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    The Boy: A Novel
    The Boy: A Novel
    The Boy: A Novel
    Audiobook17 hours

    The Boy: A Novel

    Written by Tami Hoag

    Narrated by Hillary Huber

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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 sometimes 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?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateDec 31, 2018
    ISBN9781511375337
    The Boy: A Novel
    Author

    Tami Hoag

    TAMI HOAG is the #1 international bestselling author of more than thirty books. There are more than forty million copies of her books in print in more than thirty languages. Renowned for combining thrilling plots with character-driven suspense, Hoag first hit the New York Times bestseller list with Night Sins, and each of her books since has been a bestseller. She lives in California.

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    Reviews for The Boy

    4.5/5

    444 ratings33 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Nick Fourcade, a detective in Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, is a loose cannon whose tendency to speak before he thinks often gets him into trouble. He is devoted to his wife, Annie Broussard, his colleague on the force. Nick, who has Cajun roots, often lapses into French—with words of affection for Annie and vulgar put-downs of his enemies. Tami Hoag’s latest thriller, “The Boy,” involves the savage slaying of seven-year-old KJ Gauthier. KJ’s mother, Genevieve, escaped from her son’s killer and has been hospitalized with severe bruises and stab wounds. Nick and Annie interview Genevieve, a drug user who has struggled for years to make a living and care for her hyperactive son.

      Nick faces numerous obstacles in his search for justice. Genevieve refuses to reveal details about her past; Nick’s obnoxious and overbearing boss, Sheriff Kelvin Dutrow, is an arrogant blowhard who makes no secret that he would relish firing Fourcade; and local reporters are increasingly critical of the police for failing to solve this and other open cases. Later, another youngster disappears, and the pressure builds to find out why this small town has suddenly become a hotbed of crime. Yet another complication is Dutrow’s strained relationship with his fiancée, Sharon Spicer, a widower who worries more about her image than she does about her fourteen-year-old, Cameron.

      “The Boy” is a dreary and violent tale about dysfunctional families, poverty, adultery, guilt, betrayal, and retribution. There are few likable characters with whom we can identify. Annie is the kindest and sanest of the lot, but she is perpetually worried about whether Nick’s hair-trigger temper will cost him his job. Adding to the chaos are the Florettes, a large clan who barely get by on a shoestring budget. Their mother, JoJean, allows her kids to run wild, with predictably disastrous consequences. The plot is too convoluted, the dialogue is harsh and profane, and the violent and melodramatic conclusion could not be more over-the-top. Still, the author maintains a high level of suspense, and she inserts compelling and timely psychological elements. Furthermore, Hoag skillfully evokes the colorful atmosphere and culture of Louisiana’s Cajun country. Most readers will be curious to learn who did what to whom and why, but there is so much savagery, rage, and viciousness in this work of fiction that “The Boy” turns out to be more disturbing than entertaining.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Moved along well, kept my interest. Looking forward to more of Tami Hoag.
    • 4/5
      Wow! Plot twist after plot twist. Kept me intrigued and engaged till the end. Pleasantly surprised by the ending. Brilliant writing and narration. Looking forward to the next book.
    • 5/5
      Gripping. Tami Hoag has written another excellent novel of suspense and substance.
    • 4/5
      A little slow to start but OH MY it’s worth sticking with!
    • 1/5
      Too much dialogue that had nothing to do with story. Skipped a lot of chapters.
    • 5/5
      Great Book! Tami Hoag knows how to keep you guessing right up until the end!
    • 5/5
      This book will keep you guessing all the way to the very end! And Hillary Huber is amazing. Great book
    • 5/5
      Took a while to et into it but actually, an excellent story.
    • 5/5
      Great read! I highly recommend! Tami is a great writer!
    • 5/5
      Excellent book right to the end. It was very hard to put down.
    • 5/5
      Excellent presentation by the reader, and unexpected turns in the story.
    • 1/5
      Premise of the story was good but it was too long winded and the number of cliches throughout had me constantly rolling my eyes throughout. If I hadn’t been listening to it on a 9 hour drive I’d have switched it off and looked for another book.
    • 4/5
      Good characters. Nice plot twists. Keeps you engaged in the story.
    • 5/5
      It's been a long while since I have read a Tami Hoag thriller, and this one is as good as the ones I remember. Set in Louisiana's swampy bayou country, the volatile Detective Sergeant Nick Fourcade is a man with a temper he can barely control, married to Detective Annie Broussard, a woman who has never come to terms with her traumatic family history, both based at the Partout Parish Sheriff's Office. They get a call in the middle of the night that no law enforcement officer wants, a young 7-year-old boy, KJ, has been stabbed multiple times at home, the dead boy's mother, 24-year-old Genevieve Gauthier, has been seriously attacked too, and in a bloody state ran to seek help from neighbors. The stage is set for a complex and twisted case, made harder to bear as Nick and Annie have a 5-year-old son, Justin, and could not imagine how they could ever cope if anything happened to him.

      The distraught Genevieve describes the killer as a demon, but her troubled past and sexual history, have the detectives viewing her both as a victim and potential suspect, whilst appreciating how her impoverished background and the challenges of being a single mother on her own placed considerable pressures on her. There are portrayals of families and children growing up in chaotic, neglected, and abused households, such as the babysitter, 13-year-old Nora Florette, and the shunned, confused and bullied Cameron, a recent newcomer to the area with his mother, Sharon Spicer. As children go missing and die, the pressure on the detectives grows with an intense media scrutiny that doesn't help. The new boss at the Sheriff's office projects a carefully constructed tough guy image through traditional and social media, making him popular in the community. Kelvin Dutrow is a hands-on, controlling man, markedly different from the old boss, Gus, and he struggles to handle Nick with his fiery temperament and determination to do things his way. Nick cares only to solve the case, and has no fears of the fact that he might be fired.

      This is an intense and well-plotted atmospheric novel, dark and disturbing, portraying the complex nature of abuse and how victims will go to considerable lengths to deny their predicament and protect the abuser. The interior lives of the children, such as Cameron, make for an unsettling and heartbreaking reading experience. The characters of Nick and Annie are well constructed and developed, especially that of Annie, who finds the strains of the case particularly difficult with its echoes of her own personal history. This is a brilliant and gripping read, with a richly described location that serves as a character in its own right. Recommended to those who love well-written crime thrillers. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.
    • 4/5
      I would give 5 for the book but Nick’s accent is totally off and sounds like an Eastern European woman.
    • 4/5
      Good character build and interesting plot. Quick and easy read
    • 5/5
      Wow. That’s all I can say. Wow. It took awhile for the story to really grab me, but once it did I was VERY into it! I’m a BIG reader and almost never give 5 stars, but I didn’t even get to the ending before I wanted to write this review!I called a twist or two but there were so many I couldn’t keep track, so it kept my interest till the end. Great writing, I’m impressed!
    • 5/5
      When you get to the middle of this book, you’re going to think you know who committed the murder but you’re going to be surprised when you get to the end very well done very well written. The narrator did an excellent job as well.
    • 5/5
      Great book was long but kept you interested the entire way through and never would have guessed what would be the outcome!
    • 4/5
      This is the first book I have read by Hoag. It was slow starting but was suspenseful and has an excellent plot!
    • 3/5
      My 2nd book of the author. Ok writing, logic. Too much focus on describing which dragged.
      Maybe it is personal taste but the author seems to have a talent to create main characters/ protagonist that make you feel annoyed. In this book, the main guy detective is a walking “I’m a hot blooded sexy family man” & if reader can look beyond this front, he is absolutely the embodiment of police harassment/abuse & the author definitely writes it under the light of “it is justified & it is why he is a good guy/ detective”
      Overall ok book, nothing too deep or shocking plot twist.
    • 5/5
      Baffled in the Bayou.
      Another great mystery with complex characters and local Cajun color. Onto the second in this series.
    • 1/5
      Very bad. The story was nothing great and the cops did not make any sense with their investigation.
    • 5/5
      Excellent story with vibrant characters and an unbelievable ending. The narrator is extremely talented, making the story that much more enjoyable. You will not be disappointed!
    • 4/5
      This is really a 3 1/2 star book.
      The story premise was great but my god how this book dragged on. One problem with female authors I’ve noticed is there is the tendency to add way to much detail around relationships and feelings of the characters in the story. That was true with this book and it added about 100 unneeded pages.
      This is only the second book by this author I have read but I definitely like the twists the stories take and her use of misdirection.
    • 3/5
      A book that keeps you guessing. A young single mother, an autistic child (who is killed) and all the people involved in finding the killer. Rather disturbing book about the capabilities of children but will keep you guessing to the end
    • 5/5
      What a thrill of a book! I had this on audiobook and found myself taking lunch breaks in my car and sitting in the car after work to listen. After things got really dicey I had to run out to buy a CD player to finish it in one fell swoop. It's a great police procedural and I loved Annie and Nick. Hopefully there will be more. This book has it all (besides murder); there was a great deal of compassion and heartache and wisdom. I'm a bit at sea right now since finishing it. I hated for it to end.
    • 5/5
      Tami Hoag has been a favorite author of mine for many years, starting with the first book I read by her, Cry Wolf. And that was many years ago. A few weeks back, I was snooping around Wal-Mart and found The Boy. Looked interesting; haven’t read her in a while, yeah, why not. I am so glad I caved to that little splurge.When I first listed it on GoodReads as “currently reading”, I posted a comment claiming to know who the killer was very early on. I was completely wrong. And I’m glad I was wrong. There are hints as to who the real killer is in this book, and I did get it right about halfway through the book. Well, I had strong suspicions but when I updated my progress on GR, I kept my fingers quiet this time.Anyway, getting back to the book; since I hadn’t read Hoag in a few years, I had forgotten how beautifully written some of her sentences were, especially when she verbally paints a scene or the atmosphere of a bayou. One sentence struck me as particularly poetic and I read it over and over again enjoying its simplicity while marveling at its gravity. The last sentence in a descriptive paragraph carried the weight of an anchor. To make better sense, I will include the sentence before it simply because it enhances the impact of that final sentence I love so much.“Peace had settled in a temporary hush over the basin. Nature’s held breath before the new day could begin” (313).I mulled that sentence over for several minutes, and I remember thinking how utterly awesome that sentence was. Nature, being a living thing, does not need personification, but somehow Hoag collected all parts of a living nature and combined them into one “thing.” A “thing” that breathes, yet pauses, and allows the rest of its ‘parts’ to pick up and carry on. “Nature’s held breath…” a silent pause. Bravo! That’s the great thing about being a slow reader; well-written sentences don’t go unnoticed.I highly recommend this book
    • 5/5
      The Boy by Tami Hoag is a 2018 Dutton publication. Wow! This is one of Hoag’s best and I’ve read many of her books over the years!!When a young single mother is the victim of a late night home invasion which leaves her hospitalized, and her young son dead, Broussard and Fourcade must tiptoe through the murky waters of law enforcement politics and worrisome circumstantial evidence to find the truth. The hot and steamy Louisiana humidity is almost palpable as the restless tension between the married detectives, Annie Broussard and Nick Fourcade, ebbs and flows. But it is nothing like the tension between Nick and his new boss, who is keeping Nick on a tight leash, threatening to cut him loose at any moment. However, it is this puzzling case that keeps the reader on the edge of their seats. The murder of a child sets the emotional tone right from the start. The child’s mother, Genevieve Gauthier, seems to have a sordid past, and has made a few questionable parenting decisions, including the selection of an unreliable teenage girl to babysit her son.Seeking answers from the babysitter, the detectives become concerned when the girl hasn’t been seen in a few days. The investigation is also stymied by a lot of political wrangling and jockeying for position within the law enforcement arena. This combination of events kept me riveted to the pages, watching in horror as events spiraled completely out of control. I love this detective team. Annie is more even tempered, but she’s also more emotional. However, her powers of observation are amazing. Nick, on the other hand, with his French vernacular and Cajun slang has a bit of a temper and he has a very hard time keeping it under control. Although the couple is experiencing some tension in their relationship, they are a sexy couple, and I enjoy watching them interact. They also make a good detective team, even though they often clash and have a vastly different approach to their jobs. There is another storyline in the book which is very heart wrenching, making this not only a great crime thriller, but also a very thought- provoking piece of fiction. The shades of gray, and the high pitch emotions had my heart up in my throat. I’ve been a fan of this author for many years. Hoag writes very solid, atmospheric stories and really knows how to ramp up the suspense. She outdid herself with this one, I must say. I’d been waiting to read this one for a long time as the publication date kept getting pushed back and my review schedule prevented me from getting to it as quickly as I’d hoped. However, the wait was well worth it. If you like tense, atmospheric thrillers, with complex characters and personalities, and mysteries that will keep you guessing to the bitter end, this one is for you. Plus, despite being ‘Team Annie’ for most of this story, that audacious, but very principled, Frenchman- Nick Fourcade, really grows on you.