Ashes to Ashes

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

He performs his profane ceremony in a wooded Minneapolis park, anointing his victims, then setting the bodies ablaze. He has already claimed three lives, and he won't stop there. Only this time there is a witness. But she isn't talking.

Enter Kate Conlan, former FBI agent turned victim/witness advocate. Not even she can tell if the reluctant witness is a potential victim or something more troubling still. Her superiors are interested only because the latest victim may be the daughter of Peter Bondurant, an enigmatic billionaire. When Peter pulls strings, Special Agent John Quinn gets assigned to the case. But the FBI's ace profiler of serial killers is the last person Kate wants to work with, not with their troubled history. Now she faces the most difficult role of her career - and her life. For she's the only woman who has what it takes to stop the killer... and the one woman he wants next.

©1999 Diva Hoag, Inc; 2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Quotation from The Symbolism of Evil, Volume Seventeen of the Religious Perspective Series by Paul Ricoeur © 1967 by Paul Ricoeur, copyright renewed 1995. Reprinted with permission from HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Quotations from Mindhunter by John Douglas and John Olshaker © 1995 by Mindhunters, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster. Quotation from Serial Killers: The Growing Menace by Joel Norris reprinted with permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.

Damsel In Distress Romance Torture Novel. Ho-Hum

Never listened to Tami Hoag before, but kept getting recommendations from Audible. Soooo.... I figured that with David Colacci reading it might not be aimed entirely at a bodice buster market.

Nope, wrong. Square jawed FBI super-star but tragically-at-war-with-his-inner-angst-hunk John Quinn, and drop-dead-gorgeous-blonde FBI agent turned fiesty victim/witness-advocate Kate Conlan are THROWN together in Minneapolis to look too far-and-wide (when they should have looked near-and-dear) for the ghastly cretin, THE CREMATOR. And (startle, surprise) they seem to ignite old embers of a long ago love which - inexplicably to me - went cool in Washington.

Is there a surprise anywhere in all of this? Well yeah, Hoag's bad-guy is made so predictable to make room for multi-page make-up sex scenes that are a sort of squishy fem-porn.

Okay, this wasn't aimed at male readers. And judging by Hoag's sales, there are lots of ladies who get off on this stuff. So if you do, and like your love rough... Hey, enjoy. Me? Not so much.

Oh Colacci reads well, keeps the characters in their own spaces, but lapses from time to time into a Scott Brick impersonation. I don't think that's a recommendation, but lots of folks do... So, it's your call. Mine is to never listen or read another Hoag.

Riveting thriller

This book will keep you guessing all the way to the end! Believable characters and good narration. I highly recommend this for fans of mystery/thriller genre.

Ashes to Ashes

Any additional comments?

Ashes to Ashes is a police procedural, approximately nineteen hours of listening, and narrated by David Colacci. There are a ton of reviews on Amazon/Audible that convey plot, you don’t need to hear much from me. It’s typical of Tami Hoag, i.e., good story, well written. Good guys, bad guy, thrills, chills, and a nice twist.

Narration is fine, good audio production.

Enjoy!

great story, but enough with the breathy falsetto

Decent reading in other respects, but a woman's voice can be conveyed without using a register higher than than used by most women, or excessive breathiness. This effect fails most spectacularly when it is used to convey the shouting of an assertive woman.

A Good Mystery

Would you consider the audio edition of Ashes to Ashes to be better than the print version?

I don't know that audio would be better than print it depends on your preference. I like to listen to books my husband likes to hold a book in his hands.

What did you like best about this story?

It kept me guessing. I went back and forth as who the guilty person was. It wasn't a complete surprise though so for me it was a good mystery.

What about David Colacci’s performance did you like?

I think his performance was good. I could keep up with who the characters were.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No I didn't have any extreme reactions. I like the banter back and forth with the characters that always makes me laugh.

Any additional comments?

The comments about the book being too graphic is a little harsh. Yes the description of the burning bodies was a little hard to hear but without that then you would have a teen novel. If you can't handle that then you shouldn't listen to it but that is okay that is their preference. I enjoyed the book.

I didn't expect it! Great story and narrator.

I loved it. I didn't want to put it down. Great twist at the end.

Lots of creepy in this listen!

Good creepy story, love these characters and a surprise ending. This is one of those stories you like to listen to again after you find out who the killer is. I enjoyed it and grew more fond of this narrator as well.

Too Brutal, Grisly, Graphic for Me!

I enjoy a good crime novel, detective story, murder story as much as anyone. . . but the crimes in Hoag's "Ashes to Ashes" is so horribly graphic, brutal and depraved that it was disconcerting, nauseating and horrifying, so much so that I simply stopped reading midway. Too much of the horror, over and over again! Brutalized headless female corpses. . . partially cremated bodies, horrendous torture. . . if you like that sort of stuff, then I can tell you there is plenty just in the first half of this book. It's not my cup of tea.

A little graphic...but I enjoyed the book

I love this book however I did find it to be a bit graphic at times. With that being said it's still very well written and the performance I enjoyed.

Great Thriller

The Cremator is on the loose in Minneapolis. He's not just killing women; he's burning and mutilating them beyond recognition. The first two victims are hookers. But when a billionaire's daughter disappears, everyone from the mayor to the FBI director wants this guy caught. Now. The basic plot may seem pedestrian, yet Tami Hoag has fashioned a remarkable thriller. It's not easy to put a new shine on the serial killer theme. Worn are the cliches of dogged cops, bloodthirsty masterminds and cowardly politicos who just want things swept away. Hoag uses them all, but adds enough quirks to push beyond the routine. The strength of "Ashes to Ashes" is a careening plot. Hoag brilliantly dots the book with false leads and suspect characters. The killer's identity is never telegraphed. You'll spend the first 2/3 of the book suspicious of others. Hoag also proves quite skilled at character development. We follow a half-dozen lives through the hunt for the killer. These are people both smart and fallible, sturdy yet vulnerable - not the rugged superheroes found in most cop tales. Even ancillary characters are painted in vibrant colors. It's clear Hoag has done her research. This isn't to say the novel is without shortcomings. The prose won't raise your rent, and Hoag has a habit of dropping in such profound lines as, "Life doesn't come with any guarantees." She also has an exceedingly average command of dialogue. Many of the characters speak in a tongue close to the narrator's, and for a novel set in Minneapolis, not one speaks Minnesotan - not even the cops. Yet the craft with which Hoag develops the story more than compensates for any blemishes.

David Colacci was outstanding with the delivery of the story.

keeps you guessing

usually i read books but have enjoyed listening as eye sight not what it used to be. The story keeps you guessing, with twists that normally when reading i can work out the ending however have enjoyed although tend to fall asleep and have to rewind, where as if your read you stop and start where you left off. Had to listen to end so now 0200am as needed to know what happened, very good book.

Standard trashy crime.

Downloaded accidentally. Pretty standard really. And I want to know what the hell happened to the cat!

Too long

Story was ok but too many descriptions of characters feelings. Felt like waffle and would have been much better if it was edited.

Kept me on the edge of my seat right till the end.

A strong storyline with lots of twists and turns. Kept me guessing right till the end. Really enjoyed listening to this.

A book that you can get you mind in and lose yourself in

Good read keeps you thinking all the way through and also a decent length book all in great

Nope.

This is a book badly in need of an editor. The crime and its resolution would have made a cracking read, but the author is seemingly also trying to hit the epic romance readership as well. As a reader looking for a crime thriller, I found this off putting.

Ashes to ashes

I loved this book. Keep me interested all the way trough it. Very e tertaining

1st Audible

This is the first audible book I’ve listened to and I loved it can’t wait to listen to more in this series.