Book Review: In the Woods

Book: In the Woods

Author: Tana French

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Brief synopsis:

Quite simply, I couldn't put this book down. It was amazing. I love Tana French's writing and am immediately now reading her second book, The Likeness. I highly, highly recommend her for anyone who likes a good psychological thriller.

Here's an overview of the book:

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children, gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled shoes, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox – his partner and closest friend – find themselves investigating a case with chilling links to that long-ago disappearance. Now, with only snippets of buried memories to guide him, Rob has the chance to unravel both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

As I read the book which I could barely put down, I just grew closer and closer to the character, and loved them for all their flaws. Rob Ryan is innately flawed. He doesn't always treat people well. I don't think it's because he means to be rude or cruel, but because he just doesn't know any better. He's a bit self-absorbed and taking on a case like the one he and Cassie are assigned to only seems bring that out in him even more.

Cassie, on the other hand, is entirely loveable. She's tough, edgy and funny. I just liked her. She kept Rob in his place. But as much as she seemed like a hard-edged cop, she was also very, very real and very, very loving. But to that end, she won't put up with anyone's crap. She's the main character in The Likeness and I'm already enjoying getting to hear the story from her perspective.

I will say, as I mentioned before, the end does not wrap up in a neat little bow. That can be frustrating for some. While, I didn't love where all the characters ended up, I do appreciate where they ended up feels real. Sometimes life doesn't wrap up in a perfect bow. And by the book ending the way it does, there is opportunity to go back and revisit the characters in a new way. I hope French does this at some point. It would be fun to see where Rob goes from here.

Oh and because I love Tana French and want to be her friend, if you, like me, want know know more about her, visit her website.