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A panic-stricken woman runs in the dead of night, battered and bloodied, desperate to find help.... When detective Nick Fourcade enters the home of Genevieve Gauthier outside the sleepy town of Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, the bloody crime scene that awaits him is both the most brutal and the most confusing he's ever seen. Genevieve's seven-year-old son, KJ, has been murdered by an alleged intruder, yet Genevieve is alive and well, a witness inexplicably left behind to tell the tale. There is no evidence of forced entry, not a clue that points to a motive. Meanwhile, Nick's wife, detective Annie Broussard, sits in the emergency room with the grieving Genevieve. A mother herself, Annie understands the emotional devastation this woman is going through, but as a detective she's troubled by a story that makes little sense. Who would murder a child and leave the only witness behind? When the very next day KJ's sometimes babysitter, twelve-year-old Nora Florette, is reported missing, the town is up in arms, fearing a maniac is preying on their children. With pressure mounting from a tough, no-nonsense new sheriff, the media, and the parents of Bayou Breaux, Nick and Annie dig deep into the dual mysteries. But sifting through Genevieve Gauthier's tangled web of lovers and sorting through a cast of local lowlifes brings more questions than answers. Is someone from Genevieve's past or present responsible for the death of her son? Is the missing teenager, Nora, a victim, or something worse? Then everything changes when Genevieve's past as a convicted criminal comes to light. The spotlight falls heavily on the grieving mother who is both victim and accused. Could she have killed her own child to free herself of the burden of motherhood, or is the loss of her beloved boy pushing her to the edge of insanity? Could she have something to do with the disappearance of Nora Florette, or is the troubled sitter the key to the murder? How far will Nick and Annie have to go to uncover the dark truth of the boy?
Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until she was kidnapped by a notorious serial killer. A year has passed since she survived the ordeal, but Dana is still physically, emotionally, and psychologically scarred, racked with bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder and memory loss. In an attempt to put herself back together after surviving the unthinkable, Dana returns to her hometown. But it doesn't provide the comfort she expects: she struggles to recognise family and childhood friends and begins experiencing dark flashbacks. But she's not sure if they're truly memories or side effects of her brain injury. Dana decides to use her investigative skills to piece together her past and learns of the event that made her become a reporter in the first place: the disappearance of her best friend, Casey Grant, the summer after high school graduation. Looking at her past and the unsolved mystery through the dark filter of her shattered psyche, old friends seem to be suspects, authority figures part of a cover-up. Dana begins to question everything she knows. What is real? What is imagined? Are we defined by what happens to us? And is the truth really something too terrible to be believed?
December 2013 Book of the Month. Darker, more gory than is her norm and certainly more than the police duo Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska have coped with before. This is their fourth case and the women they find are hideously mutilated and completely unidentifiable. Seems like a hopeless case. The interaction between Kovac and Liska is developing nicely and if you can put up with the gore, then it is a good continuation to the series.
Minnesota Dectectives Kovac and Liska are back for a terrifying and chilling case, trying to discover the name and fate of an unidentified teenager - referred to as Jane Doe 9 as she is the 9th unidentified body to be found that year. Tami Hoag is the master of writing about the dark side of small town America. Her fans will love it and any reader who enjoys Kathy Reichs or Tess Gerritsen should pop it on their reading list.
December 2011 Book of the Month. Following on from the excellent Deeper than the Dead, Secrets to the Grave is another tautly plotted thriller, set in the 1980s before everything is solved with forensics, that will keep you guessing to the end. Tami Hoag’s characters just jump off the page and she takes full advantage of setting the stories in a small community to have a whole range of colourful characters that wrap in and around the main story. You don’t have to read Deeper than the Dead 1st but it will help your overall enjoyment of this cracking ‘micro-series’ – the next in the series is Down the Darkest Road.
Former FBI agent Kate Conlan and her former colleague John Quinn find themselves thrown together in a case to find The Cremator a serial killer targeting prostitutes in Minnapolis. Not only must the deal with the stress of the case but also with the painful past relationship they share. Hoag is on top form providing just enough mystery and plot twists to keep the reader on edge, enough gore to keep those with a blood-lust satisfied and enough romantic tension to keep the characters interesting.
December 2010 Book of the Month. Three young boys and a girl playing in the woods come across the body of a woman. Naturally they are traumatised. Over the next few hundred pages more women are murdered and the children’s families become suspects. How to find answers in a very middle-class community is tautly handled in a gripping read, a tad grisly for me but truly enthralling. Comparison: Tess Gerritsen, Alex Kava, Mo Hayder.
If you’ve not read Tami Hoag before, this is an excellent place to start for it’s a great read … but not her best, which means once you’ve tried her you’ve got a great time ahead! It is a tale of the power position and money can wield and how the privileged protect themselves. Elena used to be part of that set but became a cop, made a mistake and now works in the stables of a Palm Beach polo club. Naturally she is well placed to do her own investigations when a girl-friend is murdered … involving the Russian Mafia, the police and the rich. This is tense, dangerous stuff.Comparison: Tess Gerritsen, Alex Kava, Lisa Gardner.
Half a murder victim dredged up from a crocodile infested canal in Florida opens this compelling murder mystery. She is found by her friend Elena, a psychologically scared ex-policewoman, who is driven to uncover the secrets that lead her to a grisly fate. In doing so Elena has to revisit areas of her life she felt she had closed off and puts herself back in the firing line. Tami Hoag always writes such convincing characters and pacy plots but I think this is her best novel to date, and if you have yet to try her this is a great place to start. Please note that The Alibi Man is not published until 19 July 2007 but you can download and read an extract now. Click the Pre-Order button to receive email notification as soon as this title is available.
A rather frightening tale of misconceptions and the danger of jumping to conclusions. There are horrific murders and spur of the moment killings which the authorities assume are all done by the same person. Kovac and Liska, two of the author’s popular characters, are called in and then the plot really gets going. This is a real page-turner and is certainly gripping all the way through. Highly recommended and then you have a backlist to devour too! She’s great.Similar this month: Patrick Lennon.Comparison: Tess Gerritsen, Alex Kava.
A maze of suspects that include the step-son of a murder victim, a husband with a secret life, and a rogue cop looking for revenge where the justice system failed. Hoag’s brilliantly portrayed detectives and suspects will take you on a white knuckle ride of suspense. Totally unputdownable as is the author’s hallmark.
One of the stars in this area of American suspense thrillers with strong characters, plenty of drama and page-turning addiction. She’s very good. Comparison: Susan Lewis, Meg Gardiner, Sandra Brown.
Interestingly, this is a reworked version of a 1998 novel with some of the romance ‘removed’ – but don’t let that put you off. The novel is intriguing and compelling and follows Serena Sheridan's search for her grandfather, who has vanished into the vast and infamous swamps of Louisiana for no apparent reason.
Brilliant suspense with multiple suspects, Tami Hoag sends out detectives Kovac and Liska to dispense justice one again. Hoag is a master at drawing out each clue and building up the tension along with a knack for creating incredibly believable characters.
The sequel to Night Sins is equally as compelling as it’s predecessor. We have a new heroine in Ellen North, the Assistant County Attorney, but all the suspense and intrigue of the first thriller. The plot line is great with new characters being brought in at each new twist and turn, cleverly interwoven in to the lives of each other. Something to really get your teeth in to.
MOTHER. LIAR. MURDERER? When Genevieve's seven-year-old son is found bleeding to death in his own home, she's horrified when the police turn to her for answers. There's no evidence of a break-in, and parts of Genevieve's story don't seem to make sense. But could a mother really kill her own child? Twenty-four hours later, teenager Nora Florette is reported missing - and panic begins to spread. Someone is preying on the local children - and the police are caught in a race against time to catch the killer. Detective Nick Fourcade and his partner Annie Broussard must uncover the truth about Genevieve's past before it's too late. Is she simply a grieving mother? Or is she a danger to them all? The Sunday Times bestseller is back in a nail-biting thriller, perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Harlan Coben. Praise for Tami Hoag: 'Authentic, dark and intense' Tess Gerritson 'Deviously plotted' Lisa Scottoline 'Heart-stopping' Carol Goodman
In THE BITTER SEASON, Tami Hoag - the Sunday Times bestselling author of A THIN DARK LINE - returns with book five in the gripping Kovac & Liska detective series. 'As good as Michael Connelly or Karin Slaughter at their best.' Mark Edwards, No. 1 Kindle bestseller A middle-aged couple - hacked to death in their own home - with a samurai sword. Normal people. Who were they? And why were they targeted? Twenty years ago a policeman was murdered in his own back garden and the killer was never caught. One woman might link these mysteries. But she is being watched. Can Detectives Nikki Liska and Sam Kovac find her before it is too late? A page-turning thriller packed with suspense. If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karen Rose you will love Tami Hoag.
#1 New York Times Bestselling author Tami Hoag returns to the bestselling series of her career with a Kovac and Liska case that will delight fans and new listeners alike.A murder from the past. A murder from the present. And a life that was never meant to be.As the dreary, bitter weather of late fall descends on Minneapolis, Detective Nikki Liska is restless. After moving to the cold case squad in order to spend more time with her sons, she misses the rush of pulling an all-nighter, the sense of urgency of hunting a murderer on the loose. Most of all she misses her old partner, Sam Kovac. Sam is having an even harder time adjusting to Nikki's absence, saddled with a green new partner younger than pieces of Sam's wardrobe. Sam is distracted from his troubles by an especially brutal double homicide: a middle-aged husband and wife bludgeoned and hacked to death in their home with a ceremonial Japanese samurai sword. Nikki's case, the unsolved murder of a family man, community leader, and decorated sex crimes detective for the Minneapolis PD, is less of a distraction: twenty years later, there is little hope for finding the killer who got away.On the other end of the spectrum, Minneapolis resident Evi Burke has a life she only dreamed of as a kid in and out of foster homes: a beautiful home, a family, people who love her, a fulfilling job. Little does she know that a danger from her past is stalking her perfect present. A danger powerful enough to pull in both Kovac and Liska and destroy the perfect life she was never meant to have.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag explores the devastating consequences of the secrets families keep in this powerful thriller.As the dreary, bitter weather of late fall descends on Minneapolis, Detective Nikki Liska is restless. After moving to the cold case squad in order to spend more time with her sons, she misses the rush of pulling an all-nighter, the sense of urgency of hunting a murderer on the loose. Most of all she misses her old partner, Sam Kovac. Sam is having an even harder time adjusting to Nikki's absence, saddled with a green new partner younger than pieces of Sam's wardrobe. Sam is distracted from his troubles by an especially brutal double homicide: a middle-aged husband and wife bludgeoned and hacked to death in their home with a ceremonial Japanese samurai sword. Nikki's case, the unsolved murder of a family man, community leader, and decorated sex crimes detective for the Minneapolis PD, is less of a distraction: twenty years later, there is little hope for finding the killer who got away.On the other end of the spectrum, Minneapolis resident Evi Burke has a life she only dreamed of as a kid in and out of foster homes: a beautiful home, a family, people who love her, a fulfilling job. Little does she know that a danger from her past is stalking her perfect present. A danger powerful enough to pull in both Kovac and Liska and destroy the perfect life she was never meant to have.
In COLD COLD HEART, Tami Hoag - the Sunday Times bestselling author of A THIN DARK LINE - with the gripping follow-up to THE 9TH GIRL. Dana Nolan has escaped from notorious serial killer Doc Holliday. But can she ever be safe? She was the only one to make it out alive. Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until she was kidnapped by a notorious serial killer. A year has passed since she survived the ordeal, but Dana is still physically, emotionally, and psychologically scarred. She thought it was over. In an attempt to put herself back together, Dana returns to her hometown. But it doesn't provide the comfort she expects: she struggles to recognize family and childhood friends and begins experiencing dark flashbacks. But she's not sure if they're truly memories or side effects of her brain injury. She was wrong. Dana decides to use her investigative skills to piece together her past and the event that made her become a reporter in the first place: the disappearance of her best friend, Casey Grant, the summer after high school graduation. But now, old friends seem to be suspects, authority figures part of a cover-up. Dana begins to question everything she knows. And is the truth really something too terrible to be believed?
A thrilling novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag, one of the most intense suspense writers around (Chicago Tribune).Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until a notorious serial killer tried to add her to his list of victims. Nearly a year has passed since she survived her ordeal, but the physical, emotional, and psychological scars run deep. Struggling with the torment of post-traumatic stress syndrome, plagued by flashbacks and nightmares, Dana returns to her hometown in an attempt to begin to put her life back together. But home doesnt provide the comfort she expects.Danas harrowing story and her return to small-town life have rekindled police and media interest in the unsolved case of her childhood best friend, Casey Grant, who disappeared without a trace the summer after their graduation from high school. Terrified of truths long buried, Dana reluctantly begins to look back at her past. Viewed through the dark filter of PTSD, old friends and loved ones become suspects and enemies. Questioning everything she knows, refusing to be defined by the traumas of her past, Dana seeks out a truth that may prove too terrible to be believed.
A thrilling novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag, one of the most intense suspense writers around (Chicago Tribune).Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until a notorious serial killer tried to add her to his list of victims. Nearly a year has passed since she survived her ordeal, but the physical, emotional, and psychological scars run deep. Struggling with the torment of post-traumatic stress syndrome, plagued by flashbacks and nightmares, Dana returns to her hometown in an attempt to begin to put her life back together. But home doesnt provide the comfort she expects.Danas harrowing story and her return to small-town life have rekindled police and media interest in the unsolved case of her childhood best friend, Casey Grant, who disappeared without a trace the summer after their graduation from high school. Terrified of truths long buried, Dana reluctantly begins to look back at her past. Viewed through the dark filter of PTSD, old friends and loved ones become suspects and enemies. Questioning everything she knows, refusing to be defined by the traumas of her past, Dana seeks out a truth that may prove too terrible to be believed.
Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until she was kidnapped by a notorious serial killer. A year has passed since she survived the ordeal, but Dana is still physically, emotionally, and psychologically scarred, racked with bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder and memory loss. In an attempt to put herself back together after surviving the unthinkable, Dana returns to her hometown. But it doesn't provide the comfort she expects: she struggles to recognize family and childhood friends and begins experiencing dark flashbacks-but she's not sure if they're truly memories or side effects of her brain injury. Dana decides to use her investigative skills to piece together her past and learns of the event that made her become a reporter in the first place: the disappearance of her best friend, Casey Grant, the summer after high school graduation. Looking at her past and the unsolved mystery through the dark filter of her shattered psyche, old friends seem to be suspects, authority figures part of a cover-up. Dana begins to question everything she knows. What is real? What is imagined? Are we defined by what happens to us? And is the truth really something too terrible to be believed?
It's never an easy task matching a dead body to the scores of missing persons reports. Especially when no one seems to be looking for the victim. New Years Day is a time for new beginnings, but Minneapolis homicide detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are focused on endings: specifically, the tragic end of their latest murder victim, an unidentified young woman. Kovac and Liska are determined to do the girl the small justice of returning her body to her family as they investigate her case, but it is no simple task matching the broken corpse to any of the scores of missing persons reports, especially when no one seems to be looking for her. Meanwhile, recent widow Jeannie Reiser is frantic when she is unable to get in touch with her daughter. And her desperate attempts to get the police to believe her child is in trouble lead her closer and closer to the New Year's Doe, and to an evil even Kovac and Liska may be unable to stop. The story continues in Tami Hoag's THE 9TH GIRL.
Kovac had seen more dead bodies than he could count: men, women, children; victims of shootings, stabbings, strangulations, beatings; fresh corpses and bodies that had been left for days in the trunks of cars in the dead of summer. But he had never seen anything quite like this.On a frigid New Years Eve in Minneapolis, a young womans brutalized body falls from the trunk of a car into the path of oncoming traffic. Questions as to whether she was alive or dead when she hit the icy pavement result in her macabre nickname, Zombie Doe. Unidentified and unidentifiable, she is the ninth nameless female victim of the year, and homicide detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are charged with the task of not only finding out who Zombie Doe is but who in her life hated her enough to destroy her. Was it personal, or could it just have been a crime of opportunity? Their greatest fear is that not only is she their ninth Jane Doe of the year but that she may be the ninth victim of a vicious, transient serial killer they have come to call Doc Holiday.Crisscrossing Americas heartland, Doc Holiday chooses his victims at random, snatching them in one city and leaving them in another, always on a holiday. If Zombie Doe is one of his victims, he has brought his gruesome game to a new and more terrifying level. But as Kovac and Liska begin to uncover the truth, they will find that the monsters in their ninth girls life may have lived closer to home. And even as another young woman disappears, they have to ask the question: Which is the greater evilthe devil you know or the devil you dont?
Kovac had seen more dead bodies than he could count: men, women, children; victims of shootings, stabbings, strangulations, beatings; fresh corpses and bodies that had been left for days in the trunks of cars in the dead of summer. But he had never seen anything quite like this.On a frigid New Years Eve in Minneapolis, a young womans brutalized body falls from the trunk of a car into the path of oncoming traffic. Questions as to whether she was alive or dead when she hit the icy pavement result in her macabre nickname, Zombie Doe. Unidentified and unidentifiable, she is the ninth nameless female victim of the year, and homicide detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are charged with the task of not only finding out who Zombie Doe is but who in her life hated her enough to destroy her. Was it personal, or could it just have been a crime of opportunity? Their greatest fear is that not only is she their ninth Jane Doe of the year but that she may be the ninth victim of a vicious, transient serial killer they have come to call Doc Holiday.Crisscrossing Americas heartland, Doc Holiday chooses his victims at random, snatching them in one city and leaving them in another, always on a holiday. If Zombie Doe is one of his victims, he has brought his gruesome game to a new and more terrifying level. But as Kovac and Liska begin to uncover the truth, they will find that the monsters in their ninth girls life may have lived closer to home. And even as another young woman disappears, they have to ask the question: Which is the greater evilthe devil you know or the devil you dont?
Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska return to investigate the death of a Jane Doe in New York Times bestseller Tami Hoags short story "e;The 1st Victim."e;New Years Day is a time for new beginnings, but Minneapolis homicide detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are focused on endings: specifically, the tragic end of their latest murder victim, an unidentified young woman discovered on the side of the freeway. Believed to be the victim of a serial killer, Kovac and Liska are determined to do the girl the small justice of returning her body to her family as they investigate her case, but it is no simple task matching the broken corpse to any of the scores of missing persons reports, especially when no one seems to be looking for her.Meanwhile, recent widow Jeannie Reiser is frantic when she is unable to get in touch with her daughter, Rose, who, as an eighteen-year-old, is a legal adult rather than a missing child in the eyes of the law. Jeannies desperate attempts to get the police to believe her child is in trouble lead her closer and closer to the New Years Doe and to an evil even Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska may be unable to stop. Tami Hoag once again proves her place as one of the most intense suspense writers around* with "e;The 1st Victim."e;*Chicago Tribune
A cold-blooded kidnapper has been playing a twisted game with a terrified Minnesota town. Now a respected member of the community stands accused of a startling act of evil. But when a second boy disappears, a frightened public demands to know: Have the police caught the wrong man? Is the nightmare continuing . . . or just beginning?Prosecutor Ellen North believes shes building a case against a guilty man and that he has an accomplice in the shadows. As she prepares for the trial of her career, Ellen suddenly finds herself swept into a cruel contest of twisted wits, a dark game of life and death . . . with an evil mind as guilty as sin. Accomplished and scary. CosmopolitanA page-turner. Chicago Tribune
A peaceful Minnesota town, where crime is something that just doesnt happen, is about to face its worst nightmare. A young boy disappears. There are no witnesses, no cluesonly a note, cleverly taunting, casually cruel. Has a cold-blooded kidnapper struck? Or is this the reawakening of a long-quiet serial killer?A tough-minded investigator on her first, make-or-break case A local cop who fears that big-city evils have come to stalk his small-town home Together they are hunting for a madman who knows no bounds, to protect a town that may never feel safe again.Tami Hoag is the queen of the crime story. New York Post
Tami Hoag is a superb writer of psychological suspense. Own nine of the very best in one digital collection:NIGHT SINSGUILTY AS SINASHES TO ASHESDUST TO DUSTDEAD SKYDARK HORSETHE ALIBI MANDEEPER THAN THE DEADSECRETS TO THE GRAVE
In the rural parishes of Louisiana's French Triangle, young women are disappearing one by one, only to turn up on the banks of the bayou, strangled and cast aside where they are sure to be found. But there is one trophy the killer prizes above all others, one woman who must be silenced forever.Attorney Laurel Chandler did not come back to Bayou Breaux to seek justice. That once-burning obsession had destroyed her credibility, her career, her marriageand nearly her sanity. But when a ruthless predator strikes too close to home, she's lured into a perverse game from which there may be no escape. Once before, Laurel's cries against a monstrous evil went unanswered. Who will listen now?