Hello Beautiful People! Welcome back to another review! For this review, I dive into a new series that’s been on my to-read list forever. My mom always liked the Eve Duncan Series and had recommended it to me so I decided to give it a try. The Face of Deception by Iris Johansen is a super distinctive, and twisty novel. So, let’s get into it!
My Review
The Eve Duncan Series is one of those classic loved series for its strong main characters, that keep bringing more and more stories to life. I believe there are somewhere around 30 books in the series, so there will be plenty more to get into in the future.
The Face of Deception by Iris Johansen is of course the reader’s first look at Eve Duncan and her dynamic story. I enjoyed this book a lot in some parts, but defiantly struggled in others. Overall I gave it a 7/10 rating. I always feel like the first book in a long-winded series like this tends to struggle a bit. The author is starting to figure out their characters, and who they want to paint them to be. They may not have the strongest idea yet of where they want to take the characters, and that can sometimes be evident in the first book. I definitely felt this a bit in this book.
Eve Duncan is a wounded, but strong woman. Early on in the book the reader learns that Eve had a traumatic childhood. Her mother struggled with addiction and Eve essentially raised herself. She got pregnant at a young age with no support from the baby’s father. Her mother sobered up to be more present for Eve and her grandchild Bonnie. When Bonnie was a child she was kidnaped from a public space when out with Eve. Her body was never found, but a child predator admitted to taking her, killing her, and dumping her body. If his execution was not stayed he would never say where the bodies were. Despite Eve’s attempts to get him off death row, he died being the only one to know where the bodies of his child victims were buried. This is essentially the catalyst for Eve’s story. In her trauma, she grows a drive for justice and becomes a forensic sculptor.
In this book Eve is propositioned by billionaire John Logan who has a fascinating job, and a big payout for her, if she’s willing to get her hands a bit dirty. Here’s where I got a bit tripped up in this book. After John Logan gets introduced, so many different characters start to come into play. I really wish there were fewer characters in this book because my little brain can’t handle this many names. Two characters were similarly named and I kept getting them mixed up. It just took away from the book for me a little bit because I kept having to remind myself of who certain people were.
Overall I really enjoyed the plot of the book. John Logan’s skull for Eve isn’t exactly legal to collect, and it gets the two into some interesting trouble. This book is a bit history-based, and a bit USA political system-based. I know this must sound terrible but as soon as I realized politics was playing a role in this book I gave a bit of an internal groan. I find politics (especially American) to be terribly boring. I have never had much interest in presidents or prime ministers before, so any saturated political parts were a bit of a drag for me. That is just very much my own preference though I know lots of people love this theme so if this is your cup of tea I would definitely recommend this book to you.
The book really picked up at the end though and that’s when I really started to enjoy it. At first, the mystery itself was a bit confusing to me, but once I started to get it, I enjoyed the book a lot more. The mystery itself is really riveting and very unique. The only thing I didn’t enjoy about the mystery is that it gets exposed pretty early on in the book. Once we know what the big mystery is, we just follow the characters trying to expose it while others try to stop them. I guess I just wished it wasn’t exposed so early on because it may have kept my attention better. What kept my attention in the second half more than the first was all the action in it. That’s one thing I definitely wasn’t expecting with the book was for there to be so much action in it. It was a nice surprise though that definitely added to the excitement of it all.
Eve as a character is extremely passionate and driven, and it’s hard not to cheer for her. The one thing that confused me in the book is that Eve is presented as this kind of book and street-smart person, but at the same time, she kind of allows herself to be fooled often. Her naivety was a bit strange to me given how her life experiences would seem to combat that. She trusts people a bit too easily in some ways, and not in others. I did enjoy though how her personality is a commanding one. Even though she gets herself in some stupid situations she tends to take control and action. She doesn’t rely on others to protect herself. I enjoyed how Eve was humble in some areas, but not in others like her skills. She knows that she’s good as a forensic sculptor, but isn’t overconfident. She provides each skull she works on with empathy and respect which was a touching piece to her personality, and one that was probably made due to her trauma. The interesting thing about Eve as well is that it’s clear she’s got some mental illness going on, but that she covers up and hides from her pain.
I ended up really enjoying the character of John Logan as well. He’s a bit of an ass, but he’s a smart ass for sure. I appreciated also his respect for Eve and what she brought to the table. Despite him getting Eve and himself in some stupid situations his priority is always making sure that Eve is okay. When he realizes he’s taken things too far he tries to make things right. I enjoyed the humour he added to the book, and his lightheartedness in serious situations. He was a good match-up with Eve’s intensity, as he would often remind her to take a break and look at things differently. They were definitely each other’s yin and yang in this book which was an interesting dynamic to see.
Overall I definitely enjoyed the book, but found some bits to be a bit confusing or boring. I am excited to check out the second book and see how the series continues from here!
I hope you enjoyed this review! Have you checked out the Eve Duncan series before? What did you think? Feel free to check out my socials @baddiebookreviews to be kept up to date for when I release a new review!
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