In the Woods - Tana French

In the Woods

By Tana French

  • Release Date: 2007-05-17
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 2,272 Ratings

Description

The debut novel of an astonishing voice in psychological suspense

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 sneakers, 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 chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Richly atmospheric, stunning in its complexity, and utterly convincing and surprising to the end, In the Woods is sure to enthrall fans of Mystic River and The Lovely Bones.

Reviews

  • WAY too long

    4
    By N6061
    It took me forever to finish the book, her writing style is very wordy, too many adjectives and descriptions. It’s like just get to the point and be done with this. I don’t think I can read another of her’s in the series. I would need a break from her writing.
  • No payoff

    3
    By GingerBrittS
    I actually loved the writing of this book, but it is so anti-climatic and the whole point of reading it was to discover what happened to the children in the wood and we never find out. Also, I knew the moment I met the character, Rosalyn, and that she was up to no good so I’m not sure that that was a good payoff either. And the main character narrating turns out to be such a jerk that I lost interest in him halfway through as well. It’s too bad because there’s a lot of good here.
  • Profoundly Anticlimactic….

    3
    By girlguts
    …just like life. It’s been awhile since I’ve found a protagonist as unlikable. This guy is just…..ick. The story is heavy, dark, depressing, and very long. I slogged through because I thought maybe this was the first story of many getting us some answers to his childhood tragedy. The next book is about Cassie. Oh well. The writing really is effective, and beautiful occasionally. Unsure if I’ll revisit this collection.
  • A Little Slow with a Solid Mystery

    3
    By Scott_A_Miller
    3 Stars. Solid enough but a little slow and depressing. It seems to be a series starter but the group that we started out with imploded in a way that the next one will basically have to start over again. The mystery was very well done , though. French definitely did well with that. This will bring me back for the next one.
  • Slow read

    3
    By Pattisapple
    Started out intriguing but slowed down too much in the middle. No closure on one of the main characters. I forced myself to read it all.
  • It was ok

    3
    By boring read
    It was an ok read. When I was done I had so many questions still. And from what I found reading the description of the next book in the series, I won’t get those answers at all. So this was it for me.
  • 5 stars the first 3/4 of the book

    3
    By Davidsmonster
    And then the ending was so disappointing!! I loved the heavy description and sense of mood in this book. I was totally invested in Ryan and Cassie’s stories and each of their trauma. I’m ok with what happens to them in their relationship, but there is so much that is left unresolved! The ending was so disappointing. We are led on for 700-800 pages of beautiful deep feelings and character history to end up no where in the end.
  • Exhausting

    3
    By Grammambo
    Arduous and circuitous long-telling of a short story….only my need to finish what I started got me to the end.
  • Great read

    5
    By solve4life
    Well paced, interesting characters and an ending that was satisfying, without cliche.
  • In. The woods

    4
    By Grammy Jo II
    First Tanya French book I read. I loved it.