The Boy

A well-crafted story with multiple murder suspects. Everyone who is a suspect is known to the reader—no last minute introductions. There is a final twist, and I feel like there is a more plausible murder suspect than the one Tami Hoag chose. For a while, I kept wondering why so many children were being introduced when we only know of the one child being murdered. But it turns out, they are all a part of this intricate plot line and their backgrounds are all important and vividly described. Eventually, more than one child is murdered and two more go missing. You get to know several of the characters very well and form opinions about them as if you know them yourself. As far as the plot goes, you can kind of see some of it coming, but it’s worth reading to allow the author to unfold the full story and reveal the parts you haven’t guessed. I don’t personally need the protagonist to be able to relate to a victim in the story by having similar experiences because I don’t think it adds any value to the story. I don’t believe everyone is broken beyond repair or shares traumatic events with the people around them. That is the only part I could do without. I don’t need detectives Annie and Nick to have a small child they worry about constantly to be able to understand the trauma of having a child go missing or be brutally murdered. Being detectives who want to do their job should be motivation enough. I quit reading Tami Hoag many years ago because she tended to repeat the gory parts for pure shock value. I’m glad I finally picked up another one of her novels because this one didn’t do that and I was able to enjoy the read. I will definitely pick up another one of her titles soon