Genre: Mystery
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We are told that protagonist Dana Nolan was a sweet and cheerful young television broadcaster before she was kidnapped, raped and tortured by a serial killer. She was the only victim who escaped, but she is left with a traumatic brain injury, a very disabling memory issue and an inability to control many of her actions. With all that she endured, she is also battling PTSD. Ms. Hoag does an excellent job helping the reader experience these issues along with Dana. In fact, at times I felt almost too involved. I felt her fear and pain in the first few pages and her mother's fear in the following pages.
Trying to pull herself together, Dana returns to her childhood home. We are introduced to old friends and a first love, but Dana soon focuses her attention on finding out what really happened to her childhood friend, Casey Grant, many years ago. Casey's ex-boyfriend John was a suspect originally, but he is now a young veteran who is also fighting PTSD.
Her stepfather, Roger, is another questionable character. He is a state senator running for re-election and has very little time for Dana's problems or suspicions. As the book progresses we realize that the author is definitely throwing a great deal of possible suspects into the mix, but I have seen Hoag do a better job of suspense writing in previous novels. I believe she was probably focused on the brain injury and PTSD and had some difficulty pairing it with the mystery at times. I also felt Dana needed to be more involved in therapy for her problems.
Although there were several weak areas, on the whole Tami Hoag did what she always does. She presented a story, a graphically written story, that captured my interest and gave me information about things I didn't know before I read her book. If you can handle some gory scenes and a protagonist with a somewhat tortured soul, then I think you will find a great deal to enjoy in Ms. Hoag's latest novel.
- Beverly
Publisher - Dutton
Date of Publication - January 13, 2015
Trying to pull herself together, Dana returns to her childhood home. We are introduced to old friends and a first love, but Dana soon focuses her attention on finding out what really happened to her childhood friend, Casey Grant, many years ago. Casey's ex-boyfriend John was a suspect originally, but he is now a young veteran who is also fighting PTSD.
Her stepfather, Roger, is another questionable character. He is a state senator running for re-election and has very little time for Dana's problems or suspicions. As the book progresses we realize that the author is definitely throwing a great deal of possible suspects into the mix, but I have seen Hoag do a better job of suspense writing in previous novels. I believe she was probably focused on the brain injury and PTSD and had some difficulty pairing it with the mystery at times. I also felt Dana needed to be more involved in therapy for her problems.
Although there were several weak areas, on the whole Tami Hoag did what she always does. She presented a story, a graphically written story, that captured my interest and gave me information about things I didn't know before I read her book. If you can handle some gory scenes and a protagonist with a somewhat tortured soul, then I think you will find a great deal to enjoy in Ms. Hoag's latest novel.
- Beverly
Publisher - Dutton
Date of Publication - January 13, 2015
