WARNNG: Self-harm, rape threats.

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!Down the Darkest Road was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for Penguin Group (USA).3.5 starsSet in the early 90s, ‘Down the Darkest Road’ is the third installment in Tami Hoag’s ‘Oak Knoll’ series. Once again we’re thrown into the world of Vince and Anne and Mendez where the current investigation deals with missing 16 year-old Leslie who disappears without a trace and her mother Laura who is left to cope with her absence. This was definitely a he...

I'm not gonna lie. Since I got an eReader, I rarely grab books at the grocery store any more. My cart is pristine and guiltless except for the fact that I don't always buy organic. And I buy a lot of booze. I make my shameful purchases in the dark at two a.m. and then record them here for the world to see. So I feel badly about adding this to grocery store impulse purchase shelf EXCEPT that I saw this at Ralph's and knew to download it. So it counts. For the record: NO SPINSTERS DIE. NO SLUTTY G...

In this one, the crime is already committed when the story begins. The person responsible for the crime is also known. The story is about how the villain finally gets what he deserves. Like one of the detectives says in the novel, "This isn't even a whodunit. This is a what-the-hell?". Set in 1990, a family goes through the tragedy of losing the first daughter (kidnapping) and later, the father (suicide). The narration is a bit disturbing as it follows a broken family (both literally and figurat...

Please note that I gave this book 3.5 stars. However, I rounded it up to 4 stars on Goodreads. Down the Darkest Road is not my favorite Tami Hoag book and I think the reason why is that because I read the series out of order. I hate doing that. In my defense though I bought this at the bookstore and asked a sales associate if this was the first book in the series because the books are not identified in any way as number 1, 2, or 3. So this is my roundabout way of saying that Barnes and Noble, yo...

This book is about a mother who’s 16 year old daughter disappeared 4 years ago and who’s husband killed himself 2 years ago. Lauren is trying to rebuild a life with her youngest daughter (or is she?), who is now also about to turn 16.As we go deeper into the story, we find out that Lauren is the one stalking the man that she suspects took her daughter.Although it is obvious that Lauren has the right man, I didn’t see the twist coming and I thought it was a suitably dramatic ending.I would have l...

My least favorite book of the series. This book barely included any of the original characters. The main mystery was never really solved and the perpetrator in the novel were easily determined and stated from the beginning. I was let down with this book of the series.

This is the third book in the Oak Knoll Series by Tami Hoag. I have enjoyed all three books and having discovered them later was able to read all three books in a Tami Hoag binge reading week.

I had a hard time feeling sorry for the main character of this story, but it's still really good. I wanted to kill the bad guy several times over. I'm sure anyone who reads this will too. It's also a good example of how the laws are set up to protect the bad people.

Well, what can I say? I had no clue that this was a "series" and, what do you know, I ended up reading the latest one. I feel a little cheated, but then again, I did do it to myself. But because I didn't read the first two, I think that may be why I wasn't so impressed? I wasn't attatched to any of the characters such as others may be, and so I started the book with a clean slate. And let me just say, I have no need to read the first two. First off, I want to just put this little fact into your

Imagine having your sixteen-year old daughter abducted; disappear without knowing if or where she's alive. Imagine knowing who took her and not being able to do anything about it! This is the situation Lauren Lawton finds herself in for the last four years. The Lawton family was once a happy family of four, husband and wife, with two daughters: Leslie and Leah, living a charmed life in Santa Barbara, California. Leslie being abducted has destroyed that. Lance, Lauren's husband couldn't take t

I was glad to be back in the reading world of Oak Knoll. The author writes well, the story is heart wrenching, and there are a few surprises and twists.I was able to guess one of the twists, but it was pretty far into the story that I realized what was going on.The young girls and their senses of loss, of well-being, were ones I wanted to see become whole again.If there are more Oak Knoll stories, I will find them!

I know better than to start a Tami Hoag book when I want to accomplish anything else because once I started this one, I didn't want to put it down. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. It was so nice to revisit characters from her former novels like Vince and Anne Leone and Mendez. What Tami does best is incorporate emotion into her stories. (Probably a gift from her years as a bestselling romance author.) Even when she's writing police procedure, it's never JUST procedure. You feel every emot...

Wellllll! Ok...I admit it...I just had to read this! My first mistake was not paying attention that this was a series of 3 with this being #3! Now I have to go find #1 n #2!! Just to see what I missed!!I do enjoy Tami's writing--but I more or less had this figured out shortly after I opened the book...I did so feel sorry for Lauren for all her devastating losses...then I rea!ized -she totally put her one and only baby girl on the back burner! Like she couldn't care one big damn that she still ha...

DOWN THE DARKEST ROAD is Tami Hoag's third thriller in the Oak Knoll Series. The novel is set in the late 1980s long before the internet, cell phones, DNA testing and other advances made it easier to catch criminals. This book is by far the worst in the series. While the characters were interesting, it felt like it never got out of the first act. The first 350 pages seemed to be just a set up for the final 75 page finale. Some might claim the suspense was more psychological. I'm not claiming tha...

Book 3 in the series and my least favourite. Only one of the main characters from earlier books, played a big part. The main character, the mother, while in a bad position, just plain got on my nerves. Sorry to say, spoiler alert, it’s not difficult to know what is coming at the end. Not one the authors best in my humble opinion. Sorry!!

I am usually a big fan of Tami Hoag and have been following her novels for years, but this one is absolutely awful, mainly due to the presence of the most self-absorbed, navel-contemplating, sniveling protagonist I have encountered in long time...Lauren Lawson is so despicable that I had a hard time finishing this book. I did not care in the least what happens to this poor excuse for an adult human being, and this totally colors my interest in the other characters. Luckily the parts of the book

The third in the Oak Knoll series, I actually thought this was the best.Hoag has a talent for creating angst and tragic characters. Nothing new here, but then again something doesn't have to be new or different to be entertaining.While occasionally cliche, I find her characters well-developed and likeable. Bottom line: Solid mystery, heavy on the psychological suspense with just enough action to keep it moving.

I absolutely loved this book even though it was completely heart wrenching. It's been a while since I have read anything by Tami Hoag and I felt like slapping myself for it, needless to say that I shall get my backside into gear. I've now realised that there were two books prior to this one with the first being 'Deeper than the Dead' and the second, 'Secrets to the Grave'. All I know is that I'm thankful it can be read as a stand alone. Vince Leone, an FBI agent and Tony Mendez, a detective - wh...

I occasionally have to read something light and easy to read. Tami Hoag will not win the Nobel Prize for literature. However, her novels are easy to read and do have a twist usually hard to predict. This one was easy to see a mile away and the ending was a bit far fetched. I mean by that the serial killers suddenly got very sloppy. Like other reviewers I preferred her earlier books.The main protagonist Lauren has gone through two tragedies her daughter went missing and her husband drove off a cl...