Review: The 1st Victim by Tami Hoag

The 1st Victim by Tami Hoag

Dutton

May 2013

Format: e-book, 60 pages

Source: Publisher via Netgalley

Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska return to investigate the death of a Jane Doe
in New York Times bestseller Tami Hoag’s short story The 1st
Victim.

New Year’s Day is a time for new beginnings, but
Minneapolis homicide detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are focused on
endings: specifically, the tragic end of their latest murder victim, an
unidentified young woman discovered on the side of the freeway. Believed to be
the victim of a serial killer, Kovac and Liska are determined to do the girl the
small justice of returning her body to her family as they investigate her case,
but it is no simple task matching the broken corpse to any of the scores of
missing persons reports, especially when no one seems to be looking for
her.

Meanwhile, recent widow Jeannie Reiser is frantic when she is unable
to get in touch with her daughter, Rose, who, as an eighteen-year-old, is a
legal adult rather than a missing child in the eyes of the law. Jeannie’s
desperate attempts to get the police to believe her child is in trouble lead her
closer and closer to the New Year’s Doe and to an evil even Sam Kovac and Nikki
Liska may be unable to stop. Tami Hoag once again proves her place as “one of
the most intense suspense writers around” with The 1st Victim.

My thoughts: I’ve heard about author Tami Hoag for years – friends raving about her books and seeing reviews over the blogosphere – but I had yet to read any of her books until now.  When I was asked to review Tami Hoag’s first e-Speical book, The 1st Victim, I jumped at the chance.

The 1st Victim is actually a prequel to Tami Hoag’s upcoming The 9th Girl, which happens to be the latest in her Kovac & Liska series. Not having read the previous books in the series, this was my first introduction to Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska. I liked the dynamics between these two detectives and suspect that there might be something between them – whether in the past or just starting now I’m not sure. 

The case that they are working on in this book involves a serial killer and I suspect it will be carried over into the upcoming new book, The 9th Girl. Kovac and Liska are charged with figuring out who their current Jane Doe, found on New Years‘ Day, is. As they start investigating, they realize there might be a connection to other cases – two other girls were found on or near a holiday and their bodies were beaten and tortured quite badly.  This particular serial killer is quite creepy and I am actually looking forward to seeing how things play out in the upcoming book.

I enjoy a good psychological thriller and I have a feeling Tami Hoag delivers just that. The 1st Victim, as short as it was, has definitely whetted my appetite for more of her books and I will certainly be reading The 9th Girl. The only question is whether I go back and read the previous three books.

Do you enjoy reading psychological thrillers? If so, what authors do you recommend?

Books in this series:

       1.   Ashes to Ashes
       2.   Dust to Dust
       3.   Prior Bad Acts

       3.5   The 1st Victim

       4.   The 9th Girl