A Thin Dark Line
Amazon.com ReviewVigilantism can be swift and lethal, but it does not always carry the banner of justice. For Deputy Sheriff Annie Broussard, an attempt to honor the law traps her between the prime suspect in a vicious crime and her own colleagues on the force. And she's unsure which side, if either, is to be trusted. Set in the bayou country of Louisiana, A Thin Dark Line explores dark psychological territory while weaving through a complex plot rife with sordid characters and unlikely heroes. As the author of Night Sins and Guilty as Sin, Tami Hoag lives up to her reputation as a master of suspense.From Library JournalComing off her best-selling hit, Guilty As Sin (LJ 2/1/96), Hoag sets her latest in Bayou Breaux, a fictional Cajun town. A woman is brutally murdered, and everyone, from cops to citizenry, is convinced that the deed was done by Marcus Renard, a fellow she charged with stalking shortly before her death. Renard is set free on a technicality only to be beaten insensible by the chief detective on the case, Nick Fourcade, a patois-speaking recluse with a dark past. Fourcade is arrested by Annie Broussard, an idealistic young sheriff's deputy and the only woman on the force. Because she stands up for what she believes is right, Annie is hounded from her job by the good-ol'-boy cop network. She then joins forces with Fourcade to solve the murder and a series of rapes. Hoag almost scuttles her own story by making the first 200 pages dull and repetitive before finally settling down to let the characters evolve and the story take its own dark, satisfying turns. This doesn't work completely, but her fans won't mind. For popular collections.
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Cry Wolf
From Publishers WeeklyAs in her last romantic mystery, Still Waters, Hoag creates a pair of lovers who are so awful that they deserve each other. But this time she factors in an offensive theme: bad boys are to be tolerated, but bad girls are to be raped, mutilated and strangled. The "bad boy" is the hero, horror writer Jack Boudreaux. With antics like crashing a Corvette and swatting a smarmy evangelist preacher with a bag of fish, Jack charms Laurel Chandler. Laurel has returned to her hometown, Bayou Breaux, La., to lick her wounds after she blew a case involving child sexual abuse, lost her public prosecutor's job and suffered a breakdown. But matters are grim on the home front, where a serial killer is haunting young women, and Savannah, Laurel's man-loving sister, is becoming increasingly unstable. Despite Laurel 's anguish over losing her child abuse case, her reaction to Savannah 's problem-also rooted in abuse by a stepfather-is, "If I'd known, I don't think I would have come back now." Eventually Savannah sniffs around the wrong man and is murdered. Then Laurel is all tears and determination to find the killer.
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Dark Horse
Elena Estes's stubborn risk taking has cost her dearly: her job, her confidence, her career in the Miami PD and, most importantly, the life of a fellow cop. Now in retreat in Florida with only the soothing presence of horses for company, Elena begins to find some peace. But then a visitor comes calling. Twelve year old Molly Seabright believes something terrible has happened to her older stepsister. Erin, eighteen and trouble, is a groom at the Wellington show grounds but hasn't been seen for several days. Elena isn't interested in the case but Molly convinces her to make one trip to the show grounds. What's the harm in asking a few questions? Elena finds herself in a world populated by the ultra rich and the ultra ruthless. She must find out what's happened to Erin before it's too late to save the girl and herself.
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Dark Paradise
Marilee Jennings came to New Eden, Montana for a much needed break, but the dream soon turns into a nightmare when her best friend is murdered. J D Rafferty is a hardened rancher, a man whose rough charm and dark desires Mari finds impossible to resist. But when his way of life is threatened, he is determined to protect it, nomatter who gets in the way. Someone else has a stake in the wild beauty of New Eden. Someone with an appetite for evil – and the power to turn a slice of heaven into a dark paradise…
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Deeper Than the Dead
Thomas Crane is a normal ten-year-old boy, except for one thing – his father may be a serial killer. Peter Crane is a community leader, but his seeming generosity may be a clever cover for cultivating his own victims. Meredith Crane plays the role of the perfect wife, standing by her man, but is she standing in the way of justice? Duane Larkin has a history of violence that may determine his son's future and send him down a dark path. Even at the tender age of ten, Dennis Larkin is a troubled boy with twisted fantasies of cruel acts committed against the weak and vulnerable. Tony Mendez is a tenacious veteran homicide detective, determined to bring the killer down – no matter who he might be. And FBI Special Agent Anne Navarro is a woman in a man's world, a scientist in the midst of hard-nosed cops. But with her own quiet determination she will do her part to solve the crimes – and perhaps save a child in the process.
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Heart of Gold
Elegantly handsome Shane Callan was trouble – dirty Harry in disguise – and not quite civilized underneath. but Faith Kincaid was stuck with him. Her decision to appear as a witness in a bribery trial had placed her in peril so great. Shane had been assigned to protect her, He wanted her to be guilty – he'd be safe then – but he knew she wasn't and he found her innocence irresistible.
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Lucky’s Lady
She is willing to risk everything – Lucky Lady, from a New York Times bestselling author. When Serena Sheridan's Grandfather vanishes into the vast and infamous swamps of Louisiana for no apparent reason, she feels compelled to abandon her successful career as a psychologist and go and find him. But Serena is deeply afraid of the hostile territory she is confronting and her only guide is the renegade Lucky Doucet, a dangerous Cajun who offers little hope of protection in the steamy Bayou swamps. However, determined to find her Grandfather at whatever cost, she sets off with lucky on a journey into the watery maze that will change both their lives irrevocably.
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Magic
Strange things were happening in Drake House: A perfect rose appearing on a pillow…an antique dress materializing out of nowhere…a mysterious spirit roaming the halls…Five years after Rachel Lindquist had left California to chase her dreams, she returned home to care for her aging mother, only to find herself chasing a ghost! Addie Lindquist insisted a presence haunted Drake House and had hired noted parapsychologist Bryan Hennessy to investigate, but Rachel knew better than to believe in what she couldn't see-or to surrender to the strong current of desire pulling her towards Bryan.Bryan had dealt with skeptics before, but convincing Rachel was the biggest challenge of his life. The enchanting beauty had lost faith in everything that wasn't practical, and that included matters of the heart. As Bryan fought her reluctance to succumb to feelings she couldn't control, a second, more sinister force began to stalk them, threatening to drive them from Drake House and from each other-a force that could be banished only by a man who believed in the power of love and…Magic.
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Prior Bad Acts
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Sospecha
Andy Fallon, un joven policía, ha aparecido desnudo y ahorcado. Según todos los indicios, se ha suicidado o ha sido víctima de un juego erótico, pero el detective Sam Kovac no termina de verlo claro. Se propone esclarecer los hechos, en parte, como un servicio al padre del joven muerto, un antiguo policía que tuvo que retirarse tras quedar inválido a consecuencia de un disparo, pero también porque sabe que hay personas que podían tener interés en la desaparición de Andy. Y es que el joven era de Asuntos Internos y además homosexual, dos circunstancias que pueden producir antipatías en determinadas personas, más aún si tienen algo que ocultar. Para Kovac se trata de un terreno muy resbaladizo, en el que sin duda se va a encontrar con la hostilidad de muchos. Pero él es tozudo, cuenta con la ayuda de Nikki Liska, una entusiasta policía divorciada, y ama la verdad. Una verdad que emergerá en toda su sordidez y brutalidad.
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The Alibi Man
She was a vision. She was a siren. She was a nightmare. She was dead. Now he needed her to disappear. And he knew just how to make it happen. The Palm Beach elite go to great lengths to protect their own-and their own no longer includes Elena Estes. Once upon a time a child of wealth and privilege, Elena turned her back on that life. Betrayed and disillusioned by those closest to her, she chose the life of an undercover cop, the hunt for justice her own personal passion. Then a tragic, haunting mistake ended her career. Now Elena exists on the fringes of her old life, training horses for a living. But a shocking event is about to draw her back into the painful vortex she's fought so hard to leave behind.First she finds the body-a young woman used, murdered, and dumped in a canal. Not just a victim, but a friend. As Elena delves into her dead friend's secret life, she discovers ties not only to the Russian mob but also to a group of powerful and wealthy Palm Beach bad boys known for giving each other alibis to cover a multitude of sins. A group that includes a man Elena once knew very well-her former fiancé, Bennett Walker, a man she knows has already escaped justice at least once in his life.Finding her friend's killer will put Elena at odds with her old life, with her new lover, and with herself. But she is determined to reveal the truth-a truth that will shock Palm Beach society to its core, and could very well get her killed.
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