The Boy
A Novel
-
-
4.2 • 70 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Now a New York Times bestseller
An unfathomable loss or an unthinkable crime? #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag keeps you guessing in her most harrowing thriller yet.
When Detective Nick Fourcade enters the home of Genevieve Gauthier outside the sleepy town of Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, the bloody crime scene that awaits him is both the most brutal and the most confusing he's ever seen. Genevieve's seven-year-old son, KJ, has been murdered by an alleged intruder, yet Genevieve is alive and well. Meanwhile, Nick's wife, Detective Annie Broussard, sits with the grieving Genevieve. A mother herself, Annie understands the devastation this woman is going through, but as a detective she's troubled: Who would murder a child and leave the only witness behind?
When KJ's babysitter, twelve-year-old Nora Florette, is reported missing the very next day, the town fears a maniac is preying on their children. With pressure mounting from a tough, no-nonsense new sheriff, the media, and the parents of Bayou Breaux, Nick and Annie dig deep into the dual mysteries. Is someone from Genevieve's past or present responsible for the death of her son? Is Nora a victim, or something worse? Then everything changes when Genevieve’s past as a convicted criminal comes to light. Could she have killed her own child to free herself from the burden of motherhood, or is the loss of her beloved boy pushing her to the edge of insanity? Could she have something to do with the disappearance of Nora, or is the troubled teen the key to the murder? How far will Nick and Annie have to go to uncover the dark truth of the boy?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Early in bestseller Hoag's thoughtful, character-driven sequel to 1997's A Thin Dark Line, Nick Fourcade, a detective with the Bayou Breaux, La., police department, arrives at "a small, sad rectangle of cheap siding and asphalt shingles squatting on concrete block pilings in a yard of dirt and weeds." Inside is the body of seven-year-old KJ Gauthier. The boy, dressed in Spider-Man pajamas, is lying in a pool of blood in his bedroom, stabbed some 10 times in the chest and face. His 27-year-old mother, Genevieve, escaped from the assailant and is in the hospital being questioned by Nick's wife and fellow detective, Annie Broussard. The detectives wonder: Why kill the boy and let a witness go? The subsequent disappearance of 12-year-old Nora Florette, KJ's babysitter, gives the members of the small community of Bayou Breaux even more reason to be fearful. Meanwhile, tension between Nick and the new sheriff of Partout Parish, Kelvin Dutrow, "an outsider, a usurper; too stiff, too arrogant, too brash," complicates the investigation. Hoag keeps the twists and turns coming all the way to the shocking conclusion.
Customer Reviews
The Boy
Loved it as usual. Always love her books.