Deeper than the Dead

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Tami Hoag is in a class by herself, beloved by audiences and critics alike, with more than 22 million copies of her books in print. With Hoag's first novel for Dutton, she proves anew why the Chicago Tribune called her "one of the most intense suspense writers around."

California, 1984. Three children, running in the woods behind their school, stumble upon a partially buried female body, eyes and mouth glued shut. Close behind the children is their teacher, Anne Navarre, shocked by this discovery and heartbroken as she witnesses the end of their innocence. What she doesn't yet realize is that this will mark the end of innocence for an entire community, as the ties that bind families and friends are tested by secrets uncovered in the wake of a serial killer's escalating activity.

Detective Tony Mendez, fresh from a law enforcement course at FBI headquarters, is charged with interpreting those now revealed secrets. He's using a new technique-profiling-to develop a theory of the case, a strategy that pushes him ever deeper into the lives of the three children, and closer to the young teacher whose interest in recent events becomes as intense as his own.

As new victims are found and the media scrutiny of the investigation bears down on them, both Mendez and Navarre are unsure if those who suffer most are the victims themselves-or the family and friends of the killer, blissfully unaware that someone very close to them is a brutal, calculating psychopath.

©2009 Tami Hoag (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

“[A] nail-biting thriller…Once again, bestselling Hoag plots craftily and creates characters readers root for.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

“Hoag's first-rate exploration of her characters imbues Deeper than the Dead with compelling plot twists.” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

“There's a truly terrifying serial killer at the heart of Hoag's...page-turner...the chilling premise and exciting twists make Hoag's latest a thriller in every sense of the word.” (Booklist)

“Bestseller Hoag (Kill the Messenger) ventures into serial killer territory with results sure to please her many fans.” (Publishers Weekly)

Couldn’t stop listening!

Better than any true crime podcast. The narrator did a great job with all the voices.

Great book!

I really did enjoy this book. Couldn't wait to keep listening. I do think the character Anne N. was a little stiff and a little too perfect. But, ignoring that, I did enjoy the story.

Excellent Read

Excellent read! If you liked Night Sins and Guilty as Sin this is a book for you to read. There really needs to be a sequel and I can't wait for it to come out

Good narrative but lacked surprise.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I've been fascinated by psychological profiling since I was a teenager and John Douglas published his book Mind Hunter. From that angle it was an interesting story about the beginnings of a serial killer and the way that profiling can help see past the facade of a person or situation. Admittedly, profiling takes a back seat to the character-driven plot in this story. It's an interesting retrospective on the difficulty of solving violent crimes without key technology like DNA analysis since it takes place in the '80s. At first the main characters of the story left me wondering what they really had to do with anything. Hoag does tie everything in nicely at the end concerning the seemingly disparate characters, but I found myself disappointed in the ending. I was hoping that there would be a plot twist at some point that would throw me off guard somehow; that profiling would lead to a person I wouldn't have suspected. I was wrong. An attempt at a twist was present, but it was not convincing enough to throw me. I'm sure everyone won't feel this way. I've read and seen a lot of stories about crime, murder mysteries and serial killers so you'd really have to pull out all the stops to surprise me. Overall, it was a good story, I was just hoping for something unexpected.

What about Kirsten Potter’s performance did you like?

I thought Kirsten Potter did a very good job of narrating. Her voice is pleasant and she has a smooth delivery. I would listen to other books by her which is a very positive endorsement. There are some books I won't listen to because of the reader; she is definitely not one of them!

Absorbing mystery. But unfinished ending.

Scary suspense. Well done story telling. Good character development. I liked interactions and conversations. The last hour was edge of your seat. There is an enjoyable romance, but it’s a minor part of the story. Anne’s friend Franny was very entertaining.

CAUTION FOR SENSITIVE READERS:
Violence and torture. The serial killer glues the eyes and mouth shut, destroys the ear drums, and tortures with a knife. There was not a lot of detail, but those ideas stayed with me more than I wanted. One expert said “The strength of your villain is the strength of your story.” Well this villain was very bad. It’s good to have bad villains. I don’t want to fault the author over this, but this one depressed me more than others.

Several children suffered, but I hurt the most for two of them - permanent damage by their parents. A significant part of the story was showing troubled marriages with different problems. One was a physically abusive father. Another was a narcissistic mother. I shudder at things done by both of them.

PROBLEMS:
I was happy toward the end with what happened to the killer. But I was angry with the author in the last few pages. She introduced a second bad person holding evidence from the victims and did not explain it. I had no idea how this person was connected to the crimes. It was an open ending. The book was not finished. I don’t know why authors do this. It makes me frustrated and angry. According to other reviewers these questions were not answered in the sequel.

A couple things were missing that I wanted to know. How did the killer get glue in the eyes without the victim seeing him before he did it? Where did he keep the victims?

THE NARRATOR:
The narrator was good except for her voice for Vince who was a former Chicago cop. The narrator used an east coast accent for him, part Boston, part Brooklyn. It was nothing like Chicago. One example of a Chicago accent is Dennis Farina, a Chicago cop turned actor.

Genre: mystery suspense

Pretty good

I enjoyed the overall story and narration. I was pretty sure who done it , early on. After reading I don’t think the point of the novel is to have us guessing who done it but instead take us for a ride with the detectives as they try to work out who done it. And the obstacles they encounter to prove their theories.

The novel was decently executed, there were a few phrases that seemed to be repeated a bit more often than I would have liked, but that’s me nit picking.

Even though I figured it out...

I figured out the mystery way in the beginning of story. There was a chapter where the killer was talking & something just clicked & I knew who it was.. there are red herrings all throughout the book that made me suspect maybe I was wrong.. but I kept thinking I wasn't. Either way, even though I figured it out, the book was still excellent.

Great Tami Hoag story!

It's been awhile since I've listen to one of her books and certainly was not disappointed. Enjoyed Kristen Potter's narration as well. Story-line is good and I kind of figured out who the killer but wasn't sure completely - however it still is a great listen. Enjoyed the characters and their development - although I wanted more on the killer and his back story - which would have come at the end - see below.

My only critique - and this is just a personal one, at the very end, i wanted a epilogue. There were several characters i wanted to find out what happened to them - some were addressed very quickly and short and some none at all (young dennis and the killer's backstory) - just .my personal preference.

I listened to this up and back on a long driving trip - kept my attention the whole way - i think you will enjoy!

Excellent plot,excellent narration. Recommend highly for mystery buffs. Hong does it again!

Great plot, great narration. I wish this was a series to continue into the next story of the characters

Great author

What was one of the most memorable moments of Deeper Than the Dead?

The entire book - I was on the edge of my seat and kept changing my mind as to who was guilty.