Dark Horse

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I've read several other Tami Hoag books, but I found this one disappointing. All the references to the "horse world" were rather confusing to me. I also thought that there were way too many characters to keep track of. There were many potential
evil-doers; and since these characters were not fully developed, I found myself bored and distracted. The plot got very intricate, and by the end I didn't care anymore about who did what. I'm not even sure why I finished it, except that I hate to stop a book in mid-stream.

On a positive note, I did like her main character, Elena Estes. She was a very gutsy ex-policewoman, but she didn't usually display a lot of common sense. You'd have to give her an "A" for effort. There was a hint of romance in the book between this woman and Detective Landry. I hope they do get together because they seem like kindred, but damaged souls.

Rating:
Summary: A Horse Story for Grown Up Girls
Review: The world of international horse breeding and training forms the background for another exciting story by Tami Hoag. Set in Florida this book is different from her two previous novels. The suspense is still set high, but it shares center stage with the skullduggery involved when millions of dollars worth of horse flesh meets limitless greed.

Former cop Elena Estes is asked by a young girl to find her missing older sister who was working as a groom for a trainer with a bad reputation. Elena is trying to physically and emotionally recover from the loss of her career. During the course of the investigation Elena rediscovers qualities she thought she had lost.

While not as intense as some of her other books this is a good solid read for a lazy afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: Intense suspense with the horsey set
Review: This novel is set in Palm Beach during the winter horseshow season. The horse set is known for all kinds of extremes and many are found here. The main character, Elena Estes, is a former detective. As a narcotics officer, a bad decision cost a colleague his life, and she lost her job, her self esteem, her looks, and sometimes, she thinks, her sanity. After months in the hospital and rehab, she takes refuge in her first love, horses. Her childhood friend and fellow rebel against well to do parents owns a successful horse farm and needs someone to work a few of his horses. He allows her to stay in his guest house. A young girl, seeing her picture in a horse publication, identified as a private investigator, tries to hire her to find her missing sister.

This is a very well developed novel. In the beginning, I felt little sympathy for Elena. The author makes you identify with her feelings for herself. As her self confidence and sense of self worth improve, so does the reader's opinion of Elena. Combine this with a really good mystery, and this is one of the best books I have read this year.

Rating:
Summary: Another great novel
Review: Tami Hoag is probably (alongside Ruth Rendell) my very favourite female author. I love her plots, i love the way she sometimes mixes romance and suspense, i love her range (she's written everything from straight-romance to serial killer novels) i love her punchy writing style (she can come up with some really glittering sentences) and, most of all, i love the way she draws her characters as realistic, fully realised people.

This novel tells the story of a simple kidnapping, which evolves into something altogether more sinister and complex. The heroine is one Elena Estes, an ex-cop who, once upon a time, made a bad decision that cost a colleauge his life. She has retreated to the world she knew before, the world of horse rearing which she so loves. But then, one day, a young girl comes to ask her for help, and Estes finds herself unable to refuse, drawn into a web of intrigue and crime which depresses her, but that she feels must be fought against.

Estes is a brilliant character...(this is Hoag's first novel in the first person, and it works very well, by the way. Some authorsd find the transition ahrd...Hoag has found the way with ease.) She is likeable, quirky, and extremely entertaining throught the adventure. She more than makes up for the intense unlikeableness of many of the other characters.

Another wonderful (and moving) aspect of this book is the delightful youngster Molly Seabright, sister of the missing girl. She is a wonderful, wonderful presence and brightens the book in every single scene in which she appears. She is brilliantly and emotioanlly. Her innocence contrasts frighteningly with the darkness and crulety of many of the other characters and events. (In fact, some may find that there are a few too many unpleasant characters in this novel, and would prefer some more nice, likeable ones. At times it would have been great to have a few more nice people to read about, instead of the selfish and insular indivudals which populate this novel). However, these nasty characters all help to create a sense of fear and tension which fairly ratchets up, and towards the end blossoms with a sense of inevitable awfulness about to occur.

I will admit that no, this is not Tami Hoag's best book (i myself will always think that that is "Cry Wolf", a masterpiece of a story) it's not even second or third, but it still gets five stars, which can only demonstrate the sublime quality of her books. The plot is complex and interesting, it is easy to understand, despite its complexity, there are some hreat characters and some nice twists to the story (particularly the one at the end...) which help keep it fresh and interesting. Her writing style is quirky and brilliant, eminently readable and entertaining. This novel is original (giving insights into the world of horse-rearing) and always manages to sustain interest by the fact that Hoag explores many plot-paths, (as she always does to marvellous effect and enjoyability, helping to build a multi-layered and full novel) down the lives of characters, who, by the end of the story, you will either love or loathe.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for High Level Equestrians
Review: To start: I am an equestrian. I ride jumpers in the Chicago area and spend 3 months of every winter in West Palm Beach and Tampa to show my horse. I write this review as a national level equestrian to other national level equestrians. If you do not fit this description, this review will most likely not be of any assistance to you at all.

Personally, I don't read much of the category most people title "Beach Books," and the stuff Tami Hoag writes seems to fit that picture. I wasn't even going to read this book, but a friend of mine who rides with my trainer convinced me it was worth it. She was right.

Dark Horse takes place in West Palm Beach on the Wellington Equestrian Festival show grounds. There is a cornucopia of shady characters in this book, and I suppose an average reader would find it unbelievable or even ludicrous, but anyone familiar with the microcosm of West Palm or any part of the USEF hunter/jumper show circuit will not find this unconvincing. The plot involves a horse murdered for insurance and the kidnapping of a girl who knew the truth about the animal's death. Names of certain jumper trainers in the Chicago area and numerous multimillionaires come to mind. Anyone who thinks of "the Sandman" as someone besides a character in a fairytale will believe this plot.

Now, like I said, I don't read this sort of thing, but the author portrays her West Palm setting perfectly, depicting all parts of the show grounds to a tee. I loved it for its accuracy, if nothing else.

This review is not intended to explain the book to you -- read the official description for that -- but it is intended to encourage all hunter/jumper riders to read it. Dressage people, too -- the main character is a dressage rider.

This book also contains a great deal of accuracy. Robert Dover is mentioned and even the drama at Cellular Farms a few years back is referenced. The primary jumper trainer in the novel is hauntingly similar to a certain Chicago trainer...

So please, read it if you are any kind of a horse person, even if you hate this sort of book or all books in general. It is worth it. For those of you who do not ride, I cannot say whether to read it or not.

Rating:
Summary: More Elena
Review: I am a huge Tami Hoag fan. At first I wasn't sure about this novel especially since its written in the first person. But now its my favorite to date. When I started to think about it, most of her best books, in my opinion, come from the same school-- a worn out, used up person who needs time to reconnect with themselves and the world after an event that leaves them scarred.
The twists and turns kept me guessing all athe way through--although I was pretty sure ol' Trey had something to do with it. I also learned a lot about the horseracing industry and a lot more about suffocating horses than I really cared to know about. I hope there is a followup book with the same main characters that will explore their relationship and more intrigue--like Ashes to Ashes & Dust to Dust. Keep on writing--I need more.

Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: I really like Tammy Hoag's novels, and this was no exception. I have to agree with other reviews that the main character, Elena, is a little too much at times. But, the plot moves along and I found that I couldn't put it down.
One problem I had was when Elena first went to the Seabright house and ended up meeting Bruce. He practically throws her out, and then a couple of days later, she goes to see him in his office, and they procede to have a conversation like they had never met. I paged back to see if there was an explanation for this, but didn't come up with one.
Otherwise, I'd recommend this book for those murder mystery fans out there.

Rating:
Summary: An obnoxious heroine, enough cliches to reach to Mars
Review: Elena, an unlicensed investigator, is occasionally interesting but more often I found myself rooting for the bad guys as I got tired of her bullheadedness and attitude problems. Not every heroine needs to be a nice person, but there are limits to what one can stand in the guise of presenting a realistic person, warts and all. There are more warts than person here.

We got the audio cassette, and the only reason we finished listening to it was to see actually who dun what to whom. Had I bought this in paper format, it would have been read in about twenty minutes and put in the trade pile. It's still going into the trade pile. The only reason I got it was the crime theme.

The equestrian background is accurate and the crime is genuine enough. Crimes of this sort were occurring on a regular basis and likely still are, just better masked. Meanwhile it's much more expensive to insure a horse than it used to be.

Bright little Molly is the only redeeming feature of this overlong string of cliches searching for a story.

Rating:
Summary: To be a Cop or Not to be a Cop
Review: Former undercover officer Elena Bates, recovering from an arrest that went all wrong, leaving her partner dead and herself seriously wounded, is hiding away, working as a groom in the elite horse industry. But while trying to get over her problems, she meets a twelve-year-old girl who is searching for her missing sister. Now Elena has to decide whether to continue her withdrawal or give in to her cop instinct to chase after evidence that will plunge her headlong into scandal, embezzlement, kidnapping and murder.

This is another one of those Tami Hoag suspense stories that you simple can't put down.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Rating:
Summary: a great read
Review: I thought this was one of her best books and I have read quite a few of them. I don't know anything about horses or the world she describes in this book but I really felt that it didn't spoil the book at all. In fact it probably would have ruined it if I had known more about this subject. The characters in the book who were under suspician were not people you would like to know in real life and each one of them had their own agenda. I thought the book was great and I was sorry to finish it.