Book Review: Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

  Tami Hoag is one of the best suspense writers in the business. She has brought a brand of macabre, terrifying thrillers to the book shelf that is unique to each novel. Just recently I read and reviewed the first two volumes in the Oak Knoll Trilogy, Deeper Than the Dead and Secrets to the Grave. Set in California in a small town near Santa Barbara, I was introduced to a new cast of amazing characters that I rooted for over nine hundred pages. Once I finished book two I immediately began book three. And this one was the ending to the trilogy that did not disappoint.

  Down the Darkest Road is published by Penguin Random House under their Signet imprint. In it we are out of the 1980s and into the 1990s. Law enforcement technology is squeaking along just past its infancy. And favorite characters have returned for another dip in the lake of terror that is their town. But a new face has arrived in Oak Knoll, Lauren Lawton. With her fifteen year old daughter, Leah, in tow, Lauren has relocated to the small town to escape her troubled past. Four years ago her oldest daughter was abducted; never to be seen again. She knows who did it and the police have agreed with her assessment. But no evidence has ever been found to arrest known sex offender Roland Ballencoa  for the kidnapping of Leslie Lawton. With her husband dead and a paranoia so strong that she sees Ballencoa around every corner, Lauren needs some sanity.

  Enter Wendy Morgan and Anne Leone. Wendy is friends with Leah, and introduces the girl and her mother to Anne Leone. Working still as a child advocate, Anne has since gone on to become a child psychologist and aid to women at Jane Thomas' foundation. She and Vince are still married, and have been Haley Fordham's foster parents for four years. They also have a three year old son, Antony, and are expecting their second child. Lauren is quick to keep the walls that she has erected around her intact. Her only mission to find Leslie and remove her from the clutches of Ballencoa. She is not ready to sit down and let Anne help her. But after four years would she find her daughter or her corpse?

  Detective Tony Mendez and Cal Dixon's sheriff's department are disturbed to find that a sexual predator has moved into their jurisdiction. But as the officers of other counties have learned, Roland Ballencoa is slick and loves to play games with law enforcement. But did he really abduct Leslie Lawton, or is Lauren Lawton accusing him due to his past as a sexual predator? As Mendez digs deeper into the case he meets Detective Danni Tanner. The brash detective has been at odds with Ballencoa's amiss behavior, and she is frustrated with the lack of evidence to convict him. Together they form a small task force to get to the bottom of this four years old case.

  Tony Mendez's starring role in this story was welcomed by me. A fan of Tony from the previous books, I felt he needed to be more in the forefront. I was rewarded in book three with his extended presence. And even though many of my favorites became supporting cast in this third installment, it did not take away from my enjoyment of this novel. Hoag's new characters were dynamic and three-dimensional additions to Oak Knoll. I loved them all.

  Down the Darkest Road is an often heartbreaking tale of devastating loss and the strength needed to overcome the pain. I often found myself feeling incredible sympathy for Lauren and Leah Lawton. With so much loss in their lives, the pair's perseverance to move forward left me teary-eyed. I found their struggle very thought-provoking, which led me to recall my own past struggles and the important people in my life. Tami Hoag tugged at my heart strings, only to turn around and shock my heart with pulse-pounding adrenaline. She ventured into the deepest recesses of the psychology of what it means to not only be a survivor, but what it means to be human. Roland Bellancoa was a villain through-and-through. Hoag never once let me believe otherwise, giving me a view into the character's warped reality. Even with a proven villain, she managed to offer up a surprise ending that dramatically changed the danger, elevating it more. I was floored by the twist at the end. 

  I read Down the Darkest Road with the return of Kirsten Potter as narrator for the audio book. Her reading of Lauren Lawton's tragic story was devastating to hear. The raw emotion that she read with made me feel that Potter was the victim telling her story. I was amazed that even after hearing her narrate many books, she managed to surprise me yet again. I was in love with her work on this book.

  Having read the entire Oak Knoll Trilogy in a two week period, I have to say that this is a bittersweet goodbye to Hoag's characters. I hope that she writes another book utilizing this cast in the future.  It was hard to close this novel, knowing that there may not be a continuation. I gave Down the Darkest Road five out of five stars. This was an amazing close to an incredible series. And I highly recommend all three books.  

Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.

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