Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!
Tami Hoag has written two of my favorite novels, 9th Girl and Cold Cold Heart. I have recommended both suspense novels to all of my readers, friends, and family. There is a certain thrill that comes from a Tami Hoag novel. Once she draws you in with her dynamic narrative, she has a hold of you for many hours. I have lost sleep, forgot appointments, and ignored phone calls when reading her works. This time was no different.
Deeper Than the Dead is the first novel in Tami Hoag’s Oak Knoll trilogy. It is published by Penguin Random House under their Dutton Books imprint. The year is 1985, criminal investigations are aided by tape recorders, fingerprint dusting, and fax machines. Under Sheriff Cal Dixon, the small department of Oak Knoll, California, does its best to keep the peace. But it is Detective Tony Mendez that knows that the future of law enforcement is changing. His mentor, Vince Leone, is a profiler for the FBI and uses techniques that seem foreign to the small town officers. Especially Frank Farman, a racist and chauvinistic officer who is happy staying in the past when it comes to crime-solving. One day four fifth graders come upon the body of a dead woman buried in the park, her mouth and eyes glued shut.
Deeper Than the Dead is the first novel in Tami Hoag’s Oak Knoll trilogy. It is published by Penguin Random House under their Dutton Books imprint. The year is 1985, criminal investigations are aided by tape recorders, fingerprint dusting, and fax machines. Under Sheriff Cal Dixon, the small department of Oak Knoll, California, does its best to keep the peace. But it is Detective Tony Mendez that knows that the future of law enforcement is changing. His mentor, Vince Leone, is a profiler for the FBI and uses techniques that seem foreign to the small town officers. Especially Frank Farman, a racist and chauvinistic officer who is happy staying in the past when it comes to crime-solving. One day four fifth graders come upon the body of a dead woman buried in the park, her mouth and eyes glued shut.
The condition of the woman is similar to a victim in another case, and Tony places a call to Vince Leone. The veteran FBI agent agrees to come to Oak Knoll to help profile the case, and see if the dead woman is indeed the latest victim of a serial killer. Meanwhile, school teacher Anne Navarre is busy trying to help her students cope with their discovery in the park. The worst to deal with is eleven-year-old Dennis, son of Frank Farman. Dennis is a cold and angry child that is a vicious bully to his fellow classmates. As the case continues to unravel before the Oak Knoll lawmen, another woman is abducted. Vince and Anne become unlikely partners in a race to catch a killer. Their investigation into the people of Oak Knoll gets them unwanted attention. The kind of attention that leads to a place buried deeper than the dead.
Tami Hoag held my hand at the beginning of this book and led me into the idyllic life of an Oak Knoll citizen. She showed me beauty, fun, and family life in a community that I would have loved to live in. Then she let go of my hand, told me to go forward alone, and there I found the dark underbelly of this community; dark, twisted, and full of rancor. But I could not leave. I was hooked, and I had to go forward and see who the killer was. And when I reached the end of Deeper Than the Dead, I was ready for book two, Secrets to the Grave.
This novel was a fantastic blast of light, sound, and nostalgia with Hoag’s expert storytelling enlivening my senses. I was fully invested in her characters. And I rooted for the protagonists and booed the antagonists. Hoag twisted the path and surprised me many times. Her crafty way of storytelling presented many suspects and gleefully introduced slick elements that had me truly enjoying the mystery that unfolded. I loved Vince Leone and Anne Navarre. Their mutual attraction played out very well, and at times became steamy; reminding me that Hoag also writes romance novels very well.
I read this book in part with the narration of Kirsten Potter. I loved her work narrating Lisa Gardner novels, so when I heard she was the narrator for this series; I immediately acquired the audiobooks. Potter has a way of presenting a story that is very cinematic in scope. She plays the characters with depth and at times I feel that more than one person is reading when she is involved. I loved her reading of this novel. Excellent.
I gave Deeper Than the Dead five out of five stars. I left the book wanting more of her amazing characters. And I genuinely felt that my time reading this book was well spent. I highly recommend this thriller.
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