**“Without a doubt . . . one of the most intense suspense writers around.”— Chicago Tribune **
“[Tami Hoag] demonstrates just why she has become one of the hottest names in the suspense game. Bottom line: Leaves competition in the dust.”*—People _
He performs his profane ceremony in a wooded Minneapolis park, anointing his victims, then setting the bodies ablaze. He has already claimed three lives, and he won’t stop there. Only this time there is a witness. But she isn’t talking.
Enter Kate Conlan, former FBI agent turned victim/witness advocate. Not even she can tell if the reluctant witness is a potential victim or something more troubling still. Her superiors are interested only because the latest victim may be the daughter of Peter Bondurant, an enigmatic billionaire. When Peter pulls strings, Special Agent John Quinn gets assigned to the case. But the FBI’s ace profiler of serial killers is the last person Kate wants to work with, not with their troubled history. Now she faces the most difficult role of her career—and her life. For she’s the only woman who has what it takes to stop the killer . . . and the one woman he wants next.
“You’ll want to lock the doors while you’re reading.”—Minneapolis *Star Tribune_** _
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**“An up-all-night read.”— The Detroit News ___
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Amazon.com Review
Some doctoral candidate is doubtless hard at work as you read this, trying to explain why and how the serial killer suddenly became every thriller writer's favorite subject. Meanwhile, the irrepressible Tami Hoag shows us in her latest sure-to-be-a-bestseller how the theme should be handled--with sensitivity, wit, and enough energy to heat a small city.
A monster known as the Cremator is killing prostitutes in Minneapolis parks and setting their bodies on fire. When one of his victims turns out to be the daughter of a local billionaire, and a homeless teenager claims to have witnessed the burning, it brings together former FBI agent Kate Conlan (now working as a victim-witness advocate) and the Bureau's top serial-killer profiler, John Quinn. Conlan and Quinn share a painful personal history; now they have to work together against a very smart lunatic who seems to be able to read their minds.
Although none of this is actually groundbreaking material, Hoag leaps into her story as if she were the very first writer to have thought of it. Guess what? Her innocence and verve are contagious. We throw skepticism to the winds and gladly go along for the thrilling and romantic ride, just as we did in other Hoag hits such as Cry Wolf , Dark Paradise , Guilty As Sin , Lucky's Lady , Magic , Night Sins , Still Waters , and A Thin Dark Line --all available in paperback. --Dick Adler
From Publishers Weekly
Hoag (A Thin Dark Line) has a way of sneaking up on the reader in superior thriller tradition, taking her time in revealing monstrous images lurking in the dark corners. The Cremator, a Minneapolis serial killer, has been torturing prostitutes before incinerating them in local parks, but no one pays much attention until it appears that the third victim may be Jillian Bondurant, a billionaire's daughter. Former FBI agent Kate Conlan, now a victim/witness advocate, is enlisted to handle a reluctant teenage witness who claims to have seen the latest torching. Kate's life becomes further complicated when ace FBI profiler John Quinn is called in by Jillian's father. Kate and John share a personal history, he being one of the reasons she left the Bureau five years ago, and they must each contend with their painful past as they work together to catch the diabolical killer who appears to be taunting them at every turn. Hoag uses crisp dialogue effectively to distinguish the many diverse characters, while Kate and John's mirror-image Machiavellian work ethics justify both their mutual attraction and aversion. Devoting equal attention to the mystery of the serial killer's identity and the romantic tension between her engaging protagonists, Hoag does service to both, scripting love scenes worthy of George Clooney and Renee Russo, the Hollywood stars she mentions as look-alikes for her principals. Granting a humanizing dignity to the victims' corpses, she neatly sidesteps the graphic crudeness of some of her competitors, while still providing enough surprise twists and stomach-turning carnage to satisfy any heebie-jeebie enthusiast. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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