Looking for an edge of your seat thriller then Tami Hoag’s Night Sins, while not on the par with masterpieces such as War and Peace, may be just the ticket. It is an exceptionally well orchestrated piece of recreational reading that the suspense seeking reader will find themselves drawn into as they empathize with the well-drawn characters and believable story line that begins with the 1968 death of a young boy in Deer Lake, Minnesota and quickly brings you to the 1994 disappearance of smaller – than- average, eight-year-old Josh Kirkwood from outside the town’s Gordie Knutson Memorial Arena. The only thing that the reader should be aware of, however; is that this book is a cliffhanger that requires you to buy the sequel Guilty as Sin to find out why certain things were done.

The novel’s characters include Megan O’Malley (the first female field agent for Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension); Mitchell Holt (Deer Lake, Minnesota,, chief of police); Josh Kirkwood (the kidnap victim); Hannah Garrison (Josh’s mom who is also the director of emergency medicine at Deer Lake Community hospital); Paul Kirwood (Josh’s self-absorbed father with a secret of his own); Olie Swank (neurotic individual who is on the list of suspects); Deacon Fletcher (who at the minimum is guilty of the desecration of human remains) and Paige Price (an obnoxious TV reporter who’s out to make a name for herself at anyone’s expense).

While the main plot revolves around the basic premise of who kidnapped Josh, is he dead or alive and why did they kidnap him Ms Hoag has done a dynamic job in captivating us with numerous leads, twists, and heart-felt empathy for the characters involved. Expected subplots will include a budding romance between the main investigators on the case and how the break down of a marriage can occur when one’s lives are turned upside down by the loss of a child.

Clever, dynamic and captivating is all I can say about this refreshing, realistic novel that allows the reader to feel a part of the pain and joy of these flesh and blood characters. My only negative was that I didn’t realize that you had to read the sequel to find out all the motives behind the kidnapping such as what really happened to Josh and are there more accomplices of this crime at large?

[tags] Book review, Tami Hoag, Night Sins, suspense, kidnapping, mystery[/tags]