The past always catches up

The Bitter Season (Kovac / Liska) - Tami Hoag

There was a time when I would grab every book written by Tami Hoag as soon as it was released (once she started writing thrillers instead of romance novels). While her suspense books always contained quite graphic violence, I found her storylines to be riveting. But at some point, it began to seem that the violence was taking over with less and less compelling stories so I started skipping some of her books.  This one sounded interesting and I’m very glad that I gave her work another try.

 

There are two cases being investigated in this book. The first is the savage present day murder of a professor and his wife by a Japanese samurai sword being handled by Det. Sam Kovac.  The second is a cold case involving the murder of a decorated sex crimes detective that Det. Nikki Liska has reluctantly been assigned as she has little hope of solving it.   I found both cases to be fascinating and I flew through the book.  The mysteries were suspenseful and well plotted.   Be prepared for some very grisly scenes.

 

As mentioned, Kovac and Liska aren’t working together on the same case in this book. Kovac has a new partner who he’s training and who is making him feel his age.  Liska takes on cold cases in the hopes of spending more time with her teenage boys.  The author does an excellent job of developing these two characters and their friendship.

 

There’s also Evi Burke, a very likeable woman who has found happiness after a very hard youth. But her perfect life is soon to be threatened by secrets of her past.  There was no way I couldn’t care for this character and literally sat on the edge of my seat as evil headed her way.

 

This book was given to me by the publisher through First to Read in return for an honest review.