Review: Memories of Murder
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2014
Memories of Murder, by Yolanda Renee is a book about perception, trust, murder, betrayal, love, sex and psychological madness.  The pentagram on the front cover worried me a bit, but I am more than pleased that I gave it a try, so don’t be misled by it.  Each of us has abilities that remain hidden and this story gives creditability to the saying that “sometimes you just gotta go with your gut.”Sarah is an artist who comes into her own as her paintings gain popularity in the elite international art world.  Steven is a detective and the love of Sarah’s life.  She survived kidnapping and rape and Steven was a part of her case.  They fell in love during that time, but the experience seems to haunt Sarah in her dreams.  Luke, aka Lucifer, is a certified nut case obsessed with his first love, the now deceased Abigail.  Phoenix is Abigail’s daughter and the new object of Lucifer’s obsession.  There are many other characters that bring this story into a thoughtful and well woven tale that kept me on my toes trying to guess “what next?”Everyone, including Sarah, believes that her vivid and breathtaking nightmares stem from her subconscious as a victim of a horrific crime.  Steven believes her to be mentally fragile from that ordeal and treats her as a fragile survivor instead of the strong and able woman that thrives inside of her.  The dreams depict the devil and pure evil and the only relief for Sarah is to paint them.  The paintings are dark and sinister, with no frame of reference as to the source.  Abigail and Luke made vows to serve the church at a young age, but Luke feels betrayed when Abigail defiles herself by getting pregnant by another man.  He gravitates to the dark side and kidnaps Phoenix since he can’t have Abigail.  Sarah interests him as well, as he deemed her the perfect love, but he could not get to her and finally settled for Phoenix.  He trains and tortures her to become his perfect mate and almost accomplishes that task.  A fortunate stroke of lucks results in the rescue of Phoenix and we follow this story from many places including Anchorage, Alaska; Seattle, Washington; Florida, and even Europe.  Evil lurks in each and every one of these places as Stephen determines to solve a very disturbing puzzle.  Finally read how Sarah’s dreams and paintings and Phoenix’s journals of her dreams come together in an ending that will surprise you and make you realize that everyone can fight evil and survive.Sarah and Steven’s relationship is in trouble throughout the entire book, but love wins in the end.  Love overcomes doubt, fear, outside relationships, and even a plot by some very unprofessional therapists.  The constant arguments between these two distracted me from the plot somewhat, but overall it was worth my time.  This book is a great stand-alone but is actually the sequel to Murder, Madness, and Love, which I plan to read immediately.  Give the book a try-you will be glad that you did!