Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag

Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag

Ashes to Ashes, by Tami Hoag, was published in 1999 by Bantam Books.  Ms. Hoag has written over thirty books.  She has taken her readers on different paths by writing several different series, including Kovac and Liska.  This series is comprised of five, nail biting thrillers.  Ashes to Ashes is the first of this series.

When the Cremator kills, he chops off the victim’s head.  Then, he makes a fire, and throws her on it.  Then, staring with delight at his prize, he says, “Ashes to ashes.”  At first, he seemed to strike only prostitutes, but when he kills Jillian Bondurant, the daughter of a very important, very rich business man, Peter Bondurant, the police work around the clock to find this madman.  There are two main characters, Kate Conlan, and John Quill.  They both are strong characters and very much alike, so, in the past, when these two worked together, it did not go well.  

This book had me from the first page to the last.  When we first meet Kate, we find out just how tough she can get, when she stops a mugging.  And that is just the first page.  From there on in, Ms. Hoag takes you further and further away from the safety of your home and into the depths of depravity.   I give Ashes to Ashes and its’ star performers 5 stars.  I would certainly suggest it to those who love a good mystery/thriller.