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Book Summary and Reviews of Bad Liar by Tami Hoag

Bad Liar by Tami Hoag

Bad Liar

A Novel

by Tami Hoag

  • Critics' Consensus (12):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2024, 416 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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 his home 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.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Throughout the novel, the title "Bad Liar" comes to reflect a number of characters. How did your perception of the meaning behind the title shift as the plot unfolded, particularly for characters like the "hometown hero"?
  2. "Would it have been a good lie or a bad lie, this lie by omission? Did it matter? A lie was a lie, and she didn't want that between them, no matter how valid her motivation might have been." (pg. TK) What did you make of Annie's observation, quoted here, about there being no difference between good or bad lies? Do you think there can ever be a "good lie"?
  3. There are some dark themes in Bad Liar, including struggles with addiction. In a time when our country contends with an epidemic of addiction–one...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"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 Reviews

"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

"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

This information about Bad Liar was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Tami Hoag Author Biography

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.

Link to Tami Hoag's Website

Name Pronunciation
Tami Hoag: rhymes with rogue

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