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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.
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?
New Eden, Montana, is a piece of heaven on earth where one woman died in her own private hell. Now its up to ex-court reporter Marilee Jennings to decipher the puzzle of her best friends death. But someone has a stake in silencing her suspicion. Someone with secrets worth killing forand the power to turn this beautiful haven into a...Dark Paradise.And as Mari digs deeper beneath New Edens picture-perfect exterior, finding the truth is suddenly no longer a matter of justice.Its her only hope of staying alive.
The deepest waters hide the darkest secretsWhen the body of a murdered man literally falls at Elizabeth Stuart's feet, she's able to wash away the bloodbut not the terror. Unwelcome newcomers to Still Creek, Minnesota, she and her troubled teenage son are treated with suspicion by the locals, including the sheriff. Yet nothing will stop her from digging beneath the town's placid surface for the truthexcept the killer.Running from a messy divorce, Elizabeth believed buying a small-town newspaper offered a fresh start for herself and her son. But idyllic Still Creek, nestled in the heart of lush Amish farmlands, hides secrets dangerous enough to push someone to commit murder. Now Elizabeth must risk everything to save herself and her son, and to unmask the killerbefore the current of evil flowing through Still Creek drags her under.
The third mystery in the Oak Knoll series starring retired FBI Profiler Vince Leone, from Sunday Times bestselling author Tami Hoag. The perfect family shattered by the perfect crime... Four years after the unsolved disappearance of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Lauren Lawton is the only one still chasing the ghosts of her perfect Santa Barbara life. The world has given her daughter up for dead. Her husband ended his own life in the aftermath. And Lauren's younger daughter is desperate to enjoy what's left of her childhood. Lauren knows exactly who took her oldest child, but there is not a shred of evidence against the man. Even as he stalks her family, Lauren is powerless to stop him. The Santa Barbara police are handcuffed by the very laws they are sworn to uphold. Looking for a fresh start in a town with no memories, Lauren and her younger daughter Leah move to idyllic Oak Knoll. But when Lauren's suspect turns up in the same city, it feels as if history is about to repeat itself. Leah Lawton will soon turn sixteen, and Oak Knoll has a cunning predator on the hunt. A page-turning thriller packed with suspense. If you like Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter and Karen Rose you will love Tami Hoag.
Four years after the unsolved disappearance of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Lauren Lawton is the only one still chasing the ghosts of her perfect Santa Barbara life. The world has given her daughter up for dead. Her husband ended his own life in the aftermath. Even Lauren's younger daughter is desperate to find what's left of the childhood she hasn't been allowed to have. Lauren knows exactly who took her oldest child, but there is not a shred of evidence against the man. Even as he stalks her family, Lauren is powerless to stop him. Looking for a fresh start in a town with no memories, Lauren and her younger daughter, Leah, move to idyllic Oak Knoll. But when Lauren's suspect turns up in the same city, it feels to all the world that history is about to repeat itself. Leah Lawton will soon turn sixteen, and Oak Knoll has a cunning predator on the hunt. Sheriff's detective Tony Mendez and his team begin to close in on the suspected killer, desperate to keep the young women of their picturesque town safe. But as the investigators sift through the murky circumstances of an increasingly disturbing case, a stunning question changes everything they thought they knew.
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.
In DEAD SKY, Tami Hoag - the Sunday Times bestselling author of A THIN DARK LINE - returns with book three in the gripping Kovac & Liska detective series as they investigate a shocking family murder. It was a crime so brutal it changed the lives of even the most hardened homicide police officers. The Haas family murders left a scar on the community nothing can erase, but convicting the alleged killer, Karl Dahl, is a start. Only Judge Carey Moore seems to be standing in the way. Her ruling that Dahl's prior criminal record is inadmissible as evidence against him raises a public outcry - and puts the judge in grave danger. When an unknown assailant attacks Carey Moore in a parking garage, Detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are called in to investigate and keep the judge from further harm. Then Karl Dahl escapes custody, and the judge is kidnapped from her home even as the police sit outside watching her house. With no time to spare, the detectives are pulled down a strange dark trail of smoke and mirrors, where no one is who they seem, and everyone is guilty of something. Watch out for the next title in the Kovac and Liska crime thriller series As Detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska stand over the brutally disfigured remains of an adolescent girl in the early hours of New Year's Day, they suspect they've stumbled across the ninth victim of the notorious Doc Holiday. A horribly sadistic killer who strikes during the holidays. But with the girl's identity obscured by her injuries, they have little to go on. Until Liska discovers that one of her son's friends - Gray - is missing... THE 9TH GIRL is the next gripping thriller in the series.
In DARK HORSE, Tami Hoag - the Sunday Times bestselling author of A THIN DARK LINE - introduces former detective Elena Estes with a thrilling tale of suspense and redemption. 'Hoag's books should come with a health warning: Too much tension and suspense can cause heart problems. Highly recommended' Guardian Elena Estes' stubborn risk-taking has cost her dearly: her job, her confidence, her career in the Miami PD and, most importantly, the life of a fellow cop. Now in retreat in Florida with only the soothing presence of horses for company, Elena begins to find some peace. But then a visitor comes calling. Twelve-year-old Molly Seabright believes something terrible has happened to her older stepsister. Erin, eighteen and trouble, is a groom at the Wellington show grounds but hasn't been seen for several days. Elena isn't interested in the case but Molly convinces her to make one trip to the show grounds. Elena finds herself in a world populated by the ultra-rich and the ultra-ruthless. She must find out what's happened to Erin before it's too late to save the girl - and herself. A page-turning thriller packed with suspense. If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karen Rose you will love Tami Hoag.
From the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of DEEPER THAN THE DEAD, a thrilling novel of suspense. When Elizabeth Stuart starts looking for a new home for herself and her son, somewhere she can recover from a particularly bruising divorce, Still Creek seems the answer to her dreams. Hidden in the lush Amish farmlands of Minnesota, Still Creek offers a sanctuary to the splintered family who look forward to settling down there. But on their arrival the locals are distinctly cool to the newcomers. And when Elizabeth becomes involved in a murder case, she realises that there is a lot more to life in Still Creek than meets the eye.
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.
She was beautiful. She was a nightmare. Now she's dead and he needs her to disappear... The Palm Beach elite go to great lengths to protect their own - and their own no longer includes Elena Estes. Once a child of wealth and privilege, Elena turned her back on that life and chose the life of an undercover cop, until a tragic, haunting mistake ended her career. Now Elena exists on the fringes of her old life. But a shocking event is about to draw her back into the painful vortex she's fought so hard to leave behind. First she finds a woman's body: a friend murdered and dumped in a canal. As Elena delves into the victim's secret life, she discovers ties to the Russian mob but also to a group of powerful and wealthy Palm Beach bad boys known for giving each other alibis to cover a multitude of sins. A group that includes a man Elena once knew very well - her former fiance, who has already escaped justice at least once in his life. Finding her friend's killer will put Elena at odds with her old life, her new lover, and herself. But she is determined to reveal the truth - one that will shock Palm Beach society to its core, and could easily get her killed.
A botched investigation - and a killer walks free... The death of a beautiful woman ... an arrogant man who claimed to be her suitor but was probably her murderer ... a cop accused of planting evidence ... and a town steeped in secrets and shadows. Deputy Annie Broussard is still haunted by the case of Pamela Bichon. The killer walked free, and Annie can't forget the sight of Pamela's mutilated body. But her obsessive search for justice lands her with a dilemma where she must defend or accuse a fellow cop ...
#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with her second thriller in the Deeper than the Dead microseries, exploring the early days of forensic investigation, the characteristics of innocence-and the nature of evil. Marissa Fordham had a past full of secrets, a present full of lies. Everyone knew of her, but no one knew her. When Marissa is found brutally murdered, with her young daughter, Haley, resting her head on her mother's bloody breast, she sends the idyllic California town of Oak Knoll into a tailspin. Already on edge with the upcoming trial of the See- No-Evil killer, residents are shocked by reports of the crime scene, which might not have been discovered for days had it not been for a chilling 911 call: a small child's voice saying, "e;My daddy hurt my mommy."e; Sheriff's detective Tony Mendez faces a puzzle with nothing but pieces that won't fit. To assist with his witness, Haley, he calls teacher-turned-child advocate Anne Leone. Anne's life is hectic enough-she's a newlywed and a part- time student in child psychology, and she's the star witness in the See-No-Evil trial. But one look at Haley, alone and terrified, and Anne's heart is stolen. As Tony and Anne begin to peel back the layers of Marissa Fordham's life, they find a clue fragment here, another there. And just when it seems Marissa has taken her secrets to the grave, they uncover a fact that puts Anne and Haley directly in the sights of a killer: Marissa Fordham never existed.
The first suspense mystery in the Deer Lake series from Sunday Times bestselling author Tami Hoag. Deer Lake is a small Minnesota town where people know their neighbours and crime is something that happens on the evening news. But the illusion of safety is shattered when eight-year-old Josh Kirkwood disappears. All the police find is his duffel bag with a note stuffed inside, 'Ignorance is not innocence but SIN'. With each passing hour the search for Josh takes on a more ominous intensity. For Megan O'Malley, the new regional officer of the state criminal investigative unit, it is a test of whether she can cut it in the all-male world of local cops. And for police chief Mitch Holt, it is a frightening reminder of the big city crime that devastated his life before he fled to Deer Lake ...
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.