Customer Reviews

Ashes to Ashes

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(36)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

I am a loyal romance reader. I have specific authors in the mystery genere that I like (Sandra Brown,Iris Johansen,Sidney Sheldon and now Tami Hoag). This book blew me away. I thought it was very well written. The plot kept me guessing. I cared about the characters. Yes, this was a story that was hard to read in parts. It did have some explicit violence in it, yet I didn't feel it was any more violent than a rated R movie. I didn't get the feeling that the violence was for shock value. I disagree with the reviewer that felt that the romance between John and Kate was unnessary to the story. The author established that Kate had gone through an awful lot and personally I was glad she had some happiness come into her life. Hats off to Ms. Hoag. Keep up the great work! You have a new fan!

Another great thriller from Tami Hoag. This is the second story of hers that I have listened to and am again thrilled I have.

In this story the dynamic duo Liska and Kovak are again on the trail of a killer but they are secondary characters in this one. This story centers on Kate Conlan and FBI agent from her past. They are both trying to help find the serial killer the "Cremator" who has drawn Kate into the story even though she doesn't usually act as an advocate for kids. But, things go many different ways with this story. I have to admit that I didn't completely know who did it until the very end. I recommend this story!

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.

This is my first Tami Hoag book, and in fact it is my first proper thriller book but I found it brilliant. I thought that the last few paragraphs were a bit too violent and graphic for my liking but all the same this book has encouraged me to read more of her books. Make sure you've got all the doors and windows locked when reading this one!

Tami Hoag seems to be determined to enter the serial killer sweepstakes with ASHES TO ASHES. She creates a dark, violent atmosphere; almost claustrophobic at times. Her characters are as trapped by their pasts as they are mired in the search for the mass murderer.

As much as I liked NIGHT SINS and GUILTY AS SIN, I found parts of ASHES TO ASHES painful to read. Tami Hoag gives the reader more details than they need to know -- unless your are a coroner! I am not sqeamish, John Sandford is one of my favorite authors, but I have never felt pushed to the edge of comfort by his books.

On the plus side, the plotting and character development kept me reading well into the night, and though I was disappointed by the heroine in jeopardy ploy at the end, I would like to read Hoag's next book which will feature some of the characters in ASHES. Just tone down the graphic descriptions, Tami. You don't need them to illustrate your villain's evil deeds. We already know!

An exquisite thriller

The Cremator is on the loose in Minneapolis. He's not just killing women; he's burning and mutilating them beyond recognition. The first two victims are hookers. But when a billionaire's daughter disappears, everyone from the mayor to the FBI director wants this guy caught. Now. The basic plot may seem pedestrian, yet Tami Hoag has fashioned a remarkable thriller. It's not easy to put a new shine on the serial killer theme. Worn are the cliches of dogged cops, bloodthirsty masterminds and cowardly politicos who just want things swept away. Hoag uses them all, but adds enough quirks to push beyond the routine. The strength of "Ashes to Ashes" is a careening plot. Hoag brilliantly dots the book with false leads and suspect characters. The killer's identity is never telegraphed. You'll spend the first 400 pages suspicious of others. Hoag also proves quite skilled at character development. We follow a half-dozen lives through the hunt for the killer. These are people both smart and fallible, sturdy yet vulnerable - not the rugged superheroes found in most cop tales. Even ancillary characters are painted in vibrant colors. It's clear Hoag has done her research. This isn't to say the novel is without shortcomings. The prose won't raise your rent, and Hoag has a habit of dropping in such profound lines as, "Life doesn't come with any guarantees." She also has an exceedingly average command of dialogue. Many of the characters speak in a tongue close to the narrator's, and for a novel set in Minneapolis, not one speaks Minnesotan - not even the cops. Yet the craft with which Hoag develops the story more than compensates for any blemishes. "Ashes to Ashes" truly defines the term "page-turner." - Pete Kotz

Tami Hoag's ASHES TO ASHES is a meaty, suspenseful thriller that draws the reader to the world of tracking a serial killer, exposing the clashes between law enforcement, victims and politicians. With humor, sensitivity and energy, Hoag creates a novel that sure to be a best seller.

The cops call him Smokey Joe. The public calls him the Cremator. The killer burns his victim's bodies in Minneapolis parks. Unfortunately, the public doesn't truely become outraged until until one of his victims turns out to be the daughter of a local billionaire. Suddenly, the pressure mounts to find the evil creature who mutilates and burns his victims.

When a homeless teenager witnesses a burning, former FBI agent Kate Conlan, who now works as a victim-witness advocate, and the Bureau's top serial-killer profiler John Quinn must join forces to find the killer before he strikes again. But Kate and John shared something special in the past, and now they must find a way to work together despite their painful history.

Tami Hoag writes with an enthusiasm and intensity that carries the reader along on a wave of tension, humor and fear until the last page is turned. ASHES TO ASHES is a gruesome look at a sadistic killer, but it is also a revealing expose of those who are determined to stop him. While the details are horrid, and certainly not appropriate to anyone uncomfortable with mutiliation and murder, the details are carefully presented in appropriate context. Moreover, the humor of the investigating officers provides much need comic relief with a flair seldom matched.