Desires of the Dead doesn't have the serial killer storyline of the first book, but there is just as much searching for Violet. She's trying to figure out how to deal with her abilities and keep the people she cares about safe. She doesn't know how much to share about herself with her family and with Jay. Things have changed now, and she sees how easily her ability can harm those she loves. On top of that, she's been contacted by someone connected to the FBI about her possible special abilities. 
 The relationship between Violet and Jay is interesting and real. It's so easy to see that they are friends who became more, but aren't quite sure how to handle this new part of their relationship. They don't want things to change in their friendship, but they want things to change in their romantic relationship. Part of the "normal" conflict in this book is Violet and Jay trying to figure them out and I enjoyed that. Derting didn't just write the perfect couple and pass it off as coming from their friendship. She's added in teen challenges that make the book feel like it could have been written about anyone in my own high school. 
 Not only are the "normal" parts of this book well written, the paranormal parts are, too. That can be a little difficult to find, sometimes. Either the normal aspects take over and the paranormal suffers, or the paranormal is fantastic while the relationships suffer. Derting has found a perfect balance between the two. The paranormal bleeds into the normal, but doesn't take control. Every once in a while, Derting throws in something that shakes up the normal and reminds you that there is a mystery behind every word. There isn't the serial killer, like in the first novel, but there is death and echoes. Violet has to figure out different deaths that put her in harms way.