Down the Darkest Road
Once upon a time I had the perfect family. I had the perfect husband: handsome, loving, successful. I had the perfect children: Leslie and Leah—beautiful, brilliant, precious girls. I had the perfect life in the perfect home, in the perfect place. We were one of those sickeningly perfect families with matching monograms. The Lawtons: Lance, Lauren, Leslie, and Leah. The Lawtons of Santa Barbara, California.
And then, as in all fairy tales, evil came into our lives and destroyed us.
I remember when Leslie was small and loved to have us read to her. Fairy tales were the obvious choice. Our parents had read fairy tales to us when we were children. I remembered the books as being filled with beautiful pictures and happy endings. But fairy tales aren’t happy stories. Only from a distance are they beautiful. In reality they are dark tales of abuse, neglect, violence, and murder.
Cinderella is held as a prisoner and treated as a slave in her own family home, abandoned by the death of her father to the physical and psychological torment of her stepmother and stepsisters.
Hansel and Gretel are abducted by a sadistic maniac who holds them captive in the woods, fattening them with the intent of roasting them alive and cannibalizing them.
Red Riding Hood goes into the forest to visit her elderly grandmother only to find the woman has been savaged and eaten alive by a wild animal.
These are fairy tales.
So is my story.
Leslie was—is—our firstborn. Headstrong and charming, a little rebellious. She loved to dance, she loved music.
Loves music.
Who would ever think a person could be tormented by the choice of verb tense? Past? Present? A choice of little consequence to most people, that choice can bring me to tears, to the point of collapse, to the brink of suicide.
Leslie was. Leslie is. The difference to me is literally one of life or death.
Leslie is alive.
Leslie was my daughter.
My daughter went missing May 28, 1986. Four years have passed. She has not been seen or heard from. I don’t know if she is alive or dead, if she is or was.
If I settle on the past tense, I admit my child is gone forever. If I grasp on to the present tense, I subject myself to the endless torment of hope.
I live in limbo. It’s not a pleasant neighborhood. I would give anything to move out, or at least to remove the pall of it from my soul.
I crave some kind of cleansing, some kind of catharsis, an elimination of the toxic waste left behind in the wake of a bad experience. The idea of catharsis sparked me to begin this book. The idea—that by sharing my experience with the world, the poison of these memories might somehow be diluted—was like throwing a lifeline to someone being swept away by the raging waters of a flood.
The catch, however, is that I can’t escape the torrent no matter how strong that lifeline might be. I am the mother of a missing child.
Reprinted by arrangement with Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from DOWN THE DARKEST ROAD by Tami Hoag.
Copyright © 2012 by Indelible Ink. Inc.
Down the Darkest Road
A tragic crime brings a family to its knees in this chilling new page-turner from incomparable New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag. Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a parent more than the specter of a missing child. When Leslie Lawton is abducted from her small California town, the police are convinced she’s been murdered by a mean, nasty piece of work they can’t arrest for lack of any solid evidence. This inability to bring charges against Roland Ballencoa leads the young girl’s distraught father to commit suicide.
As Down the Darkest Road opens, Lauren Lawton and her remaining child, Leah, have moved to nearby Oak Knoll, where the curious but kind residents are not yet aware that the monster is in their midst. But who followed who?
Lauren is obsessed with her need for revenge, and as she stalks Ballencoa, she grows more outraged by the taunting denials he flings at her during the twisted cat-and-mouse game they can’t stop playing. The detectives who worked the abduction assure Lauren justice will eventually be served. But she will not—cannot—listen as her turn down a dark road leads toward a collision course with an assumed killer…and a stunning truth she may not want to face.
Hardcover Book : 336 pages
Publisher: Dutton/Div of Penguin USA ( December 27, 2011 )
Item #: 13-430799
ISBN: 9780525952398
Product Dimensions: 5.25 x 8.5 x 0.76inches
Product Weight: 13.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Down the Darkest Road 
October 25, 2012
I've read every Tami Hoag book and have always expected her to throw in something different. She's a great writer. Her books are extremely well written. And she really holds your attention writing about a kidnapped child and the fear a mother must go through.
For those of you who didn't like it, so be it. There are other books out there for you. For those who loved it like me, let's give her the kudo's she deserves.
Reviewer: Cathi T
Down the Darkest Road
August 01, 2012
I enjoyed the book, very much. Unlike the 'ladies' who did'nt. It is part of a TRIlogy. Read them in order & see the bigger picture.
As for the 'sex', if it offends, skip it. Personaly maybe the man in your lives could 'read and learn'. You might enjoy more.
Reviewer: Jaynee W
Not her best book
May 05, 2012
I have read Tami Hoag for many years, but have not kept up with her new books until this one. I have been greatly disappointed in her turn toward explicit sex, which didn't used to be part of her great storytelling. I also considered the woman who is the center of this story to be irrational and somewhat lame-brained, for although she lost a daughter to a pedophile, she put her other daughter at great risk and for me, that was unforgivable. I'm sorry to say this is the last Tami Hoag book I will be reading. I left Sandra Brown for the same reason: too much sex, and dirty sex at that, for my tastes. Maybe that's what people want to read these days. However, I am not one of them.
Reviewer: slkeith
My first Tami Hoag read
May 04, 2012
I've been trying new authors lately and I'm glad I ordered this one. I enjoyed it. It definitely kept my interest and made me want to know how things would end. I ordered another one of hers and didn't realize I had read Down the Darkest Road out of order. I'm not sure if reading Deeper Than the Dead will take away from the excitement since I already know things from having read the other one first. I'll give it a try, though. I look forward to other titles by this author.
Reviewer: Mika
April 01, 2012
For me not one of her best, please if an author wants to write in the past, late 80's early 90's lets be correct, it totally ruins it for me when speech is used that has not come into use until the early 2,000's. The phrase that always ruins it for me is GET GO!, which was used in this book. This woman was a basket case, if she wanted to go chasing down the killer of her daughter, she should have found a safe place for the other daughter to stay, we love what we lost but not what we have! Think about it all you mothers out there, what would you do?
Reviewer: sv
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