18693918Title: Cold Cold Heart

Author: Tami Hoag

Publisher: Dutton

Publication Date: January 2015

Genre: Adult Fiction/Mystery, Thriller

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

 

 

 

Synopsis can be found here.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

 

Review:

Dana, after having survived a horrific abduction and torture from a serial killer, goes back home to her mother and step father where she becomes obsessed with a crime that happened seven years ago – her best friend disappearing right before college.

I read and was totally absorbed by The 9th Girl, the book that came before this one. This book is a standalone and not part of a series, even though it would be good to read The 9th Girl first if you were thinking about reading it at all.

Dana is frustrated and sad as she tries to cope with her new life. She’s had a massive brain injury and has problems speaking, remembering, doing normal functions like making dinner or remembering directions. I like Dana as a character and could feel her frustrations and paranoia. She is having to cope with a terrible series of events and reconcile with the woman she is now with the girl she was before the abduction.

That said, Dana’s intense paranoia did get to me. It’s obvious that someone close to her has been lying about what happened to her best friend Casey. No one is to be trusted and Hoag does a brilliant job of making everyone a suspect. Too brilliant perhaps, if there is such a thing. I was equally frustrated during the story because no one could be counted on for Casey. I mean, at one point I even suspected her mother having something to do with it. (I won’t tell you if I was right or not.) The point is that I think Hoag did it brilliantly, but I had a hard time trusting anyone, even Dana’s, perception and it left me feeling uneasy.

I did want to know who had hurt Casey, if she was a victim of an opportunity crime or something closer to home.

I can’t say I enjoyed reading the book, though it was well written. Thriller fans will eat this one up. It has a lot of character and danger and lies.

Rating 6 Good