I really enjoyed reading this book. It has a great plot, excellent main characters and I read it in one sitting! I would highly recommend this book.

I have read other books by this author but I think this is the best one
This author writes solid books and is very good at ramping up the suspense.
This book kept me guessing until the very end

An atmospheric and disturbing book , The Boy by Tammi Hoag follows mercurial Cajun detective Nick Fourcade and his partner (and wife) Allie Broussard as the investigate the shocking murder of a seven year old boy in his own bedroom. While the whole town is shocked by the event, and mystified as to who could do such a horrific thing, it soon becomes apparent that the dead boy may not be the only child in danger. Despite clashes with his boss Fourcade is determined to find the killer by any means necessary , but can he and Annie do it before another tragedy strikes the small town?
I loved the setting of this book, I felt like the author did a wonderful job of bringing to life the almost claustrophobic feel of small town life,, where everyone knows every one and a stranger is immediately suspicious. I also enjoyed the characters overall though I did find Nick a little too intransigent at times, which made it harder to believe the relationship between him and Annie, though I confess that I have not read the first book, and this may be something that is more fully explained there. This book with its dark themes and sometimes graphic depictions of violence and its aftermath is not for the squeamish or faint of heart, but if that does not put you off then you will probably enjoy the book.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own

OMG WHAT A BOOK. Hooked from the first page, had my list of suspects and I was in reading heaven. A single mother runs from her home in the middle of the night injured and covered in blood shouting I HAVE KILLED MY BABY. Nothing is what it seems in this book. Detective Nick Fourcade is a no frills you get what you see man. He does not suffer fools and you never invade his personal space. He will fight tooth and nail for victims of crime and also Detective Annie Broussard who also happens to be his wife. I loved everything about this book.The main characters are believable and well fleshed out. The dynamics between Nick and his boss was electric. The descriptions of the bayou were breathtaking. The plot was original and clever. I read this book in one sitting, finally turning the last page at 2.am I HAD TO KNOW. When the truth was finally revealed I was shocked. A MUST READ and an easy five stars and so Highly Recommended.
I would like to thank the author, Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

A good fast paced and suspenseful thriller. Characters were well written and rounded and was easy to emphasise with them. Thoroughly enjoyed this xx

Really good one I enjoyed. Good pacing, good writing and characters. I will definitely read from the author more.

Thanks a lot Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this novel. Excellent storyline build up and fascinating characters bring this story to life. I will definitely reading more books by this talented author.

It has been years since I have read a Tami Hoag book with Nick and Annie as the lead characters, I had almost forgotten about them.

Genevieve Gauthier flees from her home in the middle of the night, something absolutely awful has happened and she needs to get help.

Married detectives Nick and Annie are called from their beds, Nick to the crime scene and Annie to the hospital. When Nick gets to the house he finds the body of her 7 year old son KJ Gauthier, stabbed multiple times. We also get the signs of conflict between Nick and seemingly everyone else in the state. There is a new sheriff in town Dutrow, who has changed some things including a CSI unit, ran by Kemp, who worked with Dutrow before.

The crime is investigated and there are many and varied suspects, including a landlord, who is found to have been spying on the single mum, a neighbour who has been in and out of trouble with drugs and the police, not to mention the slimy boss, Avery. This is just a small snapshot of people in the story, they all have their parts to play and not one role is superfluous .

Running alongside this is the horrific sexual assault of a young autistic girl, Vanessa Theriot, Nick is haunted by the fact he hasn't managed to find the person who carried out the attack.

When the babysitter who was supposed to be watching KJ also disappears, and another young body is found, we watch the whole story implode.

Not an easy story to read perhaps, but great characters and a really (sadly) believable storyline.

Ms Hoag, please don't leave it so long next time for Nick and Annie.

Highly recommended, with one reservation, can Nick really be that angry with everyone all time??

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the chance to read the book in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a long while since I have read a Tami Hoag thriller, and this one is as good as the ones I remember. Set in Louisiana's swampy bayou country, the volatile Detective Sergeant Nick Fourcade is a man with a temper he can barely control, married to Detective Annie Broussard, a woman who has never come to terms with her traumatic family history, both based at the Partout Parish Sheriff's Office. They get a call in the middle of the night that no law enforcement officer wants, a young 7 year old boy, KJ, has been stabbed multiple times at home, the dead boy's mother, 24 year old Genevieve Gauthier, has been seriously attacked too, and in a bloody state ran to seek help from neighbours. The stage is set for a complex and twisted case, made harder to bear as Nick and Annie have a 5 year old son, Justin, and could not imagine how they could ever cope if anything happened to him.

The distraught Genevieve describes the killer as a demon, but her troubled past and sexual history, have the detectives viewing her both as a victim and potential suspect, whilst appreciating how her impoverished background and the challenges of being a single mother on her own placed considerable pressures on her. There are portrayals of families and children growing up in chaotic, neglected, and abused households, such as the babysitter, 13 year old Nora Florette and the shunned, confused and bullied Cameron, a recent newcomer to the area with his mother, Sharon Spicer. As children go missing and die, the pressure on the detectives grow with an intense media scrutiny that doesn't help. The new boss at the Sheriff's office projects a carefully constructed tough guy image through traditional and social media, making him popular in the community. Kelvin Dutrow is a hands on, controlling man, markedly different from the old boss, Gus, and he struggles to handle Nick with his fiery temperament and determination to do things his way. Nick cares only to solve the case, and has no fears of the fact that he might be fired.

This is a intense and well plotted atmospheric novel, dark and disturbing, portraying the complex nature of abuse and how victims will go to considerable lengths to deny their predicament and protect the abuser. The interior lives of the children, such as Cameron, make for an unsettling and heartbreaking reading experience. The characters of Nick and Annie are well constructed and developed, especially that of Annie, who finds the strains of the case particularly difficult with its echoes of her own personal history. This is a brilliant and gripping read, with a richly described location that serves as a character in its own right. Recommended to those who love well written crime thrillers. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.

* spoiler alert ** I haven't read Hoag in years,and now I feel maybe i missed out.
Two excellent central characters that truly do seem to care,but one especially giving plenty of attitude.
I felt the book revealed itself in layers,many of the characters not being quite who they first seemed,and there were moments of genuine surprise at where the story went.... yet all very believable.

A tangled web indeed.

I really enjoyed the first book in the Broussard and Fourcade series, 'A Thin Dark Line', which I read a few years back. This book did not have the drive and the relationship pull of the first novel. However, it was a solid read by Hoag and I enjoyed being back in Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, with faces of old and some new additions. The case, the brutal murder of a young boy, is a challenging read at times - books where children are murdered always are. I love the passion to solve the crime and bring the guilty to justice from our principal detectives.
Nick Fourcade is a wildcard of an officer; he is not afraid to challenge and intimidate to get what he wants, but his heart is strong, and he fights for justice - always a great a character to read. He is backed up by Annie Broussard, his now wife and mother of their young boy. This adds great dimension and depth to the characters and their battle to investigate this crime. The plot is twisty and sneakily plotted enough to be satisfying.
It's at heart a dark read and subject matter, so it will not be for everyone, but I think it is written well and never pushes into the gratuitous. I didn't find it had the intensity of a read as the first book in the series, but I certainly enjoyed seeing the characters again and their developing lives. A recommended read.

Many thanks for the advanced review copy - much appreciated.

Firstly thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for this early read of The Boy.
This is the first book that I have read by this author, I didn’t realise this was the second of the series but it was so easy to catch up with who everyone is. This works well as a stand-alone book.
The Boy is a novel that is full of twists and turns and a great whodunnit book. I loved how we got to know the characters and the relationship they have with each other (your detective skills start early).
This is a fantastic, gripping, dark book that will keep you hooked till the very last page.
Thank you for the advanced copy once again.

The Boy was dark, creepy and full of atmosphere. It kept me puzzled throughout and had plenty of twists and turns.
Although it’s the second book in this series it also works well as a standalone (I haven’t read the first book).

'A panic-stricken woman runs in the dead of night, battered and bloodied, desperate to find help….
When detective Nick Fourcade enters the home of Genevieve Gauthier outside the sleepy town of Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, the bloody crime scene that awaits him is both the most brutal and the most confusing he's ever seen. Genevieve's seven-year-old son, KJ, has been murdered by an alleged intruder, yet Genevieve is alive and well, a witness inexplicably left behind to tell the tale. There is no evidence of forced entry, not a clue that points to a motive’

I loved book 1 in this series so long ago. I picked this up as soon as I could and I loved it. There are serious twists and turns and the author is so clever leading the reader in one way and then presenting them with other facts that totally change direction.
Early on Nick Fourcade has a run in with Keith Kemp a CSI officer. It then turns out that Kemp has a chequered past.
Kelvin Dutrow the new Sheriff has come from a previous town into Bayou Breaux Dutrow lives with his fiancé Sharon Spencer and her troubled son Cameron.
There is an unsolved case of the Theriot girl that continually is brought up to Nick. The Florette family includes Nora a 12 year old who used to babysit for murdered KJ. She is embroiled with her bully boy brother Dean who is a bully of Cameron.
Cameron does become a character of interest and the author shows great attention to detail showing life in the Bayou along with its characters. The ending was strong. I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend.

As you'd expect from this author, this is a well written, suspenseful read, it's just it was missing something for me.

It's a good tale about a murdered child, a badly injured mother, a missing boy and a police officer, obsessed with sourcing the killer, whilst having to deal with an irritating, politician of a boss.

My issue with the book is, I just didn't like any of the characters sufficiently to care. Because of this, I found it difficult to persevere.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for a review copy of The Boy, the second novel to feature Louisiana detectives Nick Fourcade and Annie Broussard.

When Genevieve Gauthier is attacked and her seven year old son, KJ, stabbed to death the small town of Bayou Breaux is outraged and afraid so the pressure is on Fourcade and Broussard to solve the case urgently. The situation gets worse when twelve year old Nora Florette disappears.

I enjoyed The Boy which is a good procedural with several twists and an unexpected solution. It is told from various points of view, giving the reader a wider range of reactions. Often I find this approach distracting as all the switching doesn’t allow the reader to settle in. In this case it works well as there are several compulsive threads so each switch pushes the narrative forward and whets the appetite for more. I would say that the novel builds gradually to a whirlwind of action and activity at the end but that’s not quite true as it’s only the case that builds gradually through various discarded theories, the plot itself is peppered with events so there’s never a dull moment.

Annie Broussard is a strong character but she pales beside her husband, the mercurial Nick Fourcade, who looms over the novel like an unexploded bomb. He’s way too much work to be likeable with his simmering rage and obsessive need to solve his cases but it’s great reading. His feud with his new boss, Chief Dutrow, is a joy to read and fills any lull in the investigation, even threatening to take it over at times.

The Boy is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.