Cold Cold Heart

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag delivers a shocking stand-alone thriller

Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until she was kidnapped by a notorious serial killer. A year has passed since she defeated her attacker, but Dana is still physically, emotionally, and psychologically scarred by her ordeal, with aftereffects including PTSD and memory loss. In an attempt to put herself back together after surviving the unthinkable, Dana returns to her hometown. But it doesn't provide the comfort she expects: She struggles to recognize family and childhood friends and begins experiencing dark flashbacks - but she's not sure if they're truly memories or side effects of her brain injury.

Dana decides to use her investigative skills to piece together her past and learns of the event that made her become a reporter in the first place: the disappearance of her best friend Casey Grant, the summer after high school graduation. Looking at her past and the unsolved mystery through the dark filter of PTSD, old friends seem to be suspects, authority figures part of a cover-up. Dana begins to question everything she knows. What is real? What is imagined? Are we defined by what happens to us? And is the truth really something too terrible to be believed?

©2014 Indelible Ink, Inc. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1 grabs you and sucks you in

I wasn't sure what to expect, I've never listened to this authors material before. I was amazed by the depth of the characters, what the main character goes through, and eventually how it ended.
Throughout the story you'll say to yourself 'yeah, he could be the killer.' Then later, 'oh, he could be the killer. Before you know it, you've pegged 3-5 different guys as the killer. No one is safe.
Please listen to the end of the story for the authors notes. This is as important as the story.
I, for one, really enjoyed this book.

First Tami Hoag book I've had

I was pleasantly surprised to find such a great storyline that suggests multiple suspicious characters right up to the point you learn who the bad person is. I will be a fan and look forward to the next book.

Riveting Story Well Narrated

This is a great thriller with a major crime at the beginning of the novel which leads the lead character to revisit a crime in her youth. The first third of the book covers the lead character's recovery from a brutal attack from a serial killer. As a result dana suffers a traumatic brain injury and returns to her home time. As she slowly recovers, more and more of the past is remembered, As a result, she is able to slowly put pieces of the crime together.To describe it anymore it would give the plot away.

The narration is fairly good, withe the narrator struggling a little with the male voices. Never having read any of the author's books this was good enough to put some of her other books on my wish list. It reminded me of two other books I have listened to recently , Gone Girl and Girl on the Train. Most of the characters are fairly "normal" except for the criminals in the book so you can identify with them. Set in the rural midwest this is a classic American murder whodunit mystery

This Could be Tami Hoag's Best Yet

Against the backdrop of a riveting story, the author takes us inside the troubled mind of a victim of traumatic brain disorder. Her struggle with the everyday aspects of life teaches us much about the struggles of our fellow human beings whose "normal" exteriors mask the devastation of a broken mind. I heartily recommend Cold Cold Heart with the caveat that the female narrator's "man voice" is terrible...in fact it's weird... and all male characters voices are the same. Don't let this get in the way of a great story...

Rich Characters

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Cold, Cold Heart gives us a complex and interesting mystery, but it was the richness of the two main characters that made this book something special. Hoag has a special understanding and compassion for victims of traumatic brain injury, and it's fascinating to experience this book through her damaged, angry and heroic characters.

Good Book

Love all of Tami Hoag's books. Her writing is smartly written. It is funny and engrossing. I usually can't put it down.and this one was no different. But, it wasn't the usual characters.

Cold cold heart

It was a time filler but not very thrilling at all. An old lifetime movie or a soap opera i came into in the middle of. Never gained attachment or feelings for any of characters, it was like part two in a series when I didn't read part 1.
The reader wasn't terrible but there were two voices hers for any females (all the same) and a gravely, chin on chest (deep?) old man voice for ALL males, no matter the age or disposition. You really have to pay attention if you care enough to want to know which character is speaking.

Unbelievable, Predictable

The author is a competent writer and I have enjoyed many of her thrillers. In this novel, the plot surrounding the missing high school friend was predictable early within the story. I thought the ending was not only predictable but implausible. It was difficult for me to believe the protagonist could just be so unlucky! (I can't provide detailed examples without spoiling the plot.) Still, the story was engrossing. The narrator stumbled a little with creating different male voices but otherwise performed well.

If you like the Kovac and Liska series,

as I do, then you should know that this is really a sequel to "The 9th Girl." Apart from that series I had never read anything by this author, so I wasn't sure about this one, but it was on sale so I bought it. It picks up where "The 9th Girl" ended. Kovac and Liska are only in the beginning because the reporter moves back to her home town and this is her recovery story. At the same time, she is trying to solve a mystery from her teenage years. It's a good story with plenty of potential bad guys to speculate about as her memories gradually return.

Couldn't Finish

What would have made Cold Cold Heart better?

It was so predictable. But more importantly, the long droning whine of the protagonist was too much. The dripping sappiness of her cloying, suffocating mother is too much. Her bitchy aunt Frankie is to much. All of the characters are almost caricatures of who they'd be as real people. Almost like an opera. And quite frankly, the stupidity of the protagonist is what put her in the killer's path in the first place. She may as well have just walked into his house and said "I want to be a victim." She did EVERYTHING she could to be a victim.

The whole story was unoriginal and predictable. The bad guys are easily set up as the bad guys, and the 'red herring' is quickly spotted in the beginning, and just grows bigger as a red herring over time. I know who the killer of both Casey Grant and her father is, and I don't have to finish it to know. That's what makes this book irritating. I don't even know how it ended b/c I couldn't finish it, but I 'know' I'm right. If I'm wrong, I just don't care enough to listen to the rest to find out.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not a Tami Hoag story. I slipped The 9th Girl because the reviews were so awful. She's lost her storytelling capabilities. Alibi Man, Dark Horse, and the Secrets to the Grave series were all well written. What happened!!

How could the performance have been better?

A male reader would have been much better. Men do better at portraying women than women do at portraying men, so all of the male voices in this story were too effeminate and incredibly annoying.

What character would you cut from Cold Cold Heart?

Her mother and Frankie. Both were irritating

Any additional comments?

Tami Hoag, you need to step up your game because you've lost your touch. And that's a shame, you're one of my favorite authors

Very enjoyable.

Great narrator. Good plot. If you are into Tami Hoag I am sure you won't be disappointed with this one.

Excellent Author & Narrator.

First novel I have listened to by this author - discovered because I enjoyed the narration of other books read by Julia Whelan that I looked to see what else she had read.
Will most definitely be listening to other novels by Tami Hoag - the plot of this book is very different to that of other books of this genre.

Fantastic

Another fantastic story by my favourite author. Her descriptions are so graphic it makes you feel that if you were ever to meet such people you would run a mile.
It also makes your thoughts so vivid
Michelle Philipson

Thought it was a Kovac and Liska story!

Not a bad book but not what I was expecting. Few likeable characters. It was obvious from early on what was happening but it filled a lazy day. Narrator carried it well.

Great - but it's not a 'Kovak and Liska' story

What other book might you compare Cold Cold Heart to, and why?

It's a good solid Tami Hoag book, that sets up in-depth characters that you stay with throughout the book.

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Enjoyed the narration, was absorbed by the story, and not distracted by the narrator 'reading aloud'.

Any additional comments?

Not quite sure why it's necessary to lure people into this book by telling them it's part of the 'Kovak and Liska' series - they featured for all of 5 minutes, right at the start of the story, and were never heard from again thereafter. Isn't the book sturdy enough in it's own right without having to stretch out to loyalties to previous books?

Same crime thriller minus the lovable characters

Great story from the main character's perspective, other than that the absence of the charming and witty banter from the usual detectives is apparent.

Very boring

Very boring book, nothing happens until the end. Put me to sleep a few time whilst listening though.

Enjoyable

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No but I would listen to her again. Nice tone and neutral accent. The male characters all sound the same and her effort is not the best but is bearable and does not detract from the story. Very well read.

Any additional comments?

This was a good story. The pace was good. Trundled along very well. The writing is clear and uncluttered.. Yes, I feel it was worth the credit.