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The Bitter Season (Kovac / Liska)

The Bitter Season (Kovac / Liska) - Tami Hoag This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I really liked this one. When I saw that I had the chance to read an early copy of this book, I jumped at the opportunity. Tami Hoag is an author that I have wanted to read for quite some time but just haven't actually sat down with one of her books until now. I really don't know what I was waiting for because this book was really very good. I predict that there will be a lot more of Tami Hoag's work in my reading future.

This book is the fifth book in the Kovac and Liska series but it reads just fine as a stand alone novel. It did take me a little bit to keep all of the characters straight but readers new to the series should be able to follow along as I did. Kovac and Liska are former partners who are now working in different departments which means that this book actually follows two cases. Both of the cases were incredibly interesting and I have to admit that I was completely stumped.

The characters were just as interesting as the case that they were working. This book has a pretty large cast of characters. Sam Kovac is a long time homicide detective that is currently working a case that is getting a lot press. Of course any double homicide that involves a sword wielding ninja is really hard to keep out of the press. Sam's new partner, Taylor, doesn't have a lot of experience but he has really good instincts. Nikki Liska is now working cold cases which is supposed to be more of a 9 to 5 job which will work better for her because of her sons. Her first case is a a 25 year old unsolved murder of a sex crimes detective which she suspects will be nearly impossible to solve. All of the characters connected to both cases brought something to the story.

I was really impressed by the complexity of both of the cases featured in this story. They were both equally interesting and were featured in equal amounts in the story. I was completely in the dark with both of them. I felt like I was right there with the detectives as they worked to figure out what had really happened. I liked how the story showed how much the work affected the detectives. Their overwhelming desire to solve the case felt very realistic. There was a lot of excitement worked into this book and I honestly couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

I really liked the way this book was written. Two major story lines were able to be woven together seamlessly. The focus of the book was able to change hands at just the right moment to keep the interest level high. The pacing of the story was also very well done.

I would highly recommend this book to mystery thriller fans. This is the first book by Tami Hoag that I have read but I am really looking forward to reading more from this very talented author. I definitely plan to read the previous books in this series and I can't wait to take a good look at all of her other work.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Penguin Group - Dutton via First to Read for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
I really liked this one. Two complex cases that were incredibly interesting and had me stumped. I thought the the characters working to solve the cases were just as interesting as the work that they were doing.