A Thin Dark Line: A Novel (Bayou)

Tami Hoag is an excellent writer. Her ability to keep the reader on the edge of their seat is outstanding. Her characters are drawn well enough, and I cannot tell you if her characterization of the deep South is true (all I know is I don't want to visit or live there!), but it certainly seems dark and full of undercurrents of emotion due to many factors including prejudice against race and gender.
Hoag chooses to write mainly about things that tend to make one uncomfortable...children being abducted, women being raped. Our worse nightmares in a book. I usually tend to stay away from this type of mystery/novel, because of it's topic. It's probably been at least four years since I read one of Hoag's books because of this.
My major complaints are two-fold. First off, if a woman (or a man) is smart enough, savvy enough, strong enough to pass police and civil service exams, I had supposed they be smart enough to be suspicious of everyone...maybe that's just me. As a deaf person, we usually are suspicious of everyone until we really get to know them. But Annie Broussard accepts a cup of coffee from the mother of their chief suspect, and Mom is a few bricks shy of a load herself. I always think, if a person is strange that his/her parents had something to do with their strangeness (and this isn't always right, but it's a pretty good rule psychologically). Too many strings were left after the culprit had been found, including answers as to the behavior of the other cops who made Broussard's life miserable.
Second, I am extremely thankful I cannot hear if this is the way the real world 'talks'. I suppose like in the Navy where my Grandfather was an engineer, cops too tend to use expletives all the time. I just don't want to hear it, and don't really want to read it.
So though Hoag is a great writer, and this is a pretty good book, I will probably go for another four years without reading one of her books. Just personal preference. My mother always said people who use expletives like that are not very intelligent...they can't carry on a decent conversation without filling it with those types of words, so they must not have anything important to say. I'm inclined to believe her...
Karen Sadler

I thought it was pretty good. It certainly wasn't dull, although at nearly 600 pages it probably could have been cut down a bit. I enjoyed the book and will read more by Tami Hoag. My only complaint/concern or problem with the book was the heroine, Annie Broussard. What she went through, what grief she took from co-workers, and then the physical abuse her body took in the last 50 pages of the book....Well, she's a better man than...well, a better man than almost any man I could think of. Small and petite she may have been, but this was one tough lady both mentally and physically. We got a lot in this book about how tough Nick Fourcade was....Yeah right!...Annie puts him to shame. The point here is that I liked the book and the resolution came as a complete surprise. I think it's time to start another Tami Hoag book right now. Later.

This was my first Hoag book. I was absolutely delighted. I couldn't put it down. Having worked in law enforcement for over 10 years as a prosecutor and as chief District Attorney, in a rural community, I found such reality in Hoag's depiction of a small town/county sheriff's office, police department and prosecutor's office. Hoag was almost dead on. I have known every one of those law enforcement characters in my career. And the depiction of a woman cop and her treatment by the men was on the mark. And, during my read, I changed my mind over and over regarding who was the killer. And when I got to the climax, boy was I suprised at who the villain really was. Thanks Tami for an enjoyable ride. If anyone whats to know what life is like in rural america as a cop, then read A Thin Dark Line.

Hoag captures the difficulty faced by women trying to make it in a testosterone glutted environment, and to triumph in the face of evil and despite obstacles. A fast-paced ride with a total surprise ending; would definitely recommend.

This was our first crime thriller by Tami Hoag, but we can see why she is a successful author with over a dozen novels and a loyal fan base to her credit. Assuming "Thin Dark Line", set in Cajun Louisiana, is representative of her work, she crafts a complex, intriguing story that manages to hold one's interest until a suspenseful, twisty climax! In this tale, cops and potential perpetrators exchange roles so often one almost needs a scorecard to track the characters and who's out to get whom. Deputy Annie Broussard, for sure the heroine, is working secretly on her own to solve the murder of Pam Bichon, ostensibly killed in a brutal slaying at the hands of stalker Marcus Renard. After Renard gets off in court on a technicality, Detective Nick Fourcade nearly beats him to death, until Annie breaks it up and has to arrest her fellow officer for assault -- a step that severely alienates her with her already bigoted male colleagues. After both several more rape/murders, as well as numerous attacks on Annie, we don't know whether it's Renard, Fourcade, Bichon's husband, a copycat, or any number of suspicious cops (especially the womanizer Stokes) who may be the real bad guy. Whodunit is indeed a surprise, but only after Fourcade and Annie hookup, and work (and sleep!) together all book long chasing clues and red herrings alike.

We might have rated this book quite higher except for two gripes. Number one, the violence and ugliness, including obscenities and vulgarity, are really over the top - so ubiquitous in a book this long (just shy of 600 pages) it almost kept us from proceeding. Second, the combination of both man-hating on the part of virtually every woman character, and gender bashing by all the men on Annie, became so tiresome and offensive, we nearly quit on that score as well. Surely there's no place left in America where such overt and violent discrimination and harassment can occur with no one willing to step up and deal with it -- let's hope so anyway.

So all in all, a fine story along the lines of Patterson and Sandford's best work, but the entertainment value suffers to our taste from excessive vicious elements. Maybe the author herself crossed the " Dark Line" a few times during the word-craft!

It's no mystery that there is corruption in every aspect of our everyday lives. But as a police officer in Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, Annie Broussard is beginning to think that every person she works with is possessed by some deep secret. And that those secrets could very well be the key to a series of rapes and killings that plague that small, cajun town. And those secrets may very well end up being the death of Broussard, if she doesn't find out the truth before the killer gets to her.
Told in a hauntingly realistic voice, Tami Hoag once again delivers a brilliant mystery thriller, ripe with detail and atmosphere, well-written dialogue, and unforgettable characters. Count me in with what I'm certain must be thousands, if not millions, of Hoag fans! ...

i looooove this book..probably one of the greatest thriller writer of all time..

i just love the way how hoag leads us to the wrong direction so that the ending is like a bomb..

when the truth was revealed, i was gobsmacked...it was there all along but hoag knows how to keep the readers away from the truth

it was a very good mix of mystery and romance..and i really felt annie's rage and anger when she was bullied by her colleagues...

hoag really knows how grab you from the beginning, feeling all the emotions and being part of all the camaraderie

it was brilliant and i'm going to include tami hoag on my favourite author list

The first Tami Hoag novel I read was Dark Paradise - loved it! I then picked up Guilty as Sin - pretty good. Now I'm reading Thin Dark Line and I'm starting to see a pattern here.... An otherwise career-oriented, smart, self-made woman falls for the neanderthal male who all but smacks her over the head with his big stick. I'm beginning to tire of Tami's approach to her heroine's relationships. Now don't get me wrong, it's still a good book (if you haven't already read all her others), and BOY can she write some good, raw, passionate sex scenes. But she's gotta get a different man-angle... I'm still going to try her other books - she's got some good stuff out there.

As with the other reviews, the book starts out very promising. Where the book runs into trouble, in my humble opinion, is Annie's relationship with Nick. With his chanting "control" center", practicing Tai Chi and then unable to control his temper, to smoking like a steam stackand heavy drinking, but he's a vegetarian (not that there's anything wrong with that), plus paranoia and obsessions. We're supposed to believe Annie would fall for this guy?! I kept thinking of the movie "Psycho" for both Nick and the plot. Norman Bates rules again. It's a good beach read with flaws.

In "The Thin Dark Line", Tami Hoag gives us Deputy Annie Boussard. After finding a mutilated body of a woman in Louiana's French Triangle, Annie is faced with tracking a killer and risking her own life.
I liked the way Ms. Hoag wove this story of romance and mystery. And I have to admit, I blushingly had a crush on Detective Nick Fourcade. A man like that just has to be trusted....or does he?
The *Cajun French Glossary" in the back of the book was a linguial plus.
A riveting romp of a book "mes amies"!

Harrowing and smoldering by turns, I loved reading--experiencing--this book. The setting was fantastic, the characters gripping. The story and plot were woven together with enough spice and chill and flair to truly hold my interest. I've just discovered Tami Hoag with "Guilty as Sin", but I enjoyed "A Thin Dark Line" even more. Similar to the former, I could only read a few chapters at a time; it's rather like eating very rich food: a taste is stupendous, it fills you up quickly, too much is a shock to the system, but it always leaves you wanting more. Excellent.

Tami Hoag is an amazing writer. love that I cannot figure out "who done it" until it is revealed. Most books I can figure it out in the first coupe of pages, then have to read the book to make sure I'm right. not so with Tami Hoag !!

Somewhere, in a parallel universe similar to ours where the laws of sexual harrasment are not enforced, lives Amy, the cajun girl sheriff. Here, it is considered normal for females to have peepholes in their locker room, and normal banter between co-workers consists of comments about frigidity or impotence.

Alas, things get even worse when she arrests a male officer. Comments about "the brotherhood" abound, and when harrassment increases to live snakes in her vehicle or even being forced off the road by a car, she doesn't complain as she assumes it is her fellow officers. It is normal to be removed from active duty as punishment for the other officers harrassing her? I guess they haven't been sued yet. And, which man does she go for? Of course the one with the tendency to beat people to a pulp.

Aside from the unrealistic work envirment and the feelings of S and M the entire novel produces, it is also excessivly wordy and could have been half as long. I do not recommend this novel unless you are trapped overnight in a bus station and there is nothing else to read.

My mystery interests started with Perry Mason and Agatha Christie novels. These were hard to beat until Ms. Hoag. Being a Virginian also, it is with pleasure that we can claim the author as one of "ours". A Thin Dark Line has me hooked. From beginnning to end, so realistic with the accents and characters and surely, events described can really happen in today's time. GREAT BOOK.

I listened to the audio (abridged) version while commuting to work over a week. Not only was this an excellent story (I didn't figure it out until near the end), but the different Cajun voices provided by the reader made it easy to tell characters apart. This was by far the best read audio book I have heard, and it was a gripping story. I got to work, and I couldn't turn the car off.

The beginning of this book was promising. A good story line and interesting characters. What ruined it for me was the writing style. Ms. Hoag was just too wordy. She explains things over and over again, as if the reader isn't likely to understand otherwise. It wasn't a difficult mystery to solve (had it figured out from the beginning), but the ending was exciting.

Tami presents a fascinating and intricate cast of characters that sometimes fade into one another, but usually stay crisp and clearly defined. The pacing is a bit slower than I would prefer, but the exposition and description are wonderful. Despite the opinion of someone from the swampy bayous, I found the atmosphere charming, but then I also know a little French and could follow most of it in conversation. Listening to the roar of the alligators did not stay in my mind as something all Cajuns do all night, but I got the sense of a swampy, humid, warm and rich environment where superstition and old codes of honor prevail, which is just what was needed, I believe. Good job, Tami...Keep the novels coming--I'll be buying your books!!

This novel should be read after Cry Wolf (as stated in a previous review) as the Bayou Strangler and victims are all revealed. If you don't intend to read Cry Wolf, then "A Thin Dark Line" is fantastic as a stand-alone.

Few writers are able to bring leading men to life as well as Hoag, and here is no exception; Fourcade is by turns cruel, stubborn, tender, sweet, protective, possessive, and pig-headed. While I'm not always impressed with Hoag's women, I have to say that Annie is one of her better leading ladies. She's strong and ambitious, but not written as a bitch - no matter what her fellow police officers might think of her. Renaud's obsession is beautifully written and believable.

The twists, turns, and overall tone of this book are astounding as usual.

Now Tami really proves to be the master of suspense.I started reading her books arter Dark Paradise & this one proves to even better than the rest.Its much more thrilling & it keeps the readers guessing till the climax of the story.I'd surely recommends this to all who love mysteries.

This is the first time I have read anything written by Tami Hoag. It is a whodunit, that you will not figure out until right when the people in the story figure it out. I read it in 2 days, and being that it is 590 pages long, I couldn't put it down. Get it, read it, and lock your doors.

Excellent characterization of Detective Fourcade and Deputy Broussard but the book failed to flow to it's conclusion. Many important connections to the plot were cut, much like a movie that has run over budget, not fully giving the reader a chance to take part in the drama.

The story by itself is good. However the Cajun setting and dialog was overdone and not always accurate. I have lived in Acadiana for a very long time and I enjoy reading books set in this region. A Thin Dark Line is not one of them. I had to put the book down too often and take a deep breath and cool off before picking it up to read again. I am sure that Miss Hoag meant no disrepect to our culture, but I found her portrayal of south Louisiana offensive. It seemed like an imitation of a James Burke Dave Robichaux novel .

If you are thinking about buying this book... stop. I loved Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag and eagerly bought A Thin Dark Line. It is gathering dust on my nightstand. I don't even like any of the main characters. I may try again but only because I hate to waste money.

The story by itself is good. However the Cajun setting and dialog was overdone and not always accurate. I have lived in Acadiana for a very long time and I enjoy reading books set in this region. A Thin Dark Line is not one of them. I had to put the book down too often and take a deep breath and cool off before picking it up to read again. I am sure that Miss Hoag meant no disrepect to our culture, but I found her portrayal of south Louisiana offensive. It seemed like an imitation of a James Burke Dave Robichaux novel .

If you are thinking about buying this book... stop. I loved Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag and eagerly bought A Thin Dark Line. It is gathering dust on my nightstand. I don't even like any of the main characters. I may try again but only because I hate to waste money.

This was my first Tami Hoag novel. I was interested in it because of the fact that I am from the "bayou country". However, I was quite dissapointed. I love a good, fast-paced mystery/thriller and this was not the case. It took me a good 3 months, and several other books in between, to finish this one. The best part of the book was the beginning and the very end...everything else was boring. I will give another novel by Ms. Hoag a try before I take her off my best author's list..

What a great book! Talk about suspense and romance. Tamie's got it nailed. I read this book in two days....I couldn't put it down.....my spouse thought I was nuts and I didn't care! I want all her books old and new. I love those set in the Louisiana Bayou. The repartee between characters is wonderful. Tamie, you're no. 1 with me.

Excellent book!! My favorite Tami Hoag book ever. Keeps you wondering through the whole book "who did it?" I would deffinetly reccomend this book to anyone who likes romance or thrillers. A romance about two cops who hate each other and have different outlooks on how the job should be done.