Overview
“Without a doubt . . . one of the most intense suspense writers around.”—Chicago Tribune
“[Tami Hoag] demonstrates just why she has become one of the hottest names in the suspense game. Bottom line: Leaves competition in the dust.”—People
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 Peter 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.
“You’ll want to lock the doors while you’re reading.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“An up-all-night read.”—The Detroit News
Synopsis
Meet "The Cremator" -- Minneapolis's latest serial killer. He adds insult to injury by not just murdering his victims but setting the corpses on fire when he's done with them. When a homeless juvenile delinquent witnesses one of the flaming felonies, it's time for Kate Conlan and crack homicide profiler John Quinn to take the case.
People Magazine
One of the hottest names in the suspense game....Ashes to Ashes leaves the compeittion in the dust (Page-Turner of the Week).
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewFive years after the death of her daughter, the breakup of her marriage, and a love affair that cost her her job at the FBI, Kate Conlan has picked up the pieces of her life and established a new career in Minneapolis as a victim's advocate. Her life is stagnant but settled until a serial killer, who has been nicknamed the Cremator, makes himself known. Thus far he has left behind the mutilated and burned bodies of two women, both known prostitutes. But the third victim attracts much more attention when it appears to be the daughter of one of the city's wealthiest and most influential men: Peter Bondurant. The problem is, no one is sure the body is that of Jillian Bondurant, for while her driver's license was left at the site, the fingers on the corpse have been burned away, there are no identifying marks on the body, and the victim's head is nowhere to be found.
Adding to the mystery is Angie DiMarco, a bedraggled, homeless, and skittish young woman who witnessed the gruesome burning of the corpse. Hoping to get a description of the killer, the cops detain Angie. But the young woman is clearly scared out of her wits and offers little help. That's when Kate is assigned to the case.
Despite Kate's best efforts, Angie remains withdrawn, secretive, and uncooperative. Adding to Kate's frustration is the FBI Agent who has been brought in on the case: John Quinn, the man Kate had an affair with five years before. At first Kate considers begging off the case and having someone else work with Angie. But in addition to feeling a sense of responsibility toward the troubled girl,Katealso feels strangely drawn to her.
The investigation of the case progresses no better than Kate's attempts to get Angie to talk. Peter Bondurant is throwing his weight around, yet appears to be holding back key information. Sordid details about Jillian Bondurant's life begin to emerge, but no critical evidence can be found. The people of Minneapolis are in an uproar, demanding the killer be caught. And while the police have a bevy of potential suspects to sift through, none of them quite seem to fit.
The tension mounts when Angie suddenly disappears, the only clue a frighteningly large trail of blood. Kate is devastated and ends up at loggerheads with both her boss and the rest of the investigative team, some of whom blame her for Angie's disappearance. Adding to Kate's turmoil is her growing awareness that five years apart has done little to quell the passion between her and Quinn.
When the Cremator strikes again, leaving a woman's body burned beyond recognition inside a car, Kate fears the victim is Angie. It's not, but Kate's relief is short-lived when the body is identified as one of the other crime victims Kate had been counseling. Terrified that the Cremator chose this particular victim as a personal message, Kate grows even more concerned when a series of unsettling events make her wonder if she is being watched, or even stalked by the killer. Her instincts prove true, and though Kate does her best to protect and prepare herself, nothing can prepare her for the final shock of coming face to face with the Cremator.
Taut, terrifying and twisted, Ashes to Ashes is definitely not for the squeamish. But for readers who enjoy great storytelling, intricate plotting, and true-to-life characters, Ashes to Ashes won't disappoint. Hoag does a superb job of masking her killer, cleverly hiding her clues right out in the open, and rapidly building the tension. By the time the story escalates to its surprising and harrowing climax, readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough.
— Beth Amos
People Magazine
One of the hottest names in the suspense game....Ashes to Ashes leaves the compeittion in the dust (Page-Turner of the Week).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.Library Journal
FBI agent Kate Conlan's career may have gone up in smoke, sticking her with a desk job in a backwater town, but now she's tracking a serial killer who burns his victims. Following the author's five New York Times bestsellers.Library Journal
FBI agent Kate Conlan's career may have gone up in smoke, sticking her with a desk job in a backwater town, but now she's tracking a serial killer who burns his victims. Following the author's five New York Times bestsellers.People Magazine
One of the hottest names in the suspense game....Ashes to Ashes leaves the compeittion in the dust (Page-Turner of the Week).Rebecca Ascher-Walsh
...Hoag holds the reins...tightly....One caveat: It's not for the squeamish.— Entertainment Weekly