Contemporary Romance, Detective Fiction, Thrillers, Crimes - Fiction, Occupations - Fiction

Guilty as Sin

Name: Guilty as Sin
Author: Tami Hoag
ISBN: 9780553564525

by Tami Hoag

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Overview

The abduction of eight-year-old Josh Kirkwood sent small-town Deer Lake, Minnesota, into a tailspin. Even now, after the arrest of a suspect and the return of the boy, fear maintains its grip and questions linger. What happened to Josh in the hands of his kidnapper? Why has he not spoken a word since his return, not even to name his abductor? Is the nightmare over or just beginning? Assistant County Attorney Ellen North knows her assignment to the Kirkwood case has landed her in the hot seat - a position she thought she'd left behind in the crime-choked Minneapolis court system. But politics and ulterior motives abound even in rural Park County. And if there was any hope of controlling the media frenzy, it is shattered when Ellen's boss grants full access of the case to bestselling true-crime writer Jay Butler Brooks. Now, as Ellen prepares for the trial of her career with an ex-lover arguing for the defense, her every move will be shadowed by Brooks, a man as mysterious as the case itself. All the while, another shadow follows Ellen with deadly intent. It is a soul-chilling whispered voice on the telephone. A knife-etched obscenity on the door of her car. The finger on the trigger of an apparent suicide...

Night Sins, Hoag's impressive hardcover debut, revealed her to be a masterful spinner of spine-chilling thrills. Her new novel continues that bestselling momentum, bringing terror to a whole new level. As prosecutor Ellen North prepares her case against a kidnapper, she faces a sensation-driven press corps, political maneuvering, and her ex-lover as attorney for the defense.

Synopsis

A cold-blooded kidnapper has been playing a twisted game with a terrified Minnesota town. Now a respected member of the community sits in jail, accused of a chilling act of evil. But then another boy disappears, triggering panic in tiny Deer Lake. Have the police caught the wrong man? Or is there an even more sinister mind calculating each perverse move?

Prosecutor Ellen North believes she's building a case against the right man—and that he has an accomplice in the shadows. Suddenly she's swept into their dark game, her role changed from hunter to prey. And soon she wonders if she's a match for her opponent...an evil mind as guilty as sin.

Publishers Weekly

In this follow-up to the Night Sins, a prosecutor tries to convict a respected college professor of kidnapping. (Jan.)

About the Author, Tami Hoag

Bestselling author Tami Hoag’s novels have appeared regularly on national bestseller lists since the publication of her first book in 1988. She lives in Los Angeles.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this follow-up to the Night Sins, a prosecutor tries to convict a respected college professor of kidnapping. (Jan.)

Library Journal

This suspenseful novel, though it stands alone well, is the sequel to Night Sins (LJ 1/1/95), in which a child is abducted for sport by kidnappers who taunt the police, priding themselves on their superior minds. As this novel begins, the child has been returned, terrorized into silence, and one of the kidnappers, a popular college professor, has been caught in the act of trying to kill a police officer. Ellen North is prosecuting a strong case against the professor, but an unethical celebrity lawyer represents him before a star-struck judge. Meanwhile, the unknown conspirators kidnap and kill another child and then stage a series of new events that make it seem likely that the cops got the wrong man. The judge dismisses the case. Fortunately, a true-crime writer has come to follow this case, and his research leads to the discovery of the other conspirators, though not before they have done a lot more damage. The aura of evil is powerful in this book. Characters and relationships are well drawn and convincing. Public libraries will definitely want this. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/95.]-Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.

Mary Frances Wilkens

In this sequel to her 1994 hit "Night Sins", Hoag revisits Deer Lake, a small midwestern community that is shattered when a well-respected college professor abducts young Josh Kirkwood. The first novel centered on Megan the cop and ended with the professor's arrest. Here the focus is on the trial and Ellen the prosecutor, who thinks she has the case wrapped up until another child is abducted while the professor is in prison awaiting trial. The ironies multiply when Ellen discovers that the defense attorney is her former lover, a high-powered, big-city lawyer who makes Robert Shapiro look like a courtroom lightweight. What's more, handsome courtroom fiction writer Jay Butler Brooks keeps Ellen both cautious and intrigued. This is a competent whodunit, with enough plot twists to keep it interesting. Although the characters are little more than stereotypes, "Guilty as Sin" is a quick, exciting read, and libraries will want to stock up--especially considering the success of "Night Sins" and the publisher's aggressive marketing plan.

From Barnes & Noble

The abduction of a small boy and arrest of an unlikely suspect sends a Minnesota town into a tailspin. As the prosecutor engages in a battle of wits with an unknown evil force, the town is torn between denial and vengeance in this taut crime novel.