mymisfortune's review against another edition
4.0
I just want to make it clear I’m so damn happy Hannah and Tom got together at the end. Hannah freaking deserves it.
Now to my pros and cons
Pros:
Liked the part Karen played
I enjoyed the POVs
Enjoyed the overall story
Cons:
The story could of been shorter
Trying to get to the point of the plot was dragging
Now to my pros and cons
Pros:
Liked the part Karen played
I enjoyed the POVs
Enjoyed the overall story
Cons:
The story could of been shorter
Trying to get to the point of the plot was dragging
michellesantiago's review against another edition
3.0
I like this one slightly better than the first one, but not by much. This one felt more fast-paced, but like the first one, a whole lot of nothing happened in the middle. When I read a mystery thriller I like piecing the clues together along with the characters and in this duology we weren't really given any pieces to put together. The big reveal in the end didn't really build up--it was more like dropped towards the end, and then the final fight scene happened, and then it was concluding and was done. All the action happened in the last several chapters.
I am disappointed in this duology because I've read a number of Tami Hoag's books before and the mystery in those books were so much better. I'd skip Night Sins and Guilty as Sin, and pick up her Oak Knoll series instead.
I am disappointed in this duology because I've read a number of Tami Hoag's books before and the mystery in those books were so much better. I'd skip Night Sins and Guilty as Sin, and pick up her Oak Knoll series instead.
nursenell's review against another edition
5.0
Could not put this book down, read it in 2 days. This is the follow up to Night Sins. The book follows the kidnapping of 2 8 y.o. boys in a rural Minnesota county. Lots of twists and suspense.
tbsims's review against another edition
1.0
rather than try putting books in a 'not interested' folder, I'm going to claim I read them and give a low rating. Putting in not interested, the algorithm seems to think I like the book.
ennime713's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the first book Night Sins better but the story kept me reading and the end was okay even tho I had guessed pretty early who the accomplice was.
bookworm_enni's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the first book Night Sins better but the story kept me reading and the end was okay even tho I had guessed pretty early who the accomplice was.
brittney_megan's review against another edition
3.0
This was my first Tami Hoag book. It was pretty good.
bookfairy99's review against another edition
5.0
Having read, and loved, two of Tami Hoag's other books (Kill the Messenger and Dust to Dust), I had high hopes for this one, and it didn't disappoint. It did, however, read like an earlier effort -- perhaps slightly less polished than the other two. But that's a minor nitpick. The story held my interest. I genuinely liked Ellen (even though her constant leap to think the worst of people, especially Brooks, grated on my nerves a little). I also liked some of the secondary characters, and got teary eyed during the final scene between "Father" Tom and Hannah. There were a few loose ends that didn't quite wrap up well enough for my liking (like why was Josh so terrified of his father?), but otherwise I enjoyed the way the plot developed and its conclusion. I'd been craving a good legal thriller, and the courtroom scenes fit the bill here. All in all, Guilty as Sin gave me another good reason to add more of Tami Hoag's books to my ever-growing TBR pile.
ncrabb's review against another edition
4.0
This is the sequel to Hoag's earlier book, Night Sins. It's essential that you read that one first. This doesn't stand alone well at all.
The college professor is widely respected in the small Minnesota town despite his capture and being charged with kidnapping a child and assaulting a cop. There are many in the community, including many of his students, who believe him innocent.
It's up to prosecutor Ellen North to prove that he is indeed guilty, and it isn't long before she realizes that somewhere, he has an accomplice. But the psychology professor is a master at mind control, and even from his cell, it seems he is manipulating justice and the entire community to meet his needs and ensure his freedom.
Not long after he is incarcerated, and only weeks before his formal trial, things get even more interesting for the professor when he hires the best defense money can buy--a lawyer who once had a relationship with Ellen North.
Early into the book, Josh, the boy who was kidnapped in the first book in the series, is released to his parents. But the boy is badly damaged; his mind is a shell of its former self, and although he is home, he is very much a prisoner subject to the ongoing influence of "the taker," Josh's name for the man who took him. Indeed, when another little boy is kidnapped, it is Josh who comes out of his semi-locked-in state long enough to somberly pronounce, "he's a goner."
Hoag is the grand master of what I call the creep factor in a book. Yes, I know, that's saying a lot, since there are other authors out there who can creep out even the most unimaginative among us. But Hoag's creep factor is at times almost chilling to the point of being nauseating. There are the late-night phone calls which Ellen North gets where the caller breathes ominously into the phone and whispers threats. There is the mysterious lawyer turned writer who has his own sketchy past. Is he trying just to get information for his next book? His next in-the-sack score with Ellen North? Or is he indeed one of the good guys on the right side?
My only quibble with this book is that Hoag may have used the creep factor a bit too much. The threats of the almost-silent late-night caller that run through Ellen North's head seem to be repeated a bit too often. It's a bit like listening to someone over use some vulgarity or another. Eventually, the shock value wears off, and you simply see the verbosity as evidence of a weak mind.
But you'll be well and thoroughly creeped out by the mental manipulations of the college professor, his tragic twisted wife, and so much more. Hoag masterfully tears the small community down to its sheetrock and studs, and the exposed nastiness is ugly indeed.
The college professor is widely respected in the small Minnesota town despite his capture and being charged with kidnapping a child and assaulting a cop. There are many in the community, including many of his students, who believe him innocent.
It's up to prosecutor Ellen North to prove that he is indeed guilty, and it isn't long before she realizes that somewhere, he has an accomplice. But the psychology professor is a master at mind control, and even from his cell, it seems he is manipulating justice and the entire community to meet his needs and ensure his freedom.
Not long after he is incarcerated, and only weeks before his formal trial, things get even more interesting for the professor when he hires the best defense money can buy--a lawyer who once had a relationship with Ellen North.
Early into the book, Josh, the boy who was kidnapped in the first book in the series, is released to his parents. But the boy is badly damaged; his mind is a shell of its former self, and although he is home, he is very much a prisoner subject to the ongoing influence of "the taker," Josh's name for the man who took him. Indeed, when another little boy is kidnapped, it is Josh who comes out of his semi-locked-in state long enough to somberly pronounce, "he's a goner."
Hoag is the grand master of what I call the creep factor in a book. Yes, I know, that's saying a lot, since there are other authors out there who can creep out even the most unimaginative among us. But Hoag's creep factor is at times almost chilling to the point of being nauseating. There are the late-night phone calls which Ellen North gets where the caller breathes ominously into the phone and whispers threats. There is the mysterious lawyer turned writer who has his own sketchy past. Is he trying just to get information for his next book? His next in-the-sack score with Ellen North? Or is he indeed one of the good guys on the right side?
My only quibble with this book is that Hoag may have used the creep factor a bit too much. The threats of the almost-silent late-night caller that run through Ellen North's head seem to be repeated a bit too often. It's a bit like listening to someone over use some vulgarity or another. Eventually, the shock value wears off, and you simply see the verbosity as evidence of a weak mind.
But you'll be well and thoroughly creeped out by the mental manipulations of the college professor, his tragic twisted wife, and so much more. Hoag masterfully tears the small community down to its sheetrock and studs, and the exposed nastiness is ugly indeed.