Resumo de Ashes To Ashes

There''s a
killer on the loose and he''s one sick puppy. He''s already tortured, murdered
and set two women on fire. Now, he has claimed a third victim, but his luck may
be changing. You see, as he was setting that body on fire in the park, there
was a witness there who saw everything and can identify The
Cremator.

Enter Kate
Conlan who acts as an advocate for Angie DeMarco, the young witness. Angie''s
had a tough life and the questioning tactics of the various Minneapolis law enforcement agencies aren''t
helping the situation.

Perhaps the
cops are in such a tizzy because the latest murder victim is Jillian Bondurant,
daughter of the famous billionaire Peter Bondurant. With all his money and
power, Peter is able to get foremost FBI profiler John Quinn on the case.

What we soon
find out is that Kate Conlan and John Quinn have a rocky past that was once
filled with love, tragedy and abrupt separation five years ago. Now, they must
put their feelings aside in order to catch a killer.

Ashes to
Ashes details the
dangerous path taken to find The Cremator. There are several
suspects, both male and female, including a security guard and Peter Bondurant
himself.

This story
is interesting, but the detail is somewhat difficult to digest. Hoag has
certainly done her research. However, the passages describing the sight and
scent of charred human remains were beyond graphic, even for this seasoned
reader.

There was a
lot of dark humor and dialogue like that which you''d use if you were trying to
cope with a difficult job as these characters were. Being slightly twisted
myself, this was my favorite element of the book.

There were
many side plots in Ashes to Ashes. Hoag often visits the relationship
between Kate and John. Jillian Bondurant apparently had a tumultuous past, as
did Angie DeMarco who is keeping lots of secrets from the investigators.

Frankly
these side plots did little for me, as there were too many of them and not
enough time was spent on developing the lines. I didn''t care for Kate as a
person, nor was I convinced of her feelings of John. This is surprising because
once upon a time, Tami Hoag wrote romance novels for Bantam under the Loveswept
line.

The story is
long, moving fast in some places and slow in others. I only mention this
because there was no time when I felt I had to continue reading the book. If I
was tired, I went to bed without the urge to read just a bit further.

In all
fairness, Ashes to Ashes is a decent suspense novel. However, it doesn''t
stand out from other novels in the same genre. The ending did not shock or
surprise me. Frankly, I was annoyed with the final result. I wish I could
discuss it further, but that would give away key points of the story.

My overall
reaction to the is -Been there, done that. Perhaps the detailed
burned body descriptions were necessary, but I feel they were put there to
distract from the fact that there''s not a lot there except for said body. Hoag
wrote a story here and just sort of moved the characters around it like puppets
to propel the scenes.

That being
said, I really wouldn''t recommend Ashes to Ashes to my loyal 2.5
readers. I know I am in the minority here and probably 75% of the folks who
read this review would actually like the book. So keep that in mind when
considering your purchase. Personally, I feel that there are better Whodunit
books out there. However, if a free copy lands in your hands, then by all
means, read away!

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