MT Review: Down the Darkest Road [Hardcover]

I've finished "Down the Darkest Road" the 3rd book in her Oak Knoll series by Tami Hoag.

Product Description

Once upon a time I had the perfect family. I had the perfect husband. I had the perfect children. I had the perfect life in the perfect home. And then, as in all fairy tales, evil came into our lives and destroyed us.

Four years after the unsolved disappearance of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Lauren Lawton is the only one still chasing the ghosts of her perfect Santa Barbara life. The world has given her daughter up for dead. Her husband ended his own life in the aftermath. Even Lauren's younger daughter is desperate to find what's left of the childhood she hasn't been allowed to have.

Lauren knows exactly who took her oldest child, but there is not a shred of evidence against the man. Even as he stalks her family, Lauren is powerless to stop him. The Santa Barbara police are handcuffed by the very laws they are sworn to uphold. Looking for a fresh start in a town with no memories, Lauren and her younger daughter, Leah, move to idyllic Oak Knoll. But when Lauren's suspect turns up in the same city, it feels to all the world that history is about to repeat itself. Leah Lawton will soon turn sixteen, and Oak Knoll has a cunning predator on the hunt.

Sheriff's detective Tony Mendez and his team begin to close in on the suspected killer, desperate to keep the young women of their picturesque town safe. But as the investigators sift through the murky circumstances of an increasingly disturbing case, a stunning question changes everything they thought they knew. In Down the Darkest Road, #1 New York Times bestseller Tami Hoag proves again why she is one of the world's most beloved storytellers.

About the Author

Tami Hoag is the #1 international bestselling author of thirty books. Renowned for combining thrilling plots with character-driven suspense, Hoag first hit the New York Times bestseller list with Night Sins, and each of her books since has been a bestseller. She lives in Florida.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (December 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 052595239X
ISBN-13: 978-0525952398

My Review:

At one time the Lawton family were very happy with a husband, wife and two beautiful daughters.  But that all changed when Leslie the eldest daughter at 16 years old was kidnapped and Lance the father couldn't handle losing her he drove his car over a mountainous road two years after the event.  Now Lauren's motive is to make the man responsible Roland Ballencoa  pay for his crime.  Four years later Lauren has moved from Santa Barbara to the small town of Oak Knoll with Leah her younger daughter to start a new life.  When she shops at a grocery store she swears she sees the Roland Ballencoa and follows him out to the parking lot.  She races after him which catches the attention of Detective Tony Mendez and he pulls her over.  When he realizes who she is and who she thought she saw he decides to look into the case to find out if a dangerous child predator has moved into his backyard.

I really enjoy how they solve cases back in the 80's before modern technology was discovered.  How they did it by hand.

It was great to catch up with Anne, Vince and their children.  It was fun to see both of them involved in the case and how they helped.

Danni Tanner was an interesting character because of her potty mouth but she really cares about people.  Liked her romance with Tony.

The main villain was really gross and disgusting.  I was really disappointed how he got away and was never convicted of the crimes he was accused of.

4/5

Other books in series:

1.  Deeper Than the Dead
2.  Secrets to the Grave

 

Secrets to the Grave [Hardcover]

I've finished "Secrets to the Grave" the sequel to "Deeper than the Dead" by Tami Hoag.

Product Description

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with her second thriller in the Deeper than the Dead micro series, exploring the early days of forensic investigation, the characteristics of innocence-and the nature of evil.

Marissa Fordham had a past full of secrets, a present full of lies. Everyone knew of her, but no one knew her.

When Marissa is found brutally murdered, with her young daughter, Haley, resting her head on her mother's bloody breast, she sends the idyllic California town of Oak Knoll into a tailspin. Already on edge with the upcoming trial of the See- No-Evil killer, residents are shocked by reports of the crime scene, which might not have been discovered for days had it not been for a chilling 911 call: a small child's voice saying, "My daddy hurt my mommy."

Sheriff's detective Tony Mendez faces a puzzle with nothing but pieces that won't fit. To assist with his witness, Haley, he calls teacher-turned-child advocate Anne Leone. Anne's life is hectic enough - she's a newlywed and a part - time student in child psychology and she's the star witness in the See-No-Evil trial. But one look at Haley, alone and terrified, and Anne's heart is stolen.

As Tony and Anne begin to peel back the layers of Marissa Fordham's life, they find a clue fragment here another there. And just when it seems Marissa has taken her secrets to the grave, they uncover a fact that puts Anne and Haley directly in the sights of a killer:  Marissa Fordham never existed.

Product Details
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (December 28, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780525951926
ISBN-13: 978-0525951926

My Review:

I highly recommend this book if you like a series that uses old methods to solve the crimes and if you like a lot of red herrings and twists and turns.

Storyline:  The book opens with a horrific crime scene depicting the aftermath of the brutal knife murder of single mother Marissa Fordham. Her four-year-old daughter, Haley, was also attacked and left for dead, languishing for two days with her mother's corpse before being discovered.

Detective Tony Mendez is tapped to head up the investigation, and knows from recent experience to make use of a tremendous resource located in town, former FBI Agent Vince Leone, one of the pioneers in the field of behavioral profiling.

Mendez also seeks assistance from child advocate Anne Navarre Leone, herself nearly a victim the previous year of the so-called "See No Evil" killer that plagued Oak Knoll (the case which initially brought her then FBI Agent, now husband Vince Leone to town). Together they must try to help a traumatized child recover and, if possible, provide them with information to help catch her mother's killer.

As with Deeper than the Dead, Secrets to the Grave is set in the mid-80's, which adds an interesting twist to the reader's experience.  Secrets to the Grave takes readers back to a time when detectives still had to slog through reams of paperwork by hand and spend all day on the phone in order to track down information that could be found within minutes today by using computers and the internet.

Romance: Vince and Anne are newly weds and have been for 4 months now.  You can really feel they love and respect each other.  It was so sweet!  Tony has also fallen in love but doesn't want to rush his love interest since she is dealing with a cheating husband.

Killer(s): One killer just wanted to protect their reputation and the other was for revenge! The killer out for revenge was not a really nice person and liked to control people to suit their needs. The murder scene was quite a sight to read about!

4/5

Deeper Than the Dead (Hardcover)

I've finished reading "Deeper Than the Dead" by Tami Hoag.

Product Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling author joins the Dutton list with the thriller her millions of fans have been awaiting for two years.

Tami Hoag is in a class by herself, beloved by readers and critic s alike, with more than 22 million copies of her books in print. With Hoag's first novel for Dutton, she proves anew why the Chicago Tribune called her "one of the most intense suspense writers around."

California, 1984. Three children, running in the woods behind their school, stumble upon a partially buried female body, eyes and mouth glued shut. Close behind the children is their teacher, Anne Navarre, shocked by this discovery and heartbroken as she witnesses the end of their innocence. What she doesn't yet realize is that this will mark the end of innocence for an entire community, as the ties that bind families and friends are tested by secrets uncovered in the wake of a serial killer's escalating activity.

Detective Tony Mendez, fresh from a law enforcement course at FBI headquarters, is charged with interpreting those now revealed secrets. He's using a new technique-profiling-to develop a theory of the case, a strategy that pushes him ever deeper into the lives of the three children, and closer to the young teacher whose interest in recent events becomes as intense as his own.

As new victims are found and the media scrutiny of the investigation bears down on them, both Mendez and Navarre are unsure if those who suffer most are the victims themselves-or the family and friends of the killer, blissfully unaware that someone very close to them is a brutal, calculating psychopath.

My Review:

Storyline: 

Characters:

Romance:

Killer(s):

3/5