Rating: 
Summary: NOT for the faint of heart
Review: In the wee hours of last night, I finished Tami Hoag's latest, ASHES TO ASHES. RUN, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore! Tami outdoes Michael Connelly, Ridley Pearson, John Sandford, James Patterson, Jonathan Kellerman ... um, who else writes this kind of fiction? ... anyway, she OUTDOES ... OUTSHINES ... OUT-everythings (!) with this story. It is NOT for the faint of heart--even though it does include romance--and great one-liners (especially from Liska) ... it will literally take you inside the heads of NOT just the men & women hunting the monster in this story--but also inside the MONSTER'S HEAD! You literally will feel like you're wearing their skins. It's a haunting story ... events will happen that'll make you go, "Ewwwwwwwww!" and ::::::::shudder:::::::::: in horror. The ultimate monster of this story will shock the hell out of you ... If you are expecting a nice, sweet story, DO NOT read ASHES TO ASHES. That is not what this story is all about. Instead, it's about pulling back the layers that cloak those who deal with death (namely, cops & coroners) and exposing what these horrific killings can do to the heads of these people (John Quinn is an excellent character in this respect). It is also about pulling back the layers that wrap around a serial killer ... she put me inside of the monster's head all too well in this story. Forget the gender of this author ... and just READ this story for its psychological terror ... it is the ultimate thriller so far in 1999 ... ASHES TO ASHES reaffirms for me, Tami's story-telling brilliance.
Rating: 
Summary: Read it when you have an "all day to give"
Review: Very good details, suspense and holds your attention well. The ending had a double surprise that you will enjoy, so even if you read part of the ending first...it can still grab you. Tami Hoag has gotten to read much like Patricia Cornwall..but that is good. I liked the book, but noticed a publishing error on page 7 a few lines down. This book is well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Top-notch suspense, excellent entertainment
Review: If you think this is romantic suspense, think again. Maybe this author used to write romance novels, but that was in a previous life so forget about it. This story is full of thrills and chills,a great psychological suspense novel with unforgettable characters. I love the idea of the wise-cracking witness to The Cremator's heinous crime, and I love the Cremator himself--a truly warped character. This book has something for everyone who loves suspense.
Rating: 
Summary: If you like horror, you'll like this book.
Review: If I had visited the bottom of a dumpster in the middle of a garbage strike, in the dead of summertime New York City, it would have been a trip to church compared to where Hoag took me in this book. When I was in the criminal side of this story, I wallowed in horror, anguish, terror & pain. Its twisted, perverted evil was light years away from merely 'dark.' It made me want to dry heave, just like characters in the book did. The only reprieve from the horror was when I was with the law enforcement side of the story... wallowing in incessant, unrelenting acidic, vulgar, biting sexual repartee. Better than horror but not by much! I rate this book a zero on a scale of one to five. (The star system built in doesn't offer me the option of zero.) Its only redeeming qualities, in spite of the fact that Hoag is a good writer, were not redemptive enough... the witness/victim advocate's relationships with the teen-age witness to the third of four murders; and with the Special Investigate FBI agent with whom she has a past. In my opinion, this is not entertainment. It is a negative force.
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: Excellent - but would expect less from Tami Hoag?
Review: The latest release from Tami Hoag, Ashes to Ashes, is a dark - and I mean very dark - dark psychological thriller. Former agent Kate Conlan left the FBI several years ago after a failed marriage and a nasty scandal. Kate started a new life and career as a victim and criminal witness advocate in Minneapolis. Kate's life, albeit rather lonely, is fairly simple. Her life, we quickly learn, revolves around her work with victims - a challenging, but rewarding career choice. And when it comes to victim advocacy, Kate has only one rule: no kids. Well, rules were made to be broken, so 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 young girl is the only witness who can identify the serial killer terrorizing Minneapolis. This psychopath rapes, tortures, and sets his victims ablaze - and he has been aptly dubbed The Cremator. As Kate works with the terrified girl, she comes closer and closer to finding the killer, and being his next victim. Kate's dark past also comes back to haunt her when FBI profiler John Quinn shows up to help solve this case. Once again, Hoag has created a rich and complicated cast of characters that lend themselves to the kind of superb dialogue for which she is renowned. And despite the length of the novel, Ashes to Ashes is the kind of suspense-packed thriller that you can read in one sitting with a plot that will keep you guessing right up to the novel's dramatic conclusion. Hoag's ability to combine the best elements of both psychological thriller and romantic suspense sub-genres is hard to beat. Fans of Hoag's previous novels will appreciate the erotic tension that typically steams from the pages of her books. The tension is certainly there in this book, but romantic suspense takes a back-seat here to psychological terror. If you think Hoag is a lightweight in the psychological thriller sub-genre, think again.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely a bestseller!!!
Review: Tami Hoag has done it again
Rating:
Summary: Another winner for this superstar
Review: New York Times best selling author Tami Hoag has written an exciting romantic suspense that has bestseller stamped all over it. Ms. Hoag does a great job of providing readers with relevant red herrings while hiding the identity of the serial killer even as she presents, looking back in hindsight, clues to who he is. The love between John and Kate is well designed and makes for an added bonus to a crisp (pun intended) story line. Ms. Hoag remains one of the prime forces of the romantic suspense sub-genre. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time!
Review: About the only pages worth reading are the first few chapters and the last few chapters. What a waste of all the middle pages! Conversations are all the same over and over again. They couldn't even figure out the ties between the three women. Give me a break!
I would not suggest anyone read this. I'm sorry I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Whew...
Review: I listened to the 16 CD audio version. This book could have been 6 CD's shorter. A lot of dragged out conversations that had not much to do with the plot. Good plot and story otherwise.
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