In the Woods

So so good. I was listening to the audiobook of this, but I got antsy and compulsively bought the book for my ereader when I was on disc 15 of 18. Yes, this book is so good I spent $13 just to read the last bit ASAP. I was spending far too much time in my car after I got home because I couldn't stop listening.

So, one of the things I love most in literature is the unreliable narrator (see my reviews of [a:Kazuo Ishiguro|4280|Kazuo Ishiguro|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1262833627p2/4280.jpg]). There's something about that device that's so intriguing to me. Detective Rob Ryan is the kind of narrator who talks directly to the reader, who says openly that he lies, who clearly wants you to like him and see things from his POV even show more though he realizes that he's kind of an asshole. You spend so much of the book trying to figure him out--and especially trying to figure out what's really going on behind his believable but somehow fishy descriptions of people and events. This is the kind of trick that can't really be pulled off realistically in any medium other than literature. I love it.

And, not to brag, but I will say I figured out the Katy Devlin case way before it was revealed. show less

Wow, this one was a great surprise. I have a real issue with reading books set in Ireland, mainly because I can never figure out how to pronounce Irish words. I mean, Siobhan is pronounced "Shah-von"? Really? So my brain automatically stops when I get to Irish place names or what have you, and it's very unsettling. I read somewhere that this is the curse of the child who learns to read too early--we spend the rest of our lives saying "Horse Doovers" in stead of "or derves."

Anyway, after the first chapter I pretty much forgot that this was "Irish fiction" because it was just such un-put-downable crime fiction. The characters were amazing and the mystery was unsettling and twisty. The author's descriptions of the woods were particularly show more great, and there was some really nicely written foreshadowing which I always am impressed with, since so often the author blows it for me and ruins the ending in chapter one. Tana French didn't do this, the reveal was pretty masterful and I'm kind of jealous of her mad writing skills.

So, yes, 4 stars. Maybe 4 and 1/2. Looking forward to others in the series. show less

My first Tana French book was "Faithful Place" - another Dublin Murder Squad mystery (these have a diverse group of characters who investigate murders). I thoroughly enjoyed it so I thought I would start with the frist one. This was her debut novel and it is extraordinary! A murdered child is found near the place where two other children disappeared, presumably murdered, years earlier. The two detectives who are assigned, Ryan and Maddox, have their own haunted pasts and secret entanglements. Will their respective pasts interfere with their ability to solve this crime, will it color their judgment, and will their separate pain and the stress of the investigation bring them together or drive them apart. The plot is brilliantly executed show more and will provide even the most seasoned armchair detective with plenty of twists and turns. Her characters are intricate with complex interactions. And she builds their relationships and emotions expertly as she develops the serpentine plot to its height of deflection before she resolves it. A psychological page turner that will hook you in and hold you to the very end. I see why this one launched her career. show less

In the Woods is the story of two crimes which occur in the same Irish location twenty years apart. The crimes are linked by the narrator, Rob Ryan, a detective in his 30's who was the sole survivor of an assumed child abduction case, where the other two children are never found. All these years later he still can't remember anything that happened that day in the woods. His narration guides this story, so we get a deep look into his mind and the psychological effects of the trauma he suffered through as a child.

The current crime that involves Rob and his partner, Cassie Maddox, is the murder of twelve year old Katy Devlin in the very neighborhood Rob's friends were abducted from over twenty years ago. No one but Cassie knows Rob is "Adam show more Ryan," the lone survivor. Circumstance and evidence provide a tenuous link to the old case. Although it could cost them both their jobs, they decide to keep this a secret from the rest of the investigators because they believe it will have no bearing on the current case. Cassie grows increasingly wary of Rob's judgment but she keeps silent while they probe into the old case and look for parallels with the new. However, there is another possibility. Katy's body is found on an archaeological excavation site. The site is also the home of a future motorway and the politicians are adamant that the motorway will be built, despite the on-going archaeological work. The dead girl's father is head of the local anti-motorway group and has received several calls threatening his family.

I have mixed feelings about this book. In the Woods has depth of character, complex emotions, and a riveting story that I really enjoyed. Rob is our main character in this novel because the entire story is told in his first person narrative, but Cassie is also an equally important character. You see the friendship between Rob and Cassie, which is beautiful and filled with understanding. The characters are flawed but still very real and you find yourself wondering why they are making decisions that are obviously bad. There are some serious problems with the story that I won't go into for fear of spoiling the ending. Despite those issues, I'm going to try another of French's Dublin Murder Squad novels soon. show less

A twelve year old girl is found murdered at an archaeological dig. Partners Cassie Maddox and Rob Ryan are put on the case and immediately find it a bewildering mess of conflicting clues and little physical evidence. To make matters worse, there are hints that this case is related to the disappearance of Ryan's two best friends twenty years ago. As the investigation falters, Ryan begins digging in his repressed past for answers.

The first half of this was enthralling. French has a beautiful turn of phrase and weaves the past, present, and Ryan's evasive narration together into an intoxicating whole. But at some point Ryan starts making really stupid mistakes and acting like an asshole, and by the end of the book I was too infuriated with show more him to enjoy the mystery's solution. In fairness, it's a testament to how well crafted the characters are that I got so angry and disappointed with him, as though he were a real person I was watching self-destruct.

Super, major, plot-ruining discussion from here on out.
So the basic premise is this: Ryan and his two bffs were children in the woods of Knocknaree. In 1984, his friends disappeared and Ryan was found in blood-drenched shoes, with slashes across his back, and no memory of what happened. At the end of the book, I think there's the implication that something supernatural--perhaps the Horned God or the King of the Wild Hunt, based on the stone the construction worker finds--took his friends so they could stay in the woods forever. It's not actually explicitly stated, and I don't think Ryan or the reader is supposed to know for certain what happened.

Katy's death was completely unrelated to the old case. Her oldest sister Rosalind is a psychopath who hated the attention her sister was getting, so convinced a boyfriend to kill Katy. Afterward, Ryan repeatedly interviews Rosalind in search of clues, and while he does so, Rosalind manipulates him. Between her machinations and his confusion&horror about being back in Knocknaree, he messes up the case, gets himself kicked off the Murder Squad, and ruins his awesome friendship with Cassie. I thought the clues about Rosalind were very well laid. A number of the times she manipulated Ryan I caught on, but I never put it all together into the truth. I just wish Ryan had been a little less of a fucked up fuck up--I was sad that he ruined his career but heartbroken when he ruined his relationship with Cassie--and that there'd been more of a resolution as to his friends' disappearance. show less

Though the isbn is the same as the one pictured, my edition of this book has a much creepier cover and tagline:



Needless to say, I was completely expecting something a bit dark and twisted, a creepy psychological murder mystery with an outcome I never saw coming. And I got that. But I never expected this book to leave me feeling so... sad. And you know why? Because I cared. Ms French carefully builds up a complex personality for each of her characters, complete with a past, a sense of humour and some serious issues to go with it all, and you can't help but care what happens to the detectives even more than you care what happens with the case.

This would have been five stars easily if it wasn't for one pretty huge issue that everyone who show more has read the book will understand immediately. For me, it didn't ruin the read and I'm still surprised the average rating has been so negatively affected by it, but it was a pretty ginormous gaping hole that I couldn't completely ignore either.

[b:In The Woods|237209|In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1)|Tana French|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1283565569s/237209.jpg|3088141] is a deeply psychological read that explores the nature of psychopaths and memory - or lack of. The story is narrated by Rob Ryan, a detective on the Dublin murder squad, who is sent back to his home town in hopes of unravelling the case of a local child murder. A young girl found dead in the very same woods in which Detective Ryan played as a child. But Rob Ryan has a secret. Years ago two of his friends disappeared whilst playing in those woods and whilst he was with them and a witness to whatever happened, he retains no memory of the events. His friends were never found. The question is: will this new case bring back old memories? Is there some piece of evidence that's waited twenty years to be found in those woods?

A case like the one Rob and his partner - Cassie - face would leave a very personal mark on anybody, you cannot investigate the murder and sexual assault of a child and keep it just business as usual. As the investigation progresses and leads the pair in a number of directions only to meet with dead end after dead end, it begins to take its toll on the two detectives, they come out of it very different people from those we knew at the beginning. It seemed a very realistic and rather sad progression.

I'm not saying that every wordy paragraph in this beautifully-written novel was needed, but I personally didn't want them to be taken out. I think the main reason I enjoyed this novel so much was because it is about far more than a murder mystery, it's about all the people involved and how they are affected. And I was honestly on the verge of tears after reading the ending and then reading friends' reviews of the second book in this series and discovering that we never get to hear more from Rob.

There's a touch of love in this book, just a touch, not enough to be called romance. No descriptive sex. No sweet-nothings. And it fucking broke my heart. show less

In the Woods is the story of two crimes which occur in the same Irish location twenty years apart. The crimes are linked by the narrator, Rob Ryan, a detective in his 30's who was the sole survivor of an assumed child abduction case, where the other two children are never found. All these years later he still can't remember anything that happened that day in the woods. His narration guides this story, so we get a deep look into his mind and the psychological effects of the trauma he suffered through as a child.

The current crime that involves Rob and his partner, Cassie Maddox, is the murder of twelve year old Katy Devlin in the very neighborhood Rob's friends were abducted from over twenty years ago. No one but Cassie knows Rob is show more “Adam Ryan” the lone survivor. Circumstance and evidence provide a tenuous link to the old case. Although it could cost them both their jobs, they decide to keep this a secret from the rest of the investigators because they believe it will have no bearing on the current case. Cassie grows increasingly wary of Rob's judgment but she keeps silent while they probe into the old case and look for parallels with the new.

However, there is another possibility. Katy's body is found on an archaeological excavation site. The site is also the home of a future motorway and the politicians are adamant that the motorway will be built, despite the on-going archaeological work. The dead girl's father is head of the local anti-motorway group and has received several calls threatening his family.

I have mixed feelings about this book. In the Woods has depth of character, complex emotions, and a riveting story that I really enjoyed. Rob is our main character in this novel because the entire story is told in his first person narrative, but Cassie is also an equally important character. You see the friendship between Rob and Cassie, which is beautiful and filled with understanding. The characters are flawed but still very real and you find yourself wondering why they are making decisions that are obviously bad. There are some serious problems with the story that I won't go into for fear of spoiling the ending. Despite those issues, I'm going to try another of French's Dublin Murder Squad novels soon. show less