FINALLY!! Back to reviewing following a long absence due to a difficult pregnancy and a huge bout of newborn induced sleep deprivation! I haven't had much of a chance to do anything except rock a screaming baby lately, so its so nice to be able to read a book. Or I should say, listen to an audiobook. Finding time to sit and read is still a little bit beyond me at the moment. But hopefully soon!I had listened to another book by Tami Hoag last year, and I always wanted to read another. So when I w...

3.5 stars rounded up....A little long winded in some places where they are reviewing and reviewing their profiles and the witnesses. Sometimes it felt as though I had already read the analysis and did do some skimming. The plot has a lot of moving parts (characters) but it was fun trying to second guess who the serial killer was. I had identified one twist, but missed another as I really wanted someone else to be guilty. I liked Kovac and Liska and how their characters were portrayed. I liked Ka...

"Hey, there's a serial killer running around setting women on fire! But who cares! We have an unresolved relationship to discuss!"I really liked Dust To Dust, which I had read before this, so when I went back to read the first book in the popular Kovac and Liska series, I was surprised to find our main characters were actually Kate Conlan and John Quinn.And all they did was bicker about their past.This was much more in the vein of Hoag's romance work before she moved into outright thriller/suspe...

never underestimate the taste of the American public for pure garbage. The writing sucks, the characters suck, but somehow.....they keep buying it.This may be one of the most horribly written books I've had the displeasure to read. I really tried to give it a chance since a friend told me how much she enjoyed it.....needless to say, I won't follow her advice re what to read again!!!!!I was trapped at home while out on disability and had nothing else to read--that is the only thing that made me s...

Wish I could rate this book higher, knowing this author wrote a better book in later years. This one was just painful to read and need some serious editing help. Cut two hundred pages, change the route to the killer and it would of been a better read for me. Many people recommend this writer, but this book didn't support the recommendations. We have a killer called the Creamator by the media, but his third choice of the victim is what brings this case to the forefront of the homicide division an...

a great opening line "Some Killers Are Born. Some Killers Are Made"this is one of my top favrite books!the descriptions of the "Cremator's" work will have you smelling the stench. this is for sure a "grab you by the throat" suspense thriller that will keep you guessing till the end!

3.5 wish it could have been better stars.I wish I could have given this book a higher rating. I think I have been spoiled by SB and her suspense books. This was well written but, to me, it could have been about 30% shorter. Way too long, way too many details in the first half of the book. Not enough time with Quinn and Kate. Some killers are born. Some are made. I will try more from this author. Maybe check out a shorter book the next time. The series is called "Kovac/Liska" - based on two pol...

4.5 bumped up. Good stuff. Believable cast of characters, lots of tension and suspense. Nice details. Very competently written. The only criticism is I thought the killer turned out to be too much of a cliche. Also thought the sex scenes were a little over the top. You know, where both characters climax together and the world moves and fireworks explode in the sky kind of sex...

This serial killer thriller is full of tension and I really didn't know who the serial killer was until the author wanted me to know. Well written Tami Hoag! This is the first book I've read by this author and I will look forward to the next one. Besides the thriller aspect I enjoyed the interplay between the police detectives and the relationship between FBI specialist Quinn and Kate the victim advocate.

The dialogue between Liska, Kovak & their coworkers is always worth the read.

Hoag continues to exploit the theme of mutilated women (A Thin Dark Line, 1997, etc.) in a romance thriller about the hunt for a serial killer. Someone in Minneapolis is tying down women, then raping, torturing, and killing them. While they're still alive, the attacker sticks knives into the soles of their feet, then cuts off their nipples and aureoles. After they die, he stabs them in a ritual pattern, slices off their tattoos, and burns their bodies beyond recognition; to relive his moments of...

This is the first in the Kovac/Liska series. I read the third in this series some time ago and am reading the books out of sequence.I enjoyed the story, at 570 pages it's by no means a short novel but for me it was a page turner. With plenty of twists and turns I was pretty certain I knew who the Cremator was but I was wrong.I found the novel well written and felt that the characters were very believable. With a good mix between the narrative and the dialogue driven parts. I'm looking forward to...

My co-worker and I were always baffled by this book. Running a small used bookstore, we never understood why we had seven copies of this title - and no other Tami Hoag. When an eight one rolled in, I decided I had to know. It was either a horrible disappointment or was go good that it had been issued to every mystery fan in the area.I read it. It was the latter.A vicious serial killer, wonderfully realized characters, city-level political intrigue, and one of those introspective romances. I can

So I really liked this book. I was captivated and taken on a journey. My guesses for who done it were all wrong. However, which is part of my 4 star rating is that it was too easy for the author to chose The Who done it. I've seen it be that way so many times, at least one aspect, I didn't think a seasoned writer would go there. Anyway, my other problem was with technology and pop culture references which dated the book.Everyone had pagers including Cate who used a pay phone to return a page. No...

I have been buying Tami Hoag books for awhile and just have never gotten around to reading them. So I finally chose a book and got to it. Ashes to Ashes is book 1 in the Kovak and Liska series, and I am so glad that I finally decided to pick one up and read. Tami Hoag is a brilliant writer.I loved the characters in the book. I also loved the premise of the story. I also loved the twists in this book. The premise of the story, to catch the Cremator. A serial killer so twisted he puts the best vil...

Ashes to Ashes2 StarsSynopsisA killer known only as The Cremator tortures his victims and sets them on fire. Victims advocate Kate Conlon is called in to help a reluctant witness to the latest murder. However, things are not at they seem and Kate, together with FBI profiler John Quinn ,must get to the truth before Kate becomes the next victim. ReviewThe book is 200 pages too long. The serial killer plot has potential but becomes bogged down with the characters internal dialogue that is repetitio...

Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag is the first book in the Kovac and Liska Mystery series. A serial killer known as the cremator is burning his victims, and when the latest victim appears to be a tech billionaires daughter, FBI profiler agent Quinn is called in. I enjoyed the book, although it seemed that former FBI agent and now victim advocate Kate Conlon and FBI agent John Quinn were the main characters and main investigators with Kovac and Liska having a secondary role. I liked the characters who

Even though this is called the first Kovac and Liska book it's really not. The book focuses on Kate Conlan who is a former FBI agent and her former lover Special Agent John Quinn. These two do appear in "Ashes to Ashes" but after that, I can't even remember if we see them again. This is a pretty good start to the series that stars Kovac and Liska. not everything is going to involve serial killers though, some of it just involves terrible people doing horrible things to someone else. I did love t...

This is more a case of I don't care for the pace and language than it being a poor mystery copper read. It's her style of writing (long worded and redundant) and the fact that all of that gets doubled down by the subject matter. VERBOSE! And for me, when I am reading I find the pattern of quips in the constant dialog just annoying as hell. Take a usual TV sit. com. You know how they have the line and then the laugh track. Then the straight line, then the quip. Then the laugh track. Then the insu...

There's a serial killer loose in Minneapolis and now he's broken pattern and abducted and presumably killed someone other than a prostitute. Now he's got the attention of the community, law enforcement and the press, and a new moniker...The Cremator, because of what he does to his victims after he's killed them. The atmosphere is now so politically charged the top guns are being assigned. Kate Conlan, a former DC FBI agent, now victim/witness advocate for the city, is assigned to work with the k...