And to make matters worse, when a second body is found, there don’t appear to be any links between the victims other than the cruelty they have been subjected to and a murderer who knows all of the tricks required to stay hidden.Now as the avid reader will know from Dark Water, Erika no longer works for the Murder Investigation Team, taking the case right outside of her jurisdiction. She has to fight to get the powers that be to allow her onto the team, which means swallowing her pride and apologising to the very man who caused her to transfer out to begin with – Superintendent Sparks. But when a strange turn of fate hands her the opportunity to lead the investigation, she jumps at it and thus she comes full circle to find herself working back with Peterson and Moss in the heart of the city. And this, ladies and gents is where the magic happens.This trio, foursome if you count John McGorry who Erika brings with her from Bromley, are the perfect investigative team. Very in tune with each other and with a brilliant blend of humour, determination and charisma which means that you can’t help but like them. I love the dynamic that Robert Bryndza has created between them, and even the minor tension and electricity which exists within the team due to the budding romance between Erika and Peterson adds something special to the story. You can feel how torn Erika is between her professional persona, her feelings for Peterson and her need to keep a certain distance from her emotions following what happened to her husband. Their relationship is all brought to a head by the end of the book, but to find out how and why you’re going to have to read for yourself. But I will say that it’s one of those nail biting moments you'd expect from this series.Now the killer in Last Breath is merciless and I suppose somewhat of a true psychopath – maybe even sociopath as they appear to have no morals or redeeming qualities at all. Much like in The Night Stalker the reader is aware of who the killer is from very early on; we are treated to, or rather subjected to, their thoughts and feelings as the action moves from the team to their point of view quite regularly. Unlike the perpetrator in The Night Stalker, there appears to be no real justification as to why they are the way they are. They stalk young women on line, tapping into their likes and wants and feeding back to them what they want to hear to gain their trust. They expose everything that is wrong about the way people live their lives on social media. I can understand how external pressures may have contributed to their psyche in a way, but at the end of the day, their actions are brutal and there is no way to forgive. Yes there is a trauma that happens in their childhood, but even that doesn’t quite seem enough to explain the choices they make. To me, they are just plain evil.The pacing of the book is perfect and I quickly found myself flying through the chapters, fully immersed in the story and thankful to be back amongst such familiar characters. In spite of the emotional journey Erika goes on in this book, she is still spiky, determined and willing to do whatever it takes to catch her man. We are treated to her softer side too, and it is very welcome indeed. It makes you like and respect her even more if that is even possible. And the way the book ends makes me wonder what next for Erika and the team as she is gifted the opportunity she has been working toward since the very start… The ramifications of that could be huge so I’m keen to see which path Mr Bryndza chooses to take.For me I think this is probably my favourite of the books to date. While they have all been brilliant, there was just something about this one – I can’t quite articulate what – but something which really appealed to me. It is quite dark at times; the killer’s compulsion and lack of empathy for their victims makes for a skin crawling read. And as for the ending, as the final chapters unfurled, the fate of the final victim resting upon Erika and the team’s ability to make sense of the few scraps of clues they have been left, well it really got the adrenaline pumping and yes – this is where the nails got a particularly heavy going over. It was a ‘can’t take my eyes off the page’ kind of moment. You know the ones? Where you feel yourself balancing on the edge of the chair and leaning into the book so much so that you almost fall over. Where you are willing the heroes to find their target and holding your breath as they enter the lions den for that final, potentially deadly dalliance with the killer… That kind of an ending.Robert Bryndza has done a fantastic job, writing a truly compelling and tension filled story which also manages to highlight the perils of social media. It is not intended to scare or drive people away from their apps, or to stop people from engaging with others online, but it may make you think twice before you accept that friend request from someone you don’t actually know. Because that’s the thing about the internet and those on line profiles so easily created. At the end of the day, it’s all just window dressing – and you may not really know what, or who, is hiding behind it.

Detective Erika Foster is back! Young women are being abducted, tortured and then killed and their bodies left in rubbish dumpsters. Erika is at one of the dump sites even though she's not part of the unit that will be investigating it and she comes up against Superintendent Sparks again. It is then agreed that she will assist with the case. Along the way Erika tries but fails to save a colleague's life and continues to struggle with her feelings for another colleague and the guilt for what she perceives as a betraying her dead husband. She has to watch a close colleague get injured when they finally locate the killer's latest victim. Fantastic read - best book in the series so far. Highly recommended.

This is book 4 in the London-based police procedural series about DCI Erika Foster and my favourite. I know I said the same for book 3, sorry. Ideally, these should be read in order starting with The Girl In The Ice. There is a lot of personal development happening and I think the relationships between various characters can be appreciated more with all the background.In this one, Erika barges in on a murder case where young women are abducted, tortured and then left in dumpsters. The identity of the killer is revealed early but it didn't make this any less enjoyable because I found the chapters from the killer's perspective totally gripping albeit unnerving. The killer's exploitation of social media and online information was fascinating to follow but disturbing.The balance between developments in Erika's personal life and the focus on the investigation was perfect. I wasn't fully on board with the path Erika's personal life was taking in the previous book, Dark Water, but I loved the way it all developed here. The scenes between Moss, Petersen and Erika provide a welcome relief from the darker passages.Having learned from previous mishaps, I started this on a day when I knew I'd be able to get through to the end without having to stop. The short chapters and fast pace encourage you to keep reading. I switched between reading and listening to the audible version. The narration wasn't outstanding - more differentiation and work on the accents would have been nice - but as I got further and further into it, I was so consumed by what was happening in the story, the tone of the narration became insignificant. Highly recommended for any fans of crime fiction.

Erika Foster is a woman with issues in her life verging on needing therapy which makes for an interesting protagonist. Erika & Peterson, newbe lovers, Moss, a lesbian with a large rear (her words not mine) Melanie, not quiet tough enough for her new promotion plus others with little side stories makes for a good mix of characters that make up the murder team side. This is needed because the killer is revealed at the half way point so no guessing till the end. The other side of the coin, the farm family had a good back story & did leave you up the wrong road for a while, but my favourite character by a mile was Bryony. The description of her date night & fate was perfect & really brought her to life. What I would have liked is a more in depth description of EF's sleepover at Peterson's & also the 3rd victims torture leading up to her death which would have given a more thought provoking reason for the way he killed. Why did he try to bite off her nipple & not the others? This would have drawn me more into the story & made the characters more alive. Having said all this it was a good read & it wont be the last EF book I read.

I really liked Erika Foster books 1&2. Struggled through 3 and persevered to start 4. However, I don't know whether I have changed or there is a change in the writing but I really didn't enjoy this and gave up a third of the way through. Felt very sloppy and didn't enjoy the writing style at all which is a shame as I really like the Erika Foster thread. The research was very badly done - there is no such thing as an ocular bone or an orbital bone. Maybe it is just me but I really struggle when an author hasn't bothered to do basic research and check facts. Didn't ring true at all and won't be reading any more which is a real shame as had really enjoyed 1&2.