Down the Darkest Road

Oak Knoll, Book 3

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Tami Hoag returns with the latest entry in her riveting Oak Knoll series. 

Deeper than the Dead introduced Tami Hoag's millions of fans to Oak Knoll, a small California town that, in the mid-80s, seemed as idyllic as any... until the See-No-Evil killer shattered that notion. It took FBI agent Vince Leone and a new technique called "profiling" to put an end to the trauma. 

Secrets to the Grave brought Leone's teacher-turned-child- advocate wife, Anne, into a central role. Together with Vince and local sheriff 's deputy Tony Mendez, she solved an Oak Knoll murder with a particularly challenging mystery: The victim never existed. And now Hoag returns once more to Oak Knoll for the third installment of this best-selling series. 

Through Leone's pioneering, science-based investigatory skills, Hoag explores the early days of forensic police work. And through the chilling case at the heart of Down the Darkest Road, she hooks ever more readers and listeners into the meticulously crafted, all-too-terrifying world of Oak Knoll, where the scariest secrets of all can be found... Down the Darkest Road.

©2011 Tami Hoag (P)2011 Random House

Critic Reviews

“Eerie, suspenseful, tragic, and thought provoking.” (USA Today)

“A mesmerizing psychological drama on loss, guilt, frustration and implacable, explainable evil.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“The setting and [Hoag's] consummate skill as a plotter add to plenty of old-school thrills that pack a punch and will leave fans breathless.” (Booklist) 

Not Worth It

I was so disappointed by this book. I have loved the Oak Knoll series, but this one tanked. There was hardly any character development. It felt like 60% of the book was internal conversations the main character is having with herself- it got to the point that I was so sick of listening to her I fast-forwarded a lot of it. While I cannot imagine what it would be like to loose a child, I did not feel sympathy for the main character because of her obvious lack of care for her remaining daughter. It was frustrating that in the end, she never even grasped how poor her parenting had been. I was also super frustrated that you didn't get to see any of the old characters (Vince, Anne, Franny) very much if at all. There have been SO many unanswered questions in these books, and I was really hoping they would all come together finally, but they didn't. I honestly didn't really feel like this book connected very well to the others. There was no comic relief in this book, and the tone was much darker than the previous two. And lastly, the romantic interest of Tony was SO far beneath him it was disgusting. This whole time, you've been waiting for him to end up with someone he can love and protect who deserves him too. Hoag's choice for him was just pathetic.

Great finish to series

I have listened to all the Oak Knoll books and this last one did not disappoint. If anything, it made me quite disappointed that it was the last one as I had listened to all three in a row and felt a bit of a kinship with the main characters. My only complaint was that Vince and Anne weren't in this one nearly as much, so I missed them a bit. Very well narrated and another great mystery. If you like mysteries, this is a good one.

All the way around excellent listen!!

Where does Down the Darkest Road rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best listens of 2011 for me ~ excellent story, excellent narration ~ it's like watching the story happen it front of my eyes it was so vivid and clear.

What did you like best about this story?

The way the author leads you to believe that you've got it all figured out, you KNOW who dun it...and then you don't.

What does Kirsten Potter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She brought the characters ALIVE for me ~ it wasn't unnatural the way she did the mens voices, but she was consistent in every portrayal and varied them enough I never wondered who was supposed to be speaking. She was clear and concise, and spoke at a good narrative speed ~ she really made the book come alive for me. I had quit Tami Hoag, in all honesty, because she'd pretty much leaft the romance behind. Listening to her books opens a whole world up that I love ~ it's more like watching tv.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Criminal Mind fans, take note ~ THIS movie is one you don't want to miss!

Any additional comments?

Just that I really love that I'm once again enjoying Tami Hoag's books again so very, very much thanks to Audible. I'm becoming such an audio book junkie!

Ehhh...Disappointed

Would you be willing to try another one of Kirsten Potter’s performances?

Yes

Do you think Down the Darkest Road needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, I would like to hear more about these characters. I feel like this book was barley connected to the first two.

Any additional comments?

This is my least favorite book in the series, I do not feel that it follows the original characters enough.

Dark

Any additional comments?

This is the last book in the Oak Knoll trilogy. Frankly, I’d hope the entire series would climax with this story and encompass the characters developed in the previous books. Sadly it does not. If you’re looking for Anne, Vince, Frannie, etc., they are are peripheral characters. Following the abduction of her sixteen year old daughter, and the death of her husband, a subsequent obsession is all consuming for the main character. The alleged abductor has followed her to a new town, Oak Knoll. There is an extraordinary amount of desperation on her part. Albeit she has reason for this angst, it is overkill that is presented via internal dialogue that seems to go on forever. Again and again the main character expresses her frustration, the Oak Knoll cops express theirs, and it gets a little exasperating for the reader.

I wanted to like the main character, but couldn’t … too self absorbed. Surprising that there are any romantic feelings toward her, but a sleazy private investigator and the good-guy Oak Knoll police investigator, Tony Mendez, are somehow charmed by this crazy, selfish woman. At minimum, she should have more empathy with the surviving daughter, who is starving for any affection from her grief stricken mother. About eleven hours of listening, Down the Darkest Road has a good title in that this is a very dark story … little, if any, comic relief. If you’re a big fan of Tami Hoag, I’m sure you’ll like this story, but in my opinion, it doesn’t measure up to the first two stories. A credible performance by Kirsten Potter, the narrator.

Stupid, Stupid Woman!

What disappointed you about Down the Darkest Road?

What didn't?! I like Tami Hoag, or at least did. I like Kirsten Potter when she reads other authors' works. This work, though, didn't work on *so many* levels. Ms. Hoag gives us a main character who displays stupidity with every action. I had no sympathy or empathy for her at all and when things go all wrong, as you know they will, it's no one's fault but her own. The living child (15 years old, really??) is an immature, simpering brat. Sadly, there is way too little presence of Anne or Vince Leone, characters who were so good in the other Oak Knoll books. Ms. Potters' reading for most characters and the ACTION is over-enunciated and over-dramatic. Way too much verbal punctuation for my taste. And, finally, my pet peeve, when there are only two children, there is not an "oldest" or "youngest."

All Three Oak Knoll Get the Same Review

All three Oak Knoll stories are good get away from everyday life and loose oneself in a mystery thriller. Not the best mysteries, always about a horrid subject; but Hoag knows how to entertain.

Book One was very good, Book Two as good, and Book Three was not bad. By the third in one week though, I had enough. Good characters in Books One and Two. Less so in Book Three but the read does not disappoint.

Sadly not a Vince Leone story

What disappointed you about Down the Darkest Road?

No Vince Leone and two much of the main character thinking not action. No comic relief with a character like Frannie from the previous novels and no suspense.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Moneyball

Missed the mark

Any additional comments?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading the Oak Knoll series but I will say this one was not my favorite. I originally was excited for Tony Mendez. He was a real gentleman in Secrets to the Grave with Sara so I thought he would be rewarded in this one. The female detective was a little to vulgar – hard core for me and quiet honestly for Tony too, if you stayed attuned to his character throughout the series. The throw in at the end was contrived and unnecessary at that point- Tony deserved better. The storyline was flat in the sense that it really didn’t explain WHY she would put her daughter at risk by moving to confront her other daughter’s alleged “guilty as charged” abductor and would-be killer. I love the daughters’ character – strengthen as the story went on…to bad her mother couldn’t do the same. A middle of the road storyline for a great suspense writer.

POOR FINAL FOR SERIES

It took me several days to make myself finish this book. I kept expecting it to get better. The other 2 we're good so I expected the final book to be the best. it failed.