Rating: 
Summary: One of Tami Hoag's Best Thrillers
Review: Kate Conlan is a divorced victim/witness advocate in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She had been an FBI agent five years ago, but that career ended when she had an affair with Special Agent John Quinn, who is now back in her life to help track down a serial killer.The sparks between the two don't rekindle until about halfway into the book, which was a relief and disappointment. It was nice to be able to read a couple hundred pages without the predictable Tami Hoag romance getting in the way. When the inevitable does happen, I kept wondering why--after five years of no contact--would they want to hook up again? They do try to forget about their pasts together, but it's a pretty [poor] attempt. At the beginning of "Ashes to Ashes", the Cremator (aka Smokey Joe) has just killed his third victim, who might possibly be the daughter of billionaire Peter Bondurant. The only person who saw the killer was Angie DiMarco, a foul-mouthed, homeless teenager, who is the only key witness in the investigation and Kate's new responsibility. To say the least, Kate is reluctant to get involved with a minor, particularly this kid. However, when Angie vanishes from a safe house, Kate fears her young witness may be the Cremator's fourth victim. The beginning of "Ashes to Ashes" is a little slow and tedious with the introduction of the crime and characters, but by the middle it definitely picks up the pace. The ending, however, is a little disappointing. Or rather, the killer is disappointing--and pathetic. S/he's not what I expected or imagined the Cremator to be like. At least you won't be able to guess who s/he is until close to the end. Overall, "Ashes to Ashes" is the most exciting book by Tami Hoag I've read so far. ("Night Sins" is almost a match, but it's not as gruesome as this one. "Dark Paradise" doesn't even come close in the scare department.) "Ashes to Ashes" is also pretty humorous. The jokes can be crude (depending on your comfort level), but they're a welcome after some of the serious scenes. Dislikes: Too many characters and details. The result: almost 600 pages, a record for Tami Hoag. Generally, her books average 500 pages. Offensive material: explicit language, sex, incest, murder, self-mutalation... Well, just about everything. If you're easily offended or squeamish, try something else by Tami Hoag, like "Dark Paradise". For those you enjoyed "Ashes to Ashes", you should continue with the follow-up novel, "Dust to Dust".
Rating: 
Summary: This one was well worth the wait!
Review: To call this book romance suspense doesn't do it, or Tami Hoag, justice. This is a full-on, grab you by the throat suspense thriller that rates up there with the best of them. If you enjoy the likes of John Sandford, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman, James Patterson and Patricia Cornwell you'll love this book. It hit the bookstores here yesterday and I grabbed a copy as they were stocking the shelves...and have just finshed it in one sitting (starting at 5.00am!). As I got into the last third of the book it had me pacing from one room to the other as I read it: I just couldn't sit still. Yes, there is a love story woven through it but Tami Hoag has moved a long way from the earlier romance/suspense she wrote (although I loved those early books too). This book is filled with fascinating characters (including a very brief appearance at the end by a not so nice guy from "Guilty As Sin"), an excellent plot with the appropriate twists and turns and plenty of detail on police/FBI procedures. She deserves to reach a whole new audience with this effort and I'm sure she will. The only problem now is having to wait so long for the next book. All I can say is, thanks for a great read Tami Hoag!
Rating:
Summary: Burn Baby Burn...This Books Sizzles Well into The Night!
Review: The Premise: A murderer strikes again...leaving his signature mark - a charred corpse in the middle of a very public park. With this third victim, cops know they're dealing with a serial killer. Typically, his first two victims didn't garner too much attention - after all, they were only prostitutes....but this third victim is "different." Thought to be the daughter of a billionaire....unfortunately the killer decapitated her before setting her ablaze, leaving the cops little to no means of identification. Enter former agent Kate Conlan (main character). She left the FBI several years and we find Kate five years into a new life and career as a victim and criminal witness advocate in Minneapolis. Kate's life, albeit rather lonely, is fairly simple revolves around her work. When she is told that she's been chosen to work with a troubled teenage murder witness, she knows her life is about to become much, much more complicated. The Rub: The third victims billionaire father goes far above the local authorities...making things even more complicated as the best FBI profiler, John Quinn, is brought in on the case. Unfortunately for Kate, his appearance is less than desirable and far from welcome. The distraught billionaire father is given FAR too much special treatment and consideration...the pool of political hopefuls and *ss kissing sycophants trying to make it up the career ladder seems unusually large even for a city as large as Minneapolis. Quinn, Kovak (tough cop, played up to the hilt...a truly enjoyable character) and his "team," Kate, Rob (her boss) and a bevy or "supporting characters"...take us on a very exciting and very unnerving journey to find the identity of "The Cremator." I have to tell you this is my first Tami Hoag novel, and I have to admit, her talent is quite extraordinary!! Mrs. Hoag is able to craft an intensely suspenseful story that kept me turning pages all day long and I had a VERY hard time calling it a night...I practically fell asleep sitting up reading it. I felt an almost uncontrollable NEED to know what would happen next...every twist and every turn of this wonderful thriller brought me to the edge of my seat (practically biting my nails)...and EVERY TIME I thought I had it figured out, she'd thrown in another twist...making me rethink everything all over again!! I cannot really fault this book for what it is -- an excellent police procedural...however, where this killer is concerned...bleck...his background and motivation are never sufficiently developed or explained. The romance was strictly Harlequin stuff....very shallow and very predictable...I think we could have done without the Kate/John love scenes here...!! I enjoyed this book the same way I enjoy the TV series CSI...one of the things I DID NOT like is that a part of me almost felt compelled to know more about what motivates the killer...and in the end I was NOT satisfied with what the author had to offer up in this area...what she gives is simply too graphic and overly "typical" of this type of book (i.e. sexually promiscuous mother...abuse...blah, blah, blah...)...there was nothing that made me really understand HOW he wound up this way or why...this was disappointing! Also annoying is the length to which the author allows the father of the third victim to evade police and FBI questioning...I don't know that I believe this would be the case "in real life"...or at least I'd like to think it wouldn't be...the sheer number of politically motivated, upwardly mobile police bureaucrats is a bit much, methinks she beat that dead horse a bit too long...it was mildly annoying at best. I also would like to mention that some scenes are extremely graphic, and quite disturbing. Most notable in this area are the autopsy scenes and those written from the killer's point of view are especially chilling. For me, I was able to read it no problem...I'm usually pretty good at not being creeped out by even some of the most disturbing events behind described in the fiction I read...I did find the brief bit of masturbation right at the beginning of the novel (in the first chapter or two) a bit unsettling...we get that this is the act of a depraved, very disturbed individual...a man setting a decapitated body on fire and the descriptions of this arousal were sufficient...the masturbation was extraneous in my opinion. So why not settle in with a blanket, a nice beverage and enjoy this enthralling little number...oh, yea...and make sure to lock those doors and draw those shades! All in all, a diverting read for a weekend despite my own annoyances!! Where I have found some of the books I've read lately lacking...Ashes to Ashes has PLENTY of meat --sufficiently suspenseful, this novel will draw you into the world of tracking a serial killer, exposing the clashes between law enforcement, victims and politicians, with humor and good overall energy!! This book is well above the "B" movie standard I hold most fiction to these days...but it does fall just short of "blockbuster" status for me...it's richly detailed and full of twists, turns with mostly interesting characters and story lines...but in the end...there were a few too many "annoyances" to make it shooting star caliber for me!! I was quite satisfied when I was done...the story ties up nicely...but I felt let down in a few small ways that I cannot overlook...this could be owing to the largely "formulamatic" writing the author employs...however, you will NOT be disappointed if you read this...I give it an "A-" for content and readability with a warning for extremely graphic violence and language!! I probably won't go back and read any of her previous work...but I am going to go out of my way to read "Dust to Dust" the next in this series...as I truly loved the Kovak character and think he is aptly pared with Liska...I'm looking forward to it...and the reviews continue...he, he! ;-)AG
Rating:
Summary: Good procedural but the crimes are a bit much
Review: Although I have read hundreds of mysteries and thrillers, this was my first book by Tami Hoag - and I was pleased to have found her. Ashes to Ashes is a police procedural set in Minneapolis, wher the cops are trying to find a particularly sadistic serial murderer of young women. The cops have the politicains on their backs, and the state's wealthiest man gets involved, too, calling in an FBI profiler when his daughter goes missing. I enjoyed the procedural aspects and despite the gruesome nature of the crimes, Hoag doesn't dwell on the details as much as some of her contemporaries do. Still, it's not for the squeamish. There's a nifty and credible plot twist at the end, and I recommend this for fans of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings...
Review: I read all 600 pages of this book in one day, which, I suppose, says something good about it. The basics: Tough-on-the-outside, vunerable-on-the-inside former FBI agent turned victim advocate, Kate Conlan, is given the task of Angie, a teenage girl, witness to a brutal murder. The serial killer deemed "The Cremator" is torturing, murdering and burning prostitutes in the city of Minneapolis, his latest victim the daughter of a billionaire. Special Agent/profiler John Quinn is called in from Quantico to direct the task-force. He's jaded, a workaholic, and has a spotted past with Kate. There are numerous other characters in "Ashes to Ashes", all of which have their own little quirks and interesting personalities. In fact, some of them are more intriguing than Kate and Quinn. I found this book to be somewhat predictable. If you pay attention, you can easily pick up on the foreshadowing, but I guess that's the part that gets a person "hooked". I wasn't mislead by the suspects Hoag plants along the plot. Their presence somewhat annoyed me. I had the feeling of, "get this over with already"; again, part of what kept me reading. I'd rate this book at slightly better than mediocre. If you like smart, witty, no-nonsense characters, it should make a pleasant read. It's a great book if you want to be hooked and enjoy some raw entertainment, sort of like a blockbuster movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid cast of characters, enjoyable thriller
Review: This wasn't a bad bit of thriller work - when women show up stabbed, mutilated, and then doused in gasoline and burned, the only witness is put into the care of a Witness/Victim's rights woman, Kate. Kate, who has suffered a familial loss years ago, and is trying to get past it, doesn't normally work with kids (and of course, the witness is a kid).
So, who is the killer? Can Kate withstand the FBI agent arriving (who is a man she sought comfort with during her familial collapse)? Can the police figure it out before more people are killed? Well, in true thriller style, the tension gets jacked up a notch at a time, and the characters - though often walking stereotypes (the dark angst-ridden FBI profiler, the tough-rough-around-the-edges detective, the hard-ass victims rights advocate) - are interesting enough to keep you going. I'll be heading onward to 'Dust to Dust' soon.
The only caveat with this one was the reading voice - the woman doing the reading didn't have a great deal of versatility with the reading of male voices, and some of them came across like cartoons. This was especially bad when in the voice of the killer during the climactic scene, but it didn't completely intrude or throw me off.
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: Not wild about serial killers
Review: I would like to read more of Tami Hoag's stories if they are not about serial killers or sex crimes. I don't like it when a book tries to get into the mind of a pervert. It might be more interesting if the book is based on a real story, but this is a novel. What I find interesting in a good mystery, is the way the main character finds clues and tracks down the culprit. It is also more enjoyable to me when a murder is committed for motives you can maybe guess yourself--like greed, love, etc. Sick, incestuous, cannibalistic and violent sex just isn't my cup of tea. Come to think of it, I wouldn't even want to read a book about someone real who is fits that description. I also thought this book dragged on way too long. I listened to the audio version, unabridged. It was about 16 hours. The narrator was pretty good. A bad narrator can ruin any story you are listening to.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling thriller to keep you up all night
Review: Kate Conlan is a former FBI agent turned victim/witness advocate. She treats her clients like family, always eager to be there for them, to support them and give them the encouragement they need. She has only one rule: she doesn't work with kids. When a murderer strikes again, leaving his signature mark of a charred corpse in the middle of a very public park, the cops know they're dealing with a serial killer. His first two victims didn't garner too much attention - after all, they were only prostitutes. Surely, government money could be put to better use than finding their killers? But the third victim is different. She's thought to be the daughter of a billionaire. Too bad the killer decapitated her before burning her, which leaves the cops very little options for identification. Except, this time, there's a witness. She's young, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, and living on the streets has made her stubborn, uncooperative and unreliable. When Kate is assigned to work with this witness, she's appalled. There's a reason she doesn't work with kids. They take too much emotional involvement, and Kate has already lost her daughter - she's not sure she can deal with having any more children taken away from her. Then things get even more complicated as the best FBI profiler, John Quinn, is brought in on the case. Unfortunately for Kate, he's also her ex-lover, and the only man she's ever really loved. This was my first introduction to Tami Hoag's writing, and I have to admit, I'm speechless. Her talent is extraordinary, as she's able to craft an intensely suspenseful story that kept me turning pages well into the night. In fact, I finished this book at 5:00 AM, unwilling to put it down through the last four hundred pages. I needed to know what would happen next. Every twist and turn of this fabulous mystery thriller brought me to the edge of my seat... and just when I thought I had it figured out, another twist in the story would develop, nullifying everything I thought I knew. I truly felt connected to the main characters. Both John and Kate were endearing; both having had to suffer through so much and deal with an inordinate amount of stress. I was rooting for them to find the happiness and peace they so richly deserved. Of course, with a psychopath on the loose, it's a little hard to find time for romance. A word of warning: some scenes are extremely graphic, and quite disturbing. In particular, the autopsy scenes, and those written from the killer's point of view are especially chilling. So settle in with a blanket, a cup of hot chocolate, and this exquisite thriller - and make sure to lock those doors!
Rating:
Summary: Good thriller/suspense with well-developed characters
Review: I'll avoid the review of the plot that you can find above or in other reviews and just give you my opinion. This is one of the better Tami Hoag books that I've read - it's, for the most part, well-paced and kept my interest up as a good thriller should. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the characters, especially Kate, Angie, and Quinn. Even the smaller characters around the police station were interesting. (Interesting enough to make me seek out "Dust to Dust" to try and learn more about them!) My one complaint is that I sometimes found the characters hard to keep straight as many of them were referred to alternately by first name, last name, or nickname -- it took me stopping and checking to realize that Nikki, Liska, and Tinks were all the same woman! Still, I'd highly recommend this book. It's about as fun as reading the exploits of a serial killer can be, all things considered!
Rating:
Summary: Spooky, creepy and scary
Review: This was my first venture into this genre - and I'm hooked. The book was fast paced, well written and scary with enough twists to keep anyone guessing. Oh, and it had a little romance as well. A serial killer is enough to send a chill down anyone's spine but with the constant questions of who is it? who do you trust? who is safe? this story is a nail biter. Its amazing how quickly I became emersed in this story and absolutely had to find out who was the villain! The ending wasn't a total surprise but it was definately believable and gripping.
I'm officially a Hoag fan!!
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