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chapita4's review against another edition
4.0
Roller coaster good! So many twists and turns and although really graphic..written in a way that you don't lose the humanity.
missyjohnson's review against another edition
3.0
Good little escape to Minneapolis. Detective Liska has joined the cold case unit so that she can spend more time with her family. Kovac has a new partner as they investigate the murder of a U of M professor of Asian studies and his wife. The two cases are intertwined and in an interesting way. Liska is investigating the 25 year old murder of a detective in the sex crimes unit. Ted Duffy was shot while chopping wood in his backyard. Lucien Chamberlain and his wife were murdered with some of the samurai weapons from his own collection. His children, Charles and Diana become suspects. This is a fast read and moves along pretty quickly. The various characters are tied together well without big leaps of faith to get there. My only complaint is that Ms Hoag can be a little too graphic in some of their descriptions about attacks and murder. I think that the story would not have “lost anything” from leaving some of the gore out. Good storytelling and fun read.
theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition
5.0
The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag is the latest Kovac and Liska novel. Liska has transferred to the new Cold Case Unit (funded with a half a million-dollar grant) in Minneapolis, Minnesota to have regular hours and spend more time with her two sons. After going through hundreds of files the new unit meets to discuss their first case. Gene Grider (a retired detective) has come back to the cold case unit with an agenda. He wants the first case they work on to be the Ted Duffy case. Ted Duffy was an officer who was killed on the job twenty-five years previously. Grider is very determined (and a misogynist). The boss decides it will be the first case, but Liska will work it (a new set of eyes and since Grider did not solve it the first time around). Grider is not thrilled and goes out of his way to make things difficult for Nikki Liska.
Sam Kovac misses his old partner, Nikki Liska. Kovac is on his third partner in three months. His latest is Michael Taylor (a fledgling homicide detective). Kovac’s latest case is the death of Dr. Lucien Chamberlain and his wife. They were murdered (in a gruesome fashion) with a Japanese sword from Dr. Chamberlain’s collection. Who wanted to kill this professor and his wife?
Nikki Liska dives into her case. However, it seems like the Duffy family does not seem to really want the case solved. No one will answer questions. Liska is relentless in her pursuit of closing this case especially when she discovers that her case and Kovac’s are connected. Someone is not telling the truth. Liska and Kovac will have to work through the secrets and lies to reveal the killer.
The Bitter Season was just wonderful. I did not want to put this book down! There were so many wonderful twists and turns (I just loved it). The mystery was complicated and not easy to solve (but I did). There is an overabundance of foul language in the book (which I did not enjoy). The Bitter Season is well-written, fast paced, and has great characters. The Bitter Season can be read if you have not enjoyed the previous books in the series (I have not read other books in this series). I give The Bitter Season 5 out of 5 stars. I cannot wait for the next book in the Kovac and Liska series.
I received a complimentary copy of The Bitter Season from NetGalley in exchange for an honest evaluation of the book.
Sam Kovac misses his old partner, Nikki Liska. Kovac is on his third partner in three months. His latest is Michael Taylor (a fledgling homicide detective). Kovac’s latest case is the death of Dr. Lucien Chamberlain and his wife. They were murdered (in a gruesome fashion) with a Japanese sword from Dr. Chamberlain’s collection. Who wanted to kill this professor and his wife?
Nikki Liska dives into her case. However, it seems like the Duffy family does not seem to really want the case solved. No one will answer questions. Liska is relentless in her pursuit of closing this case especially when she discovers that her case and Kovac’s are connected. Someone is not telling the truth. Liska and Kovac will have to work through the secrets and lies to reveal the killer.
The Bitter Season was just wonderful. I did not want to put this book down! There were so many wonderful twists and turns (I just loved it). The mystery was complicated and not easy to solve (but I did). There is an overabundance of foul language in the book (which I did not enjoy). The Bitter Season is well-written, fast paced, and has great characters. The Bitter Season can be read if you have not enjoyed the previous books in the series (I have not read other books in this series). I give The Bitter Season 5 out of 5 stars. I cannot wait for the next book in the Kovac and Liska series.
I received a complimentary copy of The Bitter Season from NetGalley in exchange for an honest evaluation of the book.
paulabrandon's review against another edition
4.0
Another gripping read from Tami Hoag! I was a little worried after "Cold, Cold Heart" was so terrible! The two plot strands had lots of twists and turns and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how they would link up. The character of Evi Burke annoyed me, though. I couldn't help it. I found her behaviour and attitude quite selfish at times.
johnsonines's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first read from Tami Hoag and I very much intrigued the entire book.
qu33nofbookz's review against another edition
3.0
The setting is 2015 or 2016 and half the male characters are being described as in their late 40's and a few in their 50's and early 60's meaning their formative years from oldest to youngest is early/mid 60's to 80's yet almost all behave and think like chauvinistic pigs....this doesn't work unless they were raised by grandparents or adults who never grew out of thinking from their formative years. Also the little variation between them gets annoying with all the one sided thinking consistently. Liska has a chip on her shoulder the size of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic so of course she has to be a complete bitch, nice stereo typing of a woman in a male dominated work force, she doesn't come off as strong just annoying. She hates men and women alike and has to fight everything that comes her way in the nastiest way possible, I just want her to go away. She's a bully who crosses the line every time and gets upset when she is called on it. I understand that cops need to be persistent and ask hard questions but she is uncaring and threatening to everyone she talks to and thinks she is in the right in her bullying. She is investigating the killing of a cop but if she talked to me her fellow officers would be investigating her murder to which I would have done very happily.
Way to much unnecessary swearing that puts me off and makes me want to skip over whole paragraphs and possibly chapters, this is not good. Also too much repetition of dialogue and ideas, Liska interviews three people who say almost the same thing to the letter as the last person and she asks the same questions and thinks the same thoughts, make me want to bang my head against a wall. Also she is a bully who is the example of what people think of as a bad cop who breaks the rules and gets away with it, she embodies all the cops seen on the news lately who have shot someone or gotten caught doing something bad and isn't punished. Is it the new trend to make your hero(s)/heroine(s) as despicable as the villains so you hate them just as much or more?
Way to much unnecessary swearing that puts me off and makes me want to skip over whole paragraphs and possibly chapters, this is not good. Also too much repetition of dialogue and ideas, Liska interviews three people who say almost the same thing to the letter as the last person and she asks the same questions and thinks the same thoughts, make me want to bang my head against a wall. Also she is a bully who is the example of what people think of as a bad cop who breaks the rules and gets away with it, she embodies all the cops seen on the news lately who have shot someone or gotten caught doing something bad and isn't punished. Is it the new trend to make your hero(s)/heroine(s) as despicable as the villains so you hate them just as much or more?
sarakovach's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first Tami Hoag book, and I was not disappointed. She is a very skilled author. so much intrigue, and a strong story line. I now want to go back and read her other "Kovac and Liska" books.
This book starts out with the detectives looking into a cold case, when a new gruesome murder occurs. The twists and turns throughout keep you guessing and wanting to keep reading.
This book starts out with the detectives looking into a cold case, when a new gruesome murder occurs. The twists and turns throughout keep you guessing and wanting to keep reading.
judithdcollins's review against another edition
4.0
Tami Hoag returns following Cold Cold Heart (2015) with THE BITTER SEASON (Kovac & Liska #5) –A clever, twisted chilling haunting suspense of family secrets, lies, and revenge.
Two separate twisted cases. A cold case. A murder from the past. A murder from the present. And a life that was never meant to be. Both cases will collide, in this heart-pounding psycho-crime mystery thriller, leaving your page-turning into the wee hours of the morning.
As the book opens it is winter in Minneapolis, MN twenty-five years earlier. A sex crimes cop Ted Duffy is chopping wood. Purgatory had become his life. Little did he know, this would be his last night on earth. Could death be worse?
Flash forward to present day. The twenty-fifth anniversary of Ted Duffy case. The murder of one of the city’s finest (which no one liked). The news may shake something loose. An unsolved murder.
From the last book in the series, The 9th Girl, Liska has a wake up call and decides to take a step back from the long hours of homicide, to spend more time being a mother of her two sons. With her crazy ex-husband, which is like another terrible teen—someone has to the responsible adult.
Nikki finds she is missing the adrenaline rush of the hunt; and now she is in Cold Cases. She takes no crap from any man (love her). She learned a long time ago to take any advantage she could get in this profession still dominated by men. She is working with a new female Homicide lieutenant, Joan Mascherino- a good thing. However, she has to deal with male bully, Grider--- a manipulator, prick and royal pain in her ass--who happened to be on the case twenty-five years ago, friend, and never solved. She is sure to remind him of this often. He explodes, when Nikki is chosen to head up the case.
Liska had her own agenda. She had leveraged her role in closing the Doc Holiday cases to get assigned to this unit. In homicide she may be on for twenty-four hours or more straight. In Cold case, there was no urgency. Regular hours, giving her more time with her boys. She had spent the better part of a decade in Homicide. But RJ and Kyle (14 and 16) were growing into young men and she needed to be there for them. No matter how much she loved her job, she loved the boys a million times more. The challenges would be different, but she would still be fighting for a victim.
Sam Kovac, misses Liska (Tinks)– Tiny but fierce. However, now he is saddled with all these new young punks with his latest partner, Taylor. Young “Magic Mike” Channing Tatum. (lots of fun here)…Sam did not want a new partner. He was too old and cranky to break into a new one. He and Liska had been partners for so long, they were comfortable together; their styles meshed, and they had learned to tolerate each other’s annoying habits. Like an old married couple that had never had bad sex. Instead he has a kid, a good-looking one in great shape-at that—making him feel even older.
Kovac: “How can you even break a sweat in Cold Case. Your vics have all been dead for years.”
Liska: “Like my love life.
Kovac: “Maybe that’ll pick up now that you don’t have to worry about going on a date smelling like a fresh corpse.”
She always nagged him like a wife; more annoying than a kid sister. However, he could not blame her for transferring to take care of her boys as a single mom—He still misses her.
Kovac has a new murder case. A husband and wife have been murdered in their own home. A crazy daughter Diana, and a conservative son Charlie. The professor is not liked by many, including colleagues and his own family. There is motive; however, nothing to nail the case. The double homicide of a U of M professor and his wife in their own home would bring out the brass and local political muscles to push for an full investigation and closure as soon as possible.
While her old partner is working the scene of a double murder, killed by a sword-wielding maniac;
Liska has her cold case to dig through. Liska thought of all the excitement she was missing and thinks of her own case, yesterday’s news. She could use this media attention.
Her only clues: a wife, which married her dead husband’s brother, a daughter (which was only nine years old when her dad was murdered), and two foster teen girls which had been kicked out after the cop’s murder. Someone is hiding something. A crazy neighbor and a son.
At first all dead ends. Nikki is persistent. She will not be happy until she tracks down the killer. The family acts as though they do not care if the killer is found. No one wants to relive the murder all over again.
One of the girls who has moved away, now working as a social worker with at risk teens. Evi Burke, the young woman, wife and mother, married to a fireman. How does she fit into the picture? Nikki has to dig into her past. The teen who lived with the Duffy’s at the time of the murder.
In her wildest dreams, she would never have guessed, her cold case might be the key to Kovac’s murder case. A brutal killer is on the loose. He will stop at nothing including decapitation, and brutal killings in his madness for revenge. Explosive!
Having read all the books in the Kovac & Liska series, (love them), my favorite partners in crime duo---was curious as to how the long time partners would fit in this installment. These two will keep you in stitches laughing with Hoag’s witty bad ass one liners.
Never fear —the duo may not be partners; however, they get some joint action when two cases become connected…. we still get our fix.
This is one of those book, you cannot put down. Lots of twists, turns, and surprises; a serious whodunit ingenious mystery. A big surprise ending. Horror fans will get plenty of blood, body parts, decapitation, gore, and violence…not for the weak of heart.
Dark, intense, and chilling ---A complex psycho-thriller you cannot miss. Please, do NOT let Kovac & Liska end—from your own Palm Beach County fan.
A special thank you to Penguin/Dutton and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
Two separate twisted cases. A cold case. A murder from the past. A murder from the present. And a life that was never meant to be. Both cases will collide, in this heart-pounding psycho-crime mystery thriller, leaving your page-turning into the wee hours of the morning.
As the book opens it is winter in Minneapolis, MN twenty-five years earlier. A sex crimes cop Ted Duffy is chopping wood. Purgatory had become his life. Little did he know, this would be his last night on earth. Could death be worse?
Flash forward to present day. The twenty-fifth anniversary of Ted Duffy case. The murder of one of the city’s finest (which no one liked). The news may shake something loose. An unsolved murder.
From the last book in the series, The 9th Girl, Liska has a wake up call and decides to take a step back from the long hours of homicide, to spend more time being a mother of her two sons. With her crazy ex-husband, which is like another terrible teen—someone has to the responsible adult.
Nikki finds she is missing the adrenaline rush of the hunt; and now she is in Cold Cases. She takes no crap from any man (love her). She learned a long time ago to take any advantage she could get in this profession still dominated by men. She is working with a new female Homicide lieutenant, Joan Mascherino- a good thing. However, she has to deal with male bully, Grider--- a manipulator, prick and royal pain in her ass--who happened to be on the case twenty-five years ago, friend, and never solved. She is sure to remind him of this often. He explodes, when Nikki is chosen to head up the case.
Liska had her own agenda. She had leveraged her role in closing the Doc Holiday cases to get assigned to this unit. In homicide she may be on for twenty-four hours or more straight. In Cold case, there was no urgency. Regular hours, giving her more time with her boys. She had spent the better part of a decade in Homicide. But RJ and Kyle (14 and 16) were growing into young men and she needed to be there for them. No matter how much she loved her job, she loved the boys a million times more. The challenges would be different, but she would still be fighting for a victim.
Sam Kovac, misses Liska (Tinks)– Tiny but fierce. However, now he is saddled with all these new young punks with his latest partner, Taylor. Young “Magic Mike” Channing Tatum. (lots of fun here)…Sam did not want a new partner. He was too old and cranky to break into a new one. He and Liska had been partners for so long, they were comfortable together; their styles meshed, and they had learned to tolerate each other’s annoying habits. Like an old married couple that had never had bad sex. Instead he has a kid, a good-looking one in great shape-at that—making him feel even older.
Kovac: “How can you even break a sweat in Cold Case. Your vics have all been dead for years.”
Liska: “Like my love life.
Kovac: “Maybe that’ll pick up now that you don’t have to worry about going on a date smelling like a fresh corpse.”
She always nagged him like a wife; more annoying than a kid sister. However, he could not blame her for transferring to take care of her boys as a single mom—He still misses her.
Kovac has a new murder case. A husband and wife have been murdered in their own home. A crazy daughter Diana, and a conservative son Charlie. The professor is not liked by many, including colleagues and his own family. There is motive; however, nothing to nail the case. The double homicide of a U of M professor and his wife in their own home would bring out the brass and local political muscles to push for an full investigation and closure as soon as possible.
While her old partner is working the scene of a double murder, killed by a sword-wielding maniac;
Liska has her cold case to dig through. Liska thought of all the excitement she was missing and thinks of her own case, yesterday’s news. She could use this media attention.
Her only clues: a wife, which married her dead husband’s brother, a daughter (which was only nine years old when her dad was murdered), and two foster teen girls which had been kicked out after the cop’s murder. Someone is hiding something. A crazy neighbor and a son.
At first all dead ends. Nikki is persistent. She will not be happy until she tracks down the killer. The family acts as though they do not care if the killer is found. No one wants to relive the murder all over again.
One of the girls who has moved away, now working as a social worker with at risk teens. Evi Burke, the young woman, wife and mother, married to a fireman. How does she fit into the picture? Nikki has to dig into her past. The teen who lived with the Duffy’s at the time of the murder.
In her wildest dreams, she would never have guessed, her cold case might be the key to Kovac’s murder case. A brutal killer is on the loose. He will stop at nothing including decapitation, and brutal killings in his madness for revenge. Explosive!
Having read all the books in the Kovac & Liska series, (love them), my favorite partners in crime duo---was curious as to how the long time partners would fit in this installment. These two will keep you in stitches laughing with Hoag’s witty bad ass one liners.
Never fear —the duo may not be partners; however, they get some joint action when two cases become connected…. we still get our fix.
This is one of those book, you cannot put down. Lots of twists, turns, and surprises; a serious whodunit ingenious mystery. A big surprise ending. Horror fans will get plenty of blood, body parts, decapitation, gore, and violence…not for the weak of heart.
Dark, intense, and chilling ---A complex psycho-thriller you cannot miss. Please, do NOT let Kovac & Liska end—from your own Palm Beach County fan.
A special thank you to Penguin/Dutton and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks