Rating: 
Summary: needs work, too much drama
Review: Hoag goes a bit over the edge. Though her despriptive writing brings you into an entirely different world, she brings too much drama into the lives of the characters and focuses on only their love life. I feel the mystery and murder case was overly neglected. Laurel Chandler appears to be a tough,and appealing character, yet just a little too helpless. Jack is represented as being an esy-kinda-going guy who's life seems like it was scraped out of the bottom of a barrel. She tries to focus on forbidden love but repeats her point so many times where it reaches a form of boredom. Both characters have heartache, loss, pain, and sorrow. Hey... in life we all do. But the charatcers Hoag seems to deliver are a little too helpless; just a little too cataclysmic. You go on picturing there lives as a living hell. Though her plot is out of order, her characters too fictional to be found in real life, and a love story so sappy you want to yell at the stupidity of the characters, Hoag has the potency and the skill to deliver a story that will draw you to an emotional state where mothers or sappy love story lovers will cry at. Worth a read. Worth the experience. Sadly, for me... sappy love stories aren't my thing.
Rating:
Summary: Not Really Worth The Effort
Review: I must admit that this book was really not worth the effort it took to read it. I am a fan of the romance genre, but I still was let down by this book. I wanted suspense/with a little bit of romance and I was very upset that it took more then half of the book to get around to the suspense part (it had such promise with the prologue) and that the effort that was put into the suspense was not very good. I really was not compelled to continue reading. There was no "hook" and I did not feel that I would miss out if I never picked the book up again. I feel that this was really not a worthy effort by this talented authour. I am glad that I bought it used instead of new. If you want to read this borrow it from the library or a friend. Don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Romance, Intrigue and Murder...southern style
Review: This is the first Tami Hoag book I have read and I absolutely loved it. Each and every character in the book was well developed and totally fascinating. The romance between Laurel and Jack the main characters was believable and exciting. I love the way she intertwined all the characters in this Lousiana town. Being a New Yorker, I don't normally gravitate towards fiction focused on the south - but anyone would appreciate the way Hoag describes life in the Bayou, and truly makes you want to visit. I noticed some reviewers complained that the suspense didn't start until the middle of the book. Personally that didn't bother me because the build up with the incredible character development was fantastic and absorbing. The ending was satisfying too. This author has a classic, timeless writing style and I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: A complete waste of time
Review: I must be missing something. Tami Hoag is a popular novelist, yet I cannot understand why. In this book, she takes forever to get on with the story, describes the smell of the swamp and a character's "peridot eyes" over and over again. The plot? It seems she can't decide whether she's writing a romance novel or a suspense novel. And the romance theme has been seen before. A strong woman who has had problems in the past encounters a man totally unsuitable for her, yet she is drawn. She fights it as well as she can, but then relinquishes, only to find that the man turns out to be her one true love. Ugh. If you like suspense and good writing, don't buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Big bad wolf in the swamps of Louisiana
Review: Laurel Chandler is a disturbed prosecutor coming home from Georgia for some R&R after her own "cry wolf" incident. She needs some emotional healing, but gets caught up in a serial killer drama instead. The killer is playing games with her, singling her out by slipping her trophies from the dead girls found in the swamp. This book is rich with descriptions of the Louisiana scenary, the Cajun people, and many interesting suspects. Ms Hoag goes to great lengths to build the story with gripping background material on a number of shady characters. I thoroughly enjoyed trying out my own theories as to which one could have the motive and opportunity to commit the murders. Near the end, the killer reveals him/herself to our heroine in a cutesy fashion, further adding to the drama. Read it. You'll love it.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely a good read!
Review: I really enjoyed this book! Although it focused more on romance than most of Tami's do, it had plenty of suspense too! I loved the two main characters, Jack and Laurel, and the use of Cajun French! Savannah was a heart-breaking character and a lost soul. The descriptions of the Bayou, the food, the people, the scenery made me able to close my eyes and feel like I was there!
Rating:
Summary: The best, by the best
Review: Tami Hoag currently holds the not-at-all coveted position of "my favourite author". I have read every single book she has ever written, save Sarah's Sin, which thus far i have been unable to find in the UK. I find the way in which she is not scared to mix two genres together wonderful. And she does it brilliantly. The aspects of the love story and the tense and atmospheric thriller are beautifully intertwined, in what is perhaps one of the best books i have ever read. This book features her two most fascinating lead male and female ever. Laurel Chandler is a superb creation, and Jack Boudreaux is the best male she has ever written. They are simply brimming with fascinating things to garner from their personalities. Hoag strikes a brilliant balance between character and plot, and in this novel she surpasses herself. I am unable to think of a single character who wasn't interesting and multi-faceted. Every single one is necessary to the story, and she gives a short shrift to none of them. She treates them all equally, and recognises their important. And, as i have said, this book presents her most fascinating cast of people yet. There is the revered Reverend, Savannah, Laurel's mother, Jack, and a plethora of others. The thing about this novel that i loved is the attention to all the little things about the characters lives, not just how the big picture affects them. Every character has a relevant story to tell, and they all interesting. It is like a hundred mini novels piled into one super-novel. There are so many strands of life, so many things going on in the people's lives. Admittedly, they aren't all relevant to the central plot, but if they were that wouldn't emulate real life so well. Which Hoag's novels always suceed in doing brilliantly. however, it doesnt matter that each thing isnt necessarily relevant to the plot, because they are all so interesting in themselves. For exampole, there is Laurels relationship with her mother, Savannah's relationship to the man who's name i forget, Savannah's relationship with the Minister, the Minister's fight to close the cafe (a.k.a "brothel of sin") jack's making peace with himself over his dead wife, and all the other wonderful things to do with each character. This book is rich in everything, plot, interest, suspense. And what it is richest in is the relationships between all it's characters. They are fascinating, never boring. I am rambling, i know, because i can't actually think of any words to describe how mind-bogglingly brilliant this novel is. This novel is unbearably short. It's 500 and something pages flicked by an instant, i was so engrossed in this wonderfully realistic world which Hoag has created. I truly did not want it to end, and i still wish it hadn't. This is a book i wanted to read again as soon i had put it down, just so i could get back to those characters. Hoag's novels are wonderful in many ways, the main one being that she is unbeatable at characterisation. At the close of every single novel, whatever the actual quality of plot or writing, you always always would dearly like to know more about the futures of the characters. Hoag makes you really care for them, and it's truly sad when you have to say goodbye. It is her brilliance at drawing characters characters that made me almost shut the book in frustration and sorrow as i suddenly realised what was going to happen later on, when *you know who* became the victim of the killer. It was shattering, because Hoag makes you feel such empathy, and care so much, no matter what the flaws are. In short this is a great great novel. If ever there was a book i could go on reading forever, and be happy to do so, this would be it.
Rating:
Summary: This is not a mystery thriller
Review: I am sorry I didn't read the Amazon reviews before buying Cry Wolf. I had read three other Hoag thrillers (Night Sins, Guilty as Sin, and Ashes to Ashes). I enjoyed all of them for the mystery thriller aspect of them, which dominates the stories right from the start. Cry Wolf doesn't get involved in the crime, even tangentially, until over half way into the book. I didn't even know that Hoag had written romance novels in the past, but that explains a lot, since most of the book sounds like a romance novel, although I've never read one. Being 50 and male, I don't normally go for that genre. Like another reviewer indicated, this is mostly a romantic soap opera with the main character constantly vacillating between being weepy and strong, and getting involved with the rascally, macho, roguish male character. In fact, her other thriller novels have similar romantic side plots that involve pretty much the same kind of female character who meets the dark, intense, macho guy, who has a secretive, sensitive, and vulnerable side. Fortunately, in her other thriller novels, Hoag spends much less time on this subplot and focuses more on the crime, investigation, clues, and characters associated with it. So if you are more interested in the mystery thriller aspect, and can do without the overly romantic subplot, you should avoid Cry Wolf. This book belongs in the romance section.
Rating:
Summary: Tami Hoag is wonderful
Review: This was the first Tami Hoag book I read. It was great and have since read about four others. I love the way she writes and this one was AWESOME!!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT READ!
Review: As usual, Tami Hoag has captured the eye of a reader and held it intent to the very end. This book started out slow, but by the 30ish page I was hooked! There is romance, intrigue, humor, sadness, mystery. All the qualities that make up the makings of a great book! I suggest this to anyone who wants to sit for hours and read a "cant put down" book.
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