Cold Cold Heart

The book kept you on your toes the entire time.

I found Cold Cold Heart to be fascinating, not so much for the mystery, but for the contrast between two victims of traumatic brain injury trying to fight their way back to normalcy.Dana Nolan was just starting her career as a newscaster when she was kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer. After killing her kidnapper, Dana returns to her parents' home in Indiana to try to rebuild her life. Not only does she bear the physical scars from her attacker on her face and body, but she suffered traumatic brain injury. Not only does she not remember anything about her kidnapping, her memory of her life before her kidnapping is shaky, her short term memory is affected and her personality has changed.While Dana is dealing with the repercussions of her brain injury, she is also renewing acquaintance with her former high school boyfriend, Tim, and her friend's former boyfriend, John. Tim left a promising career at West Point and came back to his hometown to become a police officer, inspired, he tells Dana, by the disappearance of Casey, who was Dana's best friend. John, a military veteran, who also has a traumatic brain injury, was the chief suspect in Casey's disappearance. Dana becomes interested in the unsolved mystery about Casey, especially when some suggest that the same serial killer who kidnapped Dana my have been responsible for Casey's disappearance.While Dana is surrounded by a supportive family who have the financial resources to provide treatment for her and who try to help her overcome the challenges of her brain injury, John, whose mother abandoned him and his father when he was a young boy, has no support system. His father is abusive; he is unable to find or keep a job, and he cannot afford treatment.I can't say that I was surprised by the identity of the killer, but, as I said, that was not what kept me reading this book. Hoag does a good job of describing the world of the TBI and PTSD survivors. I'd love to revisit these characters in about a year and see how they have continued to grow.

Cringiest line ever, and used far too often. Comic book bad guy with that. Which I get, but still. Honestly it’s what stopped me from giving 5 stars.

Loved it from beginning to end. Kept me reading till I feel asleep with my kindle in hand! Great characters!

I have read many of Ms. Hoag's novels and have never been disappointed. "Cold Cold Heart" continues on as another wonderful book.The central character Dana Nolan suffers the unexplained loss of her best friend who goes missing seven years earlier. As the story unfolds Dana, has been abducted by a serial killer who has terrorized her and marked her, literally and psychologically, as his masterpiece #9.Dana was not going to be his victim and is rescued after killing him. But 'After Dana' is not the same person as 'Before Dana,' her designation for herself prior to and following her abduction. She has brain trauma as well as physical disfigurement. Ultimately she must return to her childhood home, which brings her face-to-face with the unsolved mystery of her friend's disappearance.During the course of the story, Dana comes back in contact with people from her past. As she tries to rebuild her memories of before the abduction, she begins questioning her friend's disappearance and events immediately prior to the disappearance. What ensues is a gripping ride as leads the reader from one suspect to another. Well worth the time spent reading; you will not be bored.

I have been a Tami Hoag fan for years and purchased "Cold Cold Heart" the first day it was released and available via Kindle.Anticipating a suspense filled story - with interesting characters, I quickly dove into the book. Once I begin a book, I stick with it. Sometimes it gets better as it goes along and sometimes it does not. Unfortunately, this effort by Tami Hoag seemed phoned in. The plot was strong enough to create an interesting, mysterious, and suspense filled read. Instead, the only mystery for me is; what happened to the storyline about the death of Dana' s father? Retired Detective Hardy seemed to have abruptly disappeared after "mentoring" Dana, in his own creepy way, in the art of obsessive cold case detective work. These are just two of the many loose ends filtering throughout the book.I have the feeling that this book is the launch of a new series. Or, add on characters to the Kovac & Liska series? Either way, the story was poorly executed. I had a better one going on in my head, as I was reading the one I actually purchased.In short, do not have high expectations for this book. TBI ( Traumatic Brain Injury)And PTSD (Post Traumatic stress Disorder), both of which I have personal knowledge and experience, are discordant with the rest of the novel. I do not wish to give away too much of the story, in case you decide to read the book. However, I am bothered that once Dana returns home, there is only one therapy session mentioned. (Another loose end) Both the disorders of PTSD and TBI are somewhat trivialized in the story. Then, in the Author's Note at the end of the book, we find out that Tami Hoag was misdiagnosed as a child and has lived with TBI herself. As both disorders are complicated and difficult to explain, even in a medical journal, I do give Ms. Hoag credit for attempting to weave them both into the fabric of a 350 page novel. It is unfortunate that the finished product is a large disappointment.

Enjoyable read

This was to be honest a tedious read. My preferred rating would be 2.5 stars. Too much violence, too much anger, too much internal dialogue. Having read the acknowledgements at the end of the book I understand to motive for her writing this book however I suspect Ms Hoag had way to much emotion involved and not enough clever plotting. The guilty person was blindingly obvious with in the first page of the characters arrival. Ms Hoag tossed in some red herrings but that's all they ever were.I have followed the author from the day in 88 when I wondered just what the trouble was with JJ. I have enjoyed every book since and always preorder when Amazon advise me of a new novel. I have to wonder if the author has become so obsessed with serial killers and violence that she has forgotten that difficult reads must be infused with charm and occasional glimmers of light and hope. Last but not least I simply can't understand why when "after Dana" trusts no one that she is breathtaking naive about the killer. Dear reader feel free to buy the book and it will fill in a lazy day reading however you will be disappointed. There will be a reluctance to preorder the next book. It will be a wait and read the reviews.

This is in my opinion, Tami's best book. There was no Hollywood ending where the victim suddenly becomes beautiful again and finds her prince. The aftermath of a tortured victim is incredibly well described with little softening of the results. I could not put it down. Well researched on PTSD.

Was able to keep my interest and sort of a twist at the end

Enjoyed the story.