Prior Bad Acts

By: Tami Hoag

Narrated by: Holter Graham

It was a crime so brutal, it changed the lives of even the most hardened homicide cops. The Haas family murders left a scar on the community nothing can erase, but everyone agrees that convicting the killer, Karl Dahl, is a start. Only Judge Carey Moore seems to be standing in the way. Her ruling that Dahl's prior criminal record is inadmissible raises a public outcry, and puts the judge in grave danger. When an unknown assailant attacks Judge Moore in a parking garage, two of Minneapolis' top cops are called upon to solve the crime and keep the judge from further harm.

Detective Sam Kovac is as hard-boiled as they come, and his wisecracking partner, Nikki Liska, isn't far behind. Neither one wants to be on this case, but when Karl Dahl escapes from custody, everything changes, and a seemingly straightforward case cartwheels out of control. The stakes go even higher when the judge is kidnapped, snatched out of her own bed even as the police sit outside, watching her house. Now Kovac and Liska must navigate through a maze of suspects that includes the stepson of a murder victim, a husband with a secret life, and a rogue cop looking for revenge where the justice system failed. With no time to spare, the detectives are pulled down a strange dark trail of smoke and mirrors, where no one is who they seem and everyone is guilty of Prior Bad Acts.

©2006 Tami Hoag (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The breathtaking plot twists are perfectly paced in this compulsive page-turner." (Publishers Weekly)
"A first-rate thriller with an ending that will knock your socks off." (Booklist)

Good detective thriller

The story is a bit gruesome, but the plot is carefully crafted so that your suspicions about the true perp are teased right up until the climax. A bit too much of the tough cop talk, yet the book is entertaining, well written, and enjoyable.

Great story, bad narration

I really enjoy the Sam and Nikki series, and I enjoyed this story in particular. But the narration is maddening. It's like an overdone Christopher Walken impression or a comically stereotypical poetry reading with 200 commas, somewordsrunningtogetherlikethis, and 2 periods per page. I tried adjusting the speed to drown out the poor cadence but in the end I sped it up just to shorten the time I needed to spend listening to the poor narration.

ok

The story was engrossing, but I did not care for the readers halting style at all. He read in fits and starts, always pausing mid sentence. I found it to be annoying.

A decent story, but not great.

Someone could suggest to the author that the use of foul language denigrating women does not enhance the story.

I did not enjoy the narrator as his narration was just ok.

Great Read

Kept me guessing until the very end! Love Tami Hoag books, this one is exceptional!

I actually sat still and listened to this ‼️‼️

I loved this totally ‼️. One of the more interesting themes and narrations
Highly recommend this one ‼️

I miss the narrator from the last 2 books!

I guess I got used to the narrator from books 1 & 2 in this series so it took me a little while to get into this book! He did a great job it just wasn't the same.

Love Liska and Kovac

Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust are two of my favorite books by Ms. Hoag and I was excited to see that another book featuring Dets. Liska and Kovac was available. I had read this book when it first came out and bought the audio book several weeks ago after listening to the first two books in the series again.

Kovac and Liska are both seasoned detectives who's sense of honor and justice weigh heavily on them both. They stand for the victim, not the prosecutor or the victim's family, but the victim. Pursuing every lead and going down every rabbit hole until they ferret out the truth whether anyone wants to hear it or not, Liska and Kovac don't give up until they get the truth.

good story, bad reader

The story was quite good but I did not care for the reader at all

Enjoyed

Loved the narration.
Good story to keep me reading and feel happy with ending.
I enjoy books by Tami Hoag and this series.