Rating: 
Summary: "Guilty" of Many Sins, But Still a Fun Read
Review: "Guilty as Sin" is possibly more of a page-turner than it's soapy predecessor, "Night Sins." There are so many twists and surprises that its a wonder they can all be contained in a mere 606 pages (paperback edition). In fact, this time out, the story of the prosecution of a kidnapper who may or may not be guilty reaches a near histrionic level, with murders, car chases, exploding cars and, of course, romantic intrigue. Thankfully, Hoag doesn't spend quite as much time on romantic subplots as she did in "Night Sins." Actually, given that apparently almost every man in Deer Lake, Minnesota, is either a slimy, self-absorbed male chauvinist pig (Judge Grabko, Paul Kirkwood, hot-shot defense attorney Tony Costello--OK, he's an import from Minneapolis, but still...) or ineffectual weenie (County Attorney Rudy Stovich, a few sheriff's deputies), its a wonder the women there bother with the opposite sex at all. That's why Hoag has to have a visitor like true crime author Jay Butler Brooks, whose motives are as suspect as his frequent references to an Uncle Hooter. When he goes after Assistant County Attorney Ellen North, the fact that he wants to get into her pants more than into her filing cabinet is supposed to illustrate how he's really an honorable man. In a mating ritual usually only encountered in movies or on TV, he sets about winning Ms. North's heart by alternately scaring her or by being relentlessly irritating. Also like in movies or on TV, this tactic works.Like "Night Sins," Hoag uses a broad brush to paint "Guilty as Sin." There is much exposition about the evil lurking in this innocent little town, about how kidnapping and murdering people is evil (in case you didn't know) and how all this evil has changed lives forever. And when it comes to portraying the media--well, I think the Bush administration would paint a more flattering picture of reporters than Hoag does in either of her "Sin" novels. Apparently news-gathering is evil, too. Nevertheless, for sheer entertainment value, I enjoyed "Guilty as Sin." Hoag is a gifted storyteller and I was glad to lose sleep staying up to read "just one more chapter" of her engrossing, if a bit flawed, suspense novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary!
Review: Did you get a chance to read "Night Sins" yet? I hope so, because we're reviewing the sequel "GUILTY AS SIN" now, and I don't want to spoil anything for you. "Guilty as Sin" picks up right where "Night Sins" left off. While a prominent Deer Lake citizen sits in jail for the abduction of Josh Kirkwood and the brutal assault on BCA Agent Megan O'Malley, Josh is returned home. Did Chief Holt arrest an innocent person, or is there still an accomplice on the loose? Now another child in a nearby town has been stolen, throwing further doubt on the suspect's guilt and scattering law enforcement resources across the county. With every new piece of evidence found, a dozen new questions arise. Rather than solving the crime, the investigation seems to be building a haystack in which to find their needle.
Assistant County Prosecutor Ellen North must build a case against a suspect most people have trouble believing to be guilty. In fact, someone is violently protesting the arrest. Is a nationally recognized and applauded program for the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders really a clinic in violence and psychological terror, or is North jumping at shadows? Who is leaving notes and maddening clues, always one step ahead of the investigation? Has an innocent man been framed, victim of the age-old motives of lust and greed? Or is this just another ploy to lead the law agencies further afield? A career has been destroyed, a family torn apart, and a close-knit community will never look at a neighbor the same way again. Welcome to the next level of The Game. Nina M.
Rating:
Summary: Guilty as Sin
Review: Great sequel to a great prequel! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in four sittings. The characters are believeable (where are you Jay when I need you?) and although I would have liked Tami to continue the theme of Mitch and Megan more than she did, overall thought this a thoroughly entertaining book.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic follow-up Story
Review: Guilty as Sin is a magnificently written follow-up novel to Night Sins, but unlike some sequels this one could stand alone. I would recommend to anyone interested that Night SIns should be read first, because it would give the reader a lot of background and history regarding what ahppens in the second novel, but Ms. Hoag covers her bases well enough that if Night SIns wasn't read first the reader would still be able to follow along and enjoy.
Ms. Hoag's charater development is amazing in this novel as it is in all of her works. Guilty as Sin focuses on Ellen, the assistant district attorney prosecuting a high profile kidnapping case. Ms. Hoag weaves romance into a very suspensful story as only she can do, and by doing so will catch the hearts of all of us hopeless romantics. This story is also full of twists, turns, and surprises. It keeps you guessing as to who the bad guy is, while it has you rooting for the good guys. It will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last pages, and will be very hard to put down.
I would recommend this novel to any and all readers as I felt there was something in it for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Long-winded suspense tale
Review: I did not read the prequel to this book, but I did feel that the author gave enough information for me to understand the plot. Ellen North is given the thankless job of prosecuting a popular college professor who is accused of kidnapping a young boy in the community and then beating up a police woman. He is caught by the police chief, but his slick lawyer, who had betrayed Ellen romantically, works hard to prove him innocent. The characters in this book are painted as either good or evil and the plot winds and twists through about twice as many pages as is necessary. After reading this entry, I had no desire to go back and read another 600 pages to see what came before.
Rating:
Summary: Good but long winded
Review: I enjoyed this book, my first Hoag read. Although I will say that I wanted to tell the heroin to get over herself several times throughout the book! She irritated me for some reason. Some parts of the legal drama were a little long winded, but overall the story was a good one, and the end a surprising twist. I'd recommend this read to a friend.
Rating:
Summary: Unresolved suspense.
Review: I read both Night Sins and Guilty as Sin in the order they were written. Ms. Hoag spins an intricate web of mystery with twists and turns littering the path to the truth about who kidnapped a little boy in a Minnesota town. She also injects into the storyline romance fraught with secrets and obstacles for the main characters. Unfortunately Ms. Hoag does not answer all the questions that the plot poses. While the identity of the perpetrator of the crime is revealed, the books never delve into the whys and the hows. Instead, the reasons for masterminding a kidnapping and performing mind control on a child are summarized in a few vague pages. Since Ms. Hoag spent almost 1200 pages leading up the resolution she could have written a few more which explained the motives of the kidnappers.
Rating: 
Summary: Big letdown
Review: I think Hoag's writing is fairly tight and she keeps the suspense moving along but the reading was simply not worth the final ending. One small cliched twist at the end does not justify over a thousand pages of reading (Between Night Sins and Guilty as Sin). The shame of it is that there were so many other interesting aspects of the story that could have been wrapped up but were not (vague here so as not to spoil): the role of other significant characters and leads that were developed throughout that led nowhere or were left unexplained. And how did these brilliant perpetrators become so clutzy in the end? On a second point, I don't object to the mixing of romance and thriller but this romance was a copycat of Night Sins with different characters: complete waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: good mystery, awful romance
Review: I've read many of Tami Hoag's books in the past and have always enjoyed them. This one, however, could have used a good dose of editing (as other reviewers have commented). While the mystery of the kidnapping and subsequent murder is well done, the romance between protagonist Ellen North and crime writer Jay Butler Brooks is really awful. The dialogue and general scenes between them were so poorly written as to be laughable, and that part of the story just didn't seem remotely credible. Hoag has done much better in the past, and I hope she'll get back on track for future efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Book 2 as good as the First one!
Review: In Guilty as Sin the story centers on the child abduction that began in Night Sins. The story surrounds the perpetrator of the abduction of eight-year-old Josh Kirkwood. Ellen North, County Prosecutor and Mitch Holt, Police Chief for Deer Lake, Minnesota investigate. Ellen North must build a case against a suspect most people don't believe to be guilty. This book is as dynamic and riveting as the first and kept me enthralled as the mystery was first built into a more devious story and then slowly unraveled to a climatic end. A great story spread across these two novels. Highly recommended.
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