WTR 892 ( )

I really enjoyed the third book in the Kovac and Liska series. We have Kovac and Liska involved in a case that involves a judge (Judge Carey Moore) that is attacked after giving out a controversial ruling related to a defendant's prior bad acts not being allowed to be introduced to a jury when he goes on trial for the murder of woman and her two foster kids.

Kovac is at first not looking forward to the assignment. He doesn't care for Judge Moore now that she is a judge. When she was a prosecutor many in the police force liked her. They thought they had a shoo-in now when they brought defendants to appear before her. She quickly disabused them of that notion by not showing favoritism to the prosecutor or defendant. I do love how for Kovac that is a betrayal. He ends up liking Carey though when he sees how she is with her daughter and he realizes that something is up with her marriage.

Liska is still dealing with juggling her job and her personal life. Being a mother to two boys with an absent ex, Liska keeps wondering is it fair to still do homicides and not switch to something that will keep her at home more.

Honestly the partnership between Kovac and Liska is what keeps me reading this series. They get each other and the other detectives in homicide run together like a very well tuned machine.

For the first time ever though we get to see a slightly out of control Kovac in this one. He is very focused on Judge Moore's husband and you start to see that Kovac may be dealing with a bit of a "crush" for her despite how he first felt about her.

I do think that the secondary characters were developed very well. We have the man that many want to see dead for murder (Karl Dahl) we also have Kovac unraveling key players involved with Moore's husband. And we have a detective who had to walk through the house and find three dead people who now haunt him who is focused on getting justice. And we also get a very quick appearance by Kate Quinn (formerly Conlan) who we now assume is married to John Quinn based on what Kovac reveals.

The writing was great and so was the flow.

The main reason why I didn't give this five stars though is that there was still the unanswered question related to Judge Moore's husband. It is just left dangling. I purposely re-read "The 9th Girl" after this and it does reference this book/case and Judge Moore so that was nice. I just wish that Hoag had wrapped up all loose ends in this one. ( )

I don't give many books five stars, but after closing out the world and reading this story in about a day, I have to say it deserves it.

Main characters Sam Novak & Nikki Liska are after a serial killer. And the guy who attacked the judge. And, and... this novel has enough bad guys to fill, well, a book. And enough twists and turns to keep your interest.

Sometimes I forget just how good Tami Hoag is. Luckily I am reminded on a regular basis :) ( )

I just really, really love Kovac and Liska. This one was heavy on the Kovac and I really enjoyed it. The book was a little slow to start and was on the violent side, but kept you guessing and kept you on the edge of your seat in the latter part of the book. A good solid enjoyable read. ( )

The horrible, brutal murder of a mother and her two foster children is the centerpiece of this thriller. Drifter and petty criminal Karl Dahl is assumed to be the perpetrator. After all, he has a history of smaller sexual crimes from peeping to exposing himself in public. But Judge Cary Moore isn't going to let those past Prior Bad Acts be presented in the current case.

This decision infuriates Detective Stan Dempsey who found his life changed by the crime. He's a loner who lived for the job but his obsession with this case has him on desk duty and on his way out the door of the police force short of the time needed for his thirty year pension.

When Judge Moore is assaulted in the parking garage where she keeps her car outside the court building, Kovac and Liska get the case despite the fact that neither of them are fond of the judge's rulings which seem to bend too much to the criminal's side. As Kovac gets closer to the judge and her five-year-old daughter, Liska is looking into the family of the murdered woman and coming up with troubling things.

Kovac begins to suspect that the Judge's husband might have hired someone to attack his wife. Their marriage is hanging on by a thread and he has been supporting a girlfriend. His career as a film producer never took off and he feels overshadowed by his wife, the judge.

Then Karl Dahl escapes from prison and focuses on Judge Moore who he sees as an angel who is on his side.

This thriller had a wide assortment of probable villains and I was led astray by a number of red herrings before the case finally came to its thrilling conclusion. I liked the banter between Kovac and Liska and the other police detectives. I'm glad that there are five other thrillers starring Kovac and Liska. ( )