Ashes to Ashes [Mass Market Paperback]

Tami Hoag (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 2000

He performs his profane ceremony in a wooded Minneapolis park, anointing his victims, then setting the bodies ablaze. He has already claimed three lives, and he won't stop there. Only this time there is a witness. But she isn't talking.

Enter Kate Conlan, former FBI agent turned victim/witness advocate. Not even she can tell if the reluctant witness is a potential victim or something more troubling still. Her superiors are interested only because the latest victim may be the daughter of Peter Bondurant, an enigmatic billionaire. When he pulls strings, Special Agent John Quinn gets assigned to the case. But the FBI's ace profiler of serial killers is the last person Kate wants to work with, not with their troubled history. Now she faces the most difficult role of her career—and her life. For she's the only woman who has what it takes to stop the killer...and the one woman he wants next.

In the darkness a match is struck. Not for heat, not for light...but to ignite the fire of a killer. He leaves nothing behind but ashes...and the ice-cold certainty that he will strike again.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Some doctoral candidate is doubtless hard at work as you read this, trying to explain why and how the serial killer suddenly became every thriller writer's favorite subject. Meanwhile, the irrepressible Tami Hoag shows us in her latest sure-to-be-a-bestseller how the theme should be handled--with sensitivity, wit, and enough energy to heat a small city.

A monster known as the Cremator is killing prostitutes in Minneapolis parks and setting their bodies on fire. When one of his victims turns out to be the daughter of a local billionaire, and a homeless teenager claims to have witnessed the burning, it brings together former FBI agent Kate Conlan (now working as a victim-witness advocate) and the Bureau's top serial-killer profiler, John Quinn. Conlan and Quinn share a painful personal history; now they have to work together against a very smart lunatic who seems to be able to read their minds.

Although none of this is actually groundbreaking material, Hoag leaps into her story as if she were the very first writer to have thought of it. Guess what? Her innocence and verve are contagious. We throw skepticism to the winds and gladly go along for the thrilling and romantic ride, just as we did in other Hoag hits such as Cry Wolf, Dark Paradise, Guilty As Sin, Lucky's Lady, Magic, Night Sins, Still Waters, and A Thin Dark Line--all available in paperback. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Hoag (A Thin Dark Line) has a way of sneaking up on the reader in superior thriller tradition, taking her time in revealing monstrous images lurking in the dark corners. The Cremator, a Minneapolis serial killer, has been torturing prostitutes before incinerating them in local parks, but no one pays much attention until it appears that the third victim may be Jillian Bondurant, a billionaire's daughter. Former FBI agent Kate Conlan, now a victim/witness advocate, is enlisted to handle a reluctant teenage witness who claims to have seen the latest torching. Kate's life becomes further complicated when ace FBI profiler John Quinn is called in by Jillian's father. Kate and John share a personal history, he being one of the reasons she left the Bureau five years ago, and they must each contend with their painful past as they work together to catch the diabolical killer who appears to be taunting them at every turn. Hoag uses crisp dialogue effectively to distinguish the many diverse characters, while Kate and John's mirror-image Machiavellian work ethics justify both their mutual attraction and aversion. Devoting equal attention to the mystery of the serial killer's identity and the romantic tension between her engaging protagonists, Hoag does service to both, scripting love scenes worthy of George Clooney and Renee Russo, the Hollywood stars she mentions as look-alikes for her principals. Granting a humanizing dignity to the victims' corpses, she neatly sidesteps the graphic crudeness of some of her competitors, while still providing enough surprise twists and stomach-turning carnage to satisfy any heebie-jeebie enthusiast. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (June 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553579606
• ISBN-13: 978-0553579604
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (198 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tami Hoag is the #1 international bestselling author of more than thirty books published in more than thirty languages worldwide, including her latest thrillers--Deeper Than The Dead, and Secrets To The Grave. Set in the late '80's, this series explores crime fighting in the early days of modern forensic science and criminal profiling. Renowned for combining thrilling plots with character-driven suspense, Hoag first hit the New York Times Bestseller list with Night Sins, and each of her books since has best a bestseller. She leads a double life in Palm Beach County, Florida where she is also known as a top competitive equestrian in the Olympic discipline of dressage.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ashes to Ashes, February 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Ashes to Ashes (Paperback)

Ashes to Ashes was my first Tami Hoag book, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. If you are a fan of Jeffery Deaver, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, etc., you'll love this book. The plot was excellent, with enough twists and turns to keep me reading until 3am. The identity of the killer was a total surprise to this veteran thriller reader. Once you read it, you'll be hooked on the author's books.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint at heart, June 11, 2000

By 

Bonnie Gilbert - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ashes to Ashes (Hardcover)

Taking a break from my regular romances, I decided to read the newest Tami Hoag novel, Ashes to Ashes. I absolutly loved it.

Tami Hoag's newest novel is a great thriller in it's own right. This book is thriller first, romance secondary, so all you men out there don't shy away. This book was excellent!

As with her previous novels, Night Sins and Guilty as Sin, this novel has so many twists and turns you feel like you're on a roller coaster. Victim Advocate Kate Conlan and Top FBI Profiler John Quinn create a wonderful couple finding love again and caught in a terrible triangle of madness.

If you're faint at heart, I wouldn't recommend this book. But if you love a good thriller, this book is a MUST READ!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but different, February 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Ashes to Ashes (Hardcover)

I read Ashes to Ashes and thought it was pretty good, but after reading all of Tami Hoag's books to date, I think with Ashes, Guilty as Sin and A Thin Red Line, she seems to have written differently. I became a fan after reading Cry Wolf and quickly read book after book, enjoying her gritty characters and their relationships and the suspense and excitement within the story, but it almost feels as though a different author wrote Ashes to Ashes and the two previous books. I hope she gets back to writing a little more about the characters themselves and a little less about the grisly details of torture and murder.