Deeper Than the Dead

by Tami Hoag

Book Overview

A serial killer terrorizes a small California town in this gripping thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag. California, 1985--Four children and young teacher Anne Navarre make a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 052595130X
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: Dutton
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Impossible To Put Down!

This is an amazing book. It was impossible for me to put it down as ai continuously wanted to know what would happen next. Lots of plot twists involved!

Wrong Book

I ordered "Deeper than the dead". It came with the cover on it. But when I started reading it yesterday, the book is "Down the darkest road". I have read this book & didn't get the book I ordered.

Tami does it again

Enjoy reading her mysteries/thrillers before all of the technology

Another winner.

For all mystery readers, this one will hold you to the last page. Can't go wrong with a Tami Hoag thriller.

Uniquely Chilling Mystery!

I have read nearly all of Tami Hoag's mysteries and her talent really shines in this one! It is a thoroughly unique story for her as it is set in 1985, before the use of many of today's modern forensic techniques. I love the setting and its incorporation of four 5th graders as major characters, because I myself was a 5th grader in 1985. The children think and behave much as I did way back then and their characterizations rang really true to me. Beyond that, what I enjoy most about this book is the character of Vince Leone, who is at the forefront of profiling in criminal investigations. I have read and enjoyed all of John Douglas's nonfiction works on his years as an FBI profiler, and I was extremely pleased to see Mr. Douglas as a character in this book, along with a few of the other legends who made profiling what it is today. Ms. Hoag has masterfully converged fiction and nonfiction in this story. As usual for Ms. Hoag the mystery is gripping, the suspense is chilling, the killer is terrifying, and I couldn't wait to find out who he was! Mystery fans will love this book and longtime fans of Ms. Hoag will be especially thrilled with this!

What a ride!

As a fan of Tami Hoag, I couldn't wait to start "Deeper than Dead"! Boy, was I not disappointed! It does start a little slow - I started it yesterday and was able to put it down to go to sleep last night. But today, all my stuff I needed to get done fell by the wayside as I could not wait to finish this book and find out "who dun it!" Ms. Hoag did keep me guessing - a couple of times I thought I'd figured out the killer but then she would put another twist into the book. Now I need one of my friends to read this book so I can discuss it with them! Not rocket science or a Pulitzer Prize book - just a good murder mystery!

Scary, intense with plenty of twists and turns!

This story takes place in 1985 and the first chapter opens with a child's type of writing about his dad with things like "My hero is my dad. He is a great person..." and below each writing are the thoughts of the killer as he thinks of the woman he is murdering as "perfect" because she is blind and mute and beautiful. A very chilling beginning especially as after the killer drops the body, he remembers he has to pick his kid up after school! About five days later, one mean boy, Dennis Farman, who is a year older than the other kids who are ten is trying to get the other kid, Tommy Crane, in trouble with taunts. Wendy Morgan who is Tommy's friend, tells him to speak up for himself. A fourth child, Cody Roache, who is a follower of Dennis manages to get himself in trouble with the teacher, Anne Navarre. Miss Navarre is young and pretty and like most young boys, Tommy adores her. Luckily the last bell rings and the kids take off. Tommy and Wendy live near each other and so take a trail that leads through a big park that is part of a forest. As they do they hear Dennis and Cody yell and head after them so Tommy grabs onto Wendy and they take off running and veer off the trail. They jump over an embankment and Cody and Dennis jump too and when they land Tommy realizes he smells something awful and comes face to face with a dead woman. As the other three see this, Cody screams and runs away. Wendy keeps her cool and tells Dennis he has to call his Dad who is a deputy sheriff. Dennis thinks it is pretty cool. This is just the beginning of a tale of murders and the hunt for the killer which due to the children finding the body also involves Ann Navarre, Detective Tony Mendez and his friend from the FBI, Vince Leone. Vince is one of a new breed at the FBI using a new technique called profiling to get into the mind of a serial killer. This is a very fascinating story but I did find there were a few too many references to the fact that they DIDN'T have DNA testing yet which would have simplified things. It wasn't really needed more than once. Good read - recommended.

Fast read, keeps you guessing!

I started reading this yesterday morning, finished it last night. It's not a small book, mind you, but I walked around all day with this book glued to my face. There is, of course, a serial killer...and an FBI profiler with an interesting back story...a love interest...and kids. The children in this story discover one of the victims buried in the woods, and their teacher tries to be supportive in the face of some widely varying reactions from the families. There is such a good representation of families in their 'public' versus 'private' faces. Are they all good parents? Are the families dysfunctional? Or are they Dysfunctional with a capital D? Well, all of the above can be found in this book, but it's not always easy to figure out which is which. There are a lot of surprises, and several times I thought (heh) I had figured out who was guilty, but the truth left me thinking, OH WOW! I'll be looking for additional books by this author to read on my Kindle!