Bad Liar - by Tami Hoag (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Masterful #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag is back with a riveting, emotionally powerful new thriller!

Small-town labels are hard to shake. Hometown hero. Fallen angel. Can anyone ever escape their past?

A murder victim dumped at the dead end of a lonely country road, face and hands obliterated by a shotgun blast, is not the way sheriff's detective Nick Fourcade wants to start his week. His only lead takes him to the family of a hometown hero suddenly gone missing. Marc Mercier left for a weekend hunting trip and hasn't been seen since.

Meanwhile, sheriff's detective Annie Broussard begins her first day back on the job after suffering a brutal attack by taking on the case of B'Lynn Fontenot, a mother desperate to find her grown son, a recovering drug addict. Robbie Fontenot has been missing for eight days, but the local police have no interest in the case, telling B'Lynn that an adult has the right to disappear, and a missing addict is no big surprise. But B'Lynn swears her son was turning his life around. Sympathetic to a mother's anguish, Annie agrees to help B'Lynn, knowing she's about to start a turf war with the city police.

As Annie searches for Robbie Fontenot and Nick investigates the disappearance of Marc Mercier, it quickly becomes apparent that nothing is as it seems in the lives of either man. And it's still not clear whether either--or neither--of them might be the unidentified murder victim. Old jealousies and fresh deceits, family loyalties gone wrong and love turned sour all lay a twisting trail that leads deep into the Louisiana swamp, endangering all who cross the path of a bad liar.

Review Quotes

"A suspenseful crime thriller and police procedural that pulls on the heart strings." --Mystery & Suspense Magazine

"In Tami Hoag's Louisiana thriller, two people are missing: a hometown hero gone hunting and a drug addict whose mother swears was turning his life around. Oh, and there's a body that's so mutilated it can't be identified. Are either of them victims? Killers? And who is the worst liar in a story of intrigue two very different sheriff's detectives will struggle to unravel?" --Parade

"Hoag perfectly captures the Cajun dialect and way of life the dark, steamy atmosphere of the Louisiana bayous, the claustrophobia of small-town life, lost dreams; dashed hopes, and tragic lives in this five-star read with a powerful, sucker-punch ending." --Booklist (starred review)

"Hoag sketches Robby, Marc, and B'Lynn with remarkable depth and sensitivity, and keeps the plot moving at a brisk clip through many twists and turns. This will please series fans and newcomers alike." --Publishers Weekly

"A gripping crime yarn from one of the best." --Kirkus

"In Bad Liar--as always--Tami Hoag expertly balances grit and heart to make the absolute most of a nail-biting story. You'll be turning the pages as fast as you can. This is a thought-provoking thriller, filled with memorable characters, a strong sense of time and place, and Hoag's trademark dynamite, emotionally-charged ending." --Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Bad Liar is a gripping thriller that kept me glued to the pages!" --Freida McFadden, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Steeped in the sights and sounds of the bayou, Bad Liar is a delight to get lost in. Its high-stakes mystery kept me guessing while compelling characters kept me emotionally invested the whole way through. I didn't want it to end!" --Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines

"Bad Liar by the great Tami Hoag is thrilling, heartbreaking, dangerous, and blazingly smart. Hoag is more than a riveting suspense writer. She observes deeply, sees it all, and doesn't look away. As in all her novels, she has created a darkly true and complicated main character. Sheriff's detective Annie Broussard has a brutal crime to solve, while grappling with her own trauma, doubts, memories, and the way her life has added up to this moment. My heart was pounding, the twists kept me up all night, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough--yet I did not want the novel to end. Brava, genius." --Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author of Last Night

"My favorite kind of suspense! Small town secrets, long-simmering resentments and explosive family betrayals collide in a perfect storm of steamy nights and murderous days. Will grip you till the bitter end." --Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author

About the Author