The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison

This FBI agent has come to expect almost anything—just not this…
When Agent Mercedes Ramirez finds an abused young boy on her porch, covered in blood and clutching a teddy bear, she has no idea that this is just the beginning. He tells her a chilling tale: an angel killed his parents and then brought him here so Mercedes could keep him safe.
His parents weren’t just murdered. It was a slaughter—a rage kill like no one on the Crimes Against Children team had seen before. But they’re going to see it again. An avenging angel is meting out savage justice, and she’s far from through.
One by one, more children arrive at Mercedes’s door with the same horror story. Each one a traumatized survivor of an abusive home. Each one chafing at Mercedes’s own scars from the past. And each one taking its toll on her life and career.
Now, as the investigation draws her deeper into the dark, Mercedes is beginning to fear that if this case doesn’t destroy her, her memories might.

I have received a netgalley arc (in return for an honest review) of every book in the Collector Series by Dot Hutchison and each one was brilliant, captivating and beautiful. Each one disturbing, funny, uncomfortable and passionate.

The Summer Children was no different. I laughed, I cried and I enjoyed myself. I ate up page after page, deeply involved with some new characters and old characters I have grown to love.

Anyone who knows me well can tell you Butterfly Garden is one of my favorite novels of all time and I have re read it every year since it came out.  The Summer Children will be the same. I was so invested and so interested. I am hopeful that there will be more novels in this collection. The story line was colorful, original and nerve wracking. 

This book is not for a the faint of heart, it is for lovers of TV like SVU and Criminal Minds.  There is child abuse, murder and rape in this novel. While I am against rape as plot in many ways and recently read a book that I hated because of it's use of rape...This novel handles it with the care needed, and in a way that makes you remember that in real life these things happen to children. 

I also liked that the main character, Mercedes,  is a Hispanic lesbian and she is written in a tasteful  way that showcases the diversity needed in literature. 

The character dynamics and development are rich and made me feel so connected to each of them I was sad to leave their world.

I will be buying a physical copy of this novel as well, to support the author and so I can physically grip it's pages and cover as I re read it every year. 

Thank you Dot Hutchison- I looked forward to everything you write.