Fiction, Mystery & Crime, Fiction Subjects
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Overview
Every once in a while a thriller comes along that stretches the limits of the genre and takes readers places they have never been before. There are the fears we hide deep inside where the real world isn't supposed to touch us. In the night - any night - these fears, terrors, and emotions can drive us to commit the darkest sins. Now there is an author who knows these secrets and has woven them into a relentlessly compelling thriller, a book of such page-turning power that it is time to declare there is a new modern master of suspense - and her name is Tami Hoag. Deer Lake is a small Minnesota town where people know their neighbors and crime is something that happens on the evening news. But the illusion of safety is shattered when eight-year-old Josh Kirkwood disappears from a hockey rink as he waits for his mother to pick him up after practice. The only thing the police find is his duffel bag with a note stuffed inside: ignorance is not innocence but SIN. With each passing hour the search for Josh takes on a more ominous intensity. For Megan O'Malley, the new regional officer of the state criminal investigative unit, it is the first test of whether she can cut it in the all-male world of local cops. For police chief Mitch Holt, it is a frightening reminder of the big city crime that devastated his life before he fled to Deer Lake. All the while someone watches, preparing the next move in a deadly game to which only he knows the rules, a game of terrifying clues leading to one final twist of the trail - and a snare set by a warped mind as black as death, as guilty as sin....Synopsis
A sensational New York Times bestseller that was made into a CBS-TV miniseries, Night Sins has confirmed Tami Hoag's reputation as the new modern master of suspense.
This gripping tale unfolds in a peaceful Minnesota town, where crime is something that just doesn't happen. But when a young boy disappears, it marks the beginning of a unspeakable nightmare. There are no witnesses, no clues—only a note, cleverly taunting, casually cruel. Has a cold-blooded kidnapper struck? Or is this the reawakening of a long-quiet serial killer?
Now, a tough-minded investigator on her first make-or-break case, and a local cop who fears that big city evils have invaded his small town, are hunting for a madman. Together, they must outsmart a killer who knows no bounds...and protect a town that may never feel safe again.
Publishers Weekly
Set in a pastoral Minnesota small town, Hoag's thriller has an ill-matched pair of detectives trying to trace a sadistic kidnapper. (Jan.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Set in a pastoral Minnesota small town, Hoag's thriller has an ill-matched pair of detectives trying to trace a sadistic kidnapper. (Jan.)Library Journal
This well-crafted romantic suspense novel by the author of Lucky's Lady (Bantam, 1992) is a tautly written account of life in a small Minnesota town. Megan O'Malley, the first female field officer of the state's criminal investigation bureau, is forced into a close working relationship with Mitch Holt, the town's police chief, when a child goes missing. Against the background of a multijurisdictional criminal investigation, dialog and plot flow smoothly, and elements of romantic tension that serve to define the characters further are seamlessly inserted into the basic mystery/suspense theme. Current news topics, such as the presence of known pedophiles in a community and the problems of childcare in homes with two working parents, help fuel important subplots. The investigatory techniques are all presented intelligently and provide a strong framework for this gripping suspense tale. Highly recommended for current fiction collections.-Erna Chamberlain, SUNY at BinghamtonLibrary Journal
An eight-year-old boy disappears from a small town in Minnesota. The same day, Megan O'Malley begins her new job in town as the first woman field agent for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. She feels the pressure to perform with distinction. The chief of police is fairly open-minded, but the county sheriff, the local news reporter, and the father of the missing boy are somewhat less than liberated. Old personal business and new personal relationships play out against the race to find the boy and his kidnapper. Hoag's story follows a fairly predictable formula: the characters are clearly good or bad; good triumphs over evil. Read by Joyce Bean, this is an enjoyable potboiler; recommended for fiction collections.-Joanna M. Burkhardt, Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Univ. of Rhode Island, Providence Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.Mary Frances Wilkens
Just the stuff that fuels made-for-TV movies: perfect small town; abducted child; supermom at emotional saturation point; angry, vengeful father; tough male cop; even tougher female investigator. What does it all amount to? A predictable but well-written novel already licensed to CBS as a miniseries. And like a good miniseries, you can't help but care about the characters, in spite of their cliches. Here the leads all have sordid pasts--Mitch, the cop, a single father after his wife and one of his children are killed; Megan, the investigator, haunted by her mother's mistreatment of the family and determined to hide her vulnerability; and Hannah, the mom, more devoted to her job as doctor than to her husband. The only one happy and innocent is eight-year-old Josh, until he is abducted one night after hockey practice. As the whole town comes together in an effort to find him, the abductors turn out to be part of the community and are even "helping" with the search. Of course, there's romance here as well, which actually gives the whole story some cohesion. Public libraries will want to keep a healthy stock of this competent whodunit.Book Details
Published
December 1, 1995
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Pages
576
Format
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN
9780553564518