Afterimage

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kevin J. Anderson

Just as the Joan of Arc killer--a rapist who burns his victims before murdering them--is murdering her, Rebecca Tamerlane finds her soul snatched by a group of shapeshifters, who transform it into the likeness of her killer. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.

Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.

In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".

She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good mystery/fantasy about revenge and redemption with a few savage twists. It's a violent book with rape and torture and other triggering events, so it's definitely not for everyone. The victim is Rebecca Tamerlane, who is rescued by mysterious shapeshifters just as the Joan of Arc serial killer/rapist has finished her. The twist is that she has assumed the image of her killer, and the police are now on his/her trail.

[Georgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's readable (if certain triggering content doesn't upset you) but it's not satisfying. The protagonist is unable to meaningfully affect events, making the story frustrating.

First off, the things that may be distressing to readers:

The protagonist is violently raped and assaulted early on, and flashes back to it several times, not to mention the upsetting nature of being IN the body of her rapist. Two babies die.


Plot frustrations:

Rebecca never really understands what's going on. She tries to carry out a quest to save herself, but all her attempts fail, and then it turns out the quest was a lie anyway and there was literally nothing she could do. The whole reason she's even IN her predicament is a vague plot by a villain which is never well explained. The villain is defeated due to the action of minor characters that we the reader know little about, Rebecca has absolutely nothing to do with it. They also randomly decide to give Rebecca her body back and maybe undo some of the mental damage the villain did, but Rebecca had no input in that. She has not gained or learned anything from the events of the book except some extra trauma to make her life worse - she's not exploring the world of magic, she's not getting closer to her brother, she's not reconnecting with her ex, she's not learning to reach out and make connections, she's just upset and hating herself for everything that happened. The only person who BENEFITS in any way from the plot of the book is one of the darklings, who gains some control over his powers so that he doesn't have to keep losing his human girlfriend every time he changes forms, a plot thread that is extremely minor and has almost nothing to do with the main story.


What was the point of anything?

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca is the fifth victim of the Joan-of-Arc killer. Just before she is dead a pair of darklings (shape shifters) find her. Gatha uses her magic to bring Rebecca back. Unfortunately in the exact image of her attacker. Gatha suggests this happened because Rebecca was so fixated on the face of [my name is Michael] that it caused her to take his shape. To regain her old form she would need to get someone to recognize her as Rebecca. She sets off to find someone to recognize her.

There were witnesses to Michael dousing Rebecca with gas and setting her on fire. They contact the police with a loose description. The police find the charred spot and her backpack, but are puzzled by the missing body. They immediately set off to talk to her family and friends. Making it even harder for her to make contact with them.

The perspective switches between several characters, Rebecca, the police detective, her brother, Michael, Daniin, Gatha and another darkling Hectrix. At the beginning focusing mainly on the humans, later several sections in a row with the darklings all leading to the final confrontations.

Really good fast paced story, easy reading, excellent integration of the mystery and sf/fantasy elements. Tense. For a minute I wondered why Rebecca didn't use her email to make contact. Then I saw 1992, before ubiquitous email and everyone having a personal computer. No other overt clue to make it seem anything less than contemporary.

[Arlene Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book by KKR. It's not for everybody; it is very intense, emotional and in parts horrific (not the writing, the events that occur). Sometimes the main character is even unlikeable. However, even now when urban fantasy is de riguer, this stands out for originality - a murdered young woman has the afterimage of her murderer burned into her eyes as she dies; she transfers her soul into his body and vice versa - and then the hunt is on! It's hard to put it down once you start reading; it is easy to see how KKR became such a hugely successful mystery writer as Kris Nelscott. And romance writer as Kathryn Grayson.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent fantasy about revenge and serial killers.