In the Woods

French, Tana. In the Woods.

Oh, Tana French is good. Very, very good. Hard to believe this is a debut novel.

In the Woods is a compelling piece of writing; I really could not put it down -- beautifully written, vivid descriptions, suspenseful, complex characters.

The story is about Adam Robert Ryan, now a detective with the Dublin Murder Squad, but formerly one of three children who went into the woods in Knocknaree in 1984, and the only one who came out again. Jamie and Peter were never found, but Rob was discovered in shock, his socks and shoes bloody, and without any memory of what happened.

Nearly 20 years later, Rob and his partner Cassie Maddox find themselves on the case of a murdered child at an archaeological site next to the same wood in Knocknaree. Is there a connection to the earlier case?

The relationship, the friendship, the interaction between Rob and Cassie is a large part of the attraction of the book.

I really want to tell more, but don't want to give anything away. There are several subplots and some surprises.

So...just a couple of quotes from the prologue:

"Picture a summer stolen whole from some coming-of-age film set in small-town 1950s. This is none of Ireland's subtle seasons mixed for a connoisseur's palate, watercolor nuances within a pinch-sized range of cloud and soft rain; this is summer full-throated and extravagant in a hot pure silkscreen blue."

"The wood is all flicker and murmur and illusion. Its silence is a pointillist conspiracy of a million tiny noises..."

Iliana recommended this one. Thanks!

Fiction. Mystery/Psychological. 2007. 429 pages.