Wednesday, August 19, 2015

In The Woods by Tana French

In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad Series #1) by Tana French
Published May 2007 by Penguin Publishing Group
Source: purchased this one at Target on May 26, 2009 - found the receipt still in the book!

Publisher's Summary:
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.


My Thoughts:
Tomorrow I'll share some of the first couple of pages of this book with you. Then, if I can't make you understand here, you'll understand why I was so impressed with this book. I've previously read Broken Harbor and The Secret Place (books 4 and 5 in the series) and been awed by French's writing but the level of writing in the debut novel really wow'd me.
"What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective. Our relationship with truth is fundamental but cracked, refracting confusingly like fragmented glass. It is the core of our careers, the endgame of every move we make, and we pursue it with strategies painstakingly constructed of lies and concealment and every variation on deception. The truth is the most desirable woman in the world ad we are the most jealous lovers, reflexively denying anyone else the slightest glimpse of her. We betray her routinely, spending hours and days stupor-deep in lies, and then turn back to her holding out the lover's ultimate Mobius strip: But I only did it because I love you so much."
And so it will go - a dance between the truth and lies.

Rob Ryan is a wonderfully flawed narrator, as much scarred by the aftermath of what happened to him in 1984 as by the events themselves. With no memory of what happened to him, both Rob and Cassie know that he is treading in dangerous waters as they investigate the murder of Katy Devlin.
"There was a time when I believed, with the police and the media and my stunned parents, that I was the redeemed one, the boy borne safely home on the ebb of whatever freak tide carried Peter and Jamie away. Not any more. In ways too dark and crucial to be called metaphorical, I never left that wood."
As memories begin to seep in, Ryan begins to self-destruct. It was fascinating to watch, as was the relationship between Rob and Cassie. French surrounds them an interesting cast of characters and weaves the two mysteries together seamlessly.

This being French, things are dark, the atmosphere is palpable, the dialogue is strong, and the characters are well-written. There is nothing here that says this is a starting point for French, now watch her grow. It was, perhaps, a bit too long and occasionally loses focus but that's a small complaint given how much I enjoyed the book.

10 comments:

  1. I liked this book a lot but apparently not enough to read the others in the series. Weird, huh?

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    1. I'm usually terrible about following a series. It took someone else pushing me and I still think I'll have a book left.

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  2. Everything I read about Tana French's books gets me more excited to read them! My library has them in audio and I'm thinking about giving that a try. Audio sometimes helps me if the book has a few slow parts or seems to drag a little. However, with as intense as the book sounds I might need the slower parts!

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    1. Although, if they had a good Irish narrator, it would be great in audio!

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  3. Ah, lovely! You liked it. I was afraid you might not. So many were disappointed with this one. I loved it and think it might be my favorite of the 5. Well, maybe I don't really have a favorite. I love them all. I'm very tempted to go back and reread them. How did you book group like it?

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    1. Oh, so not disappointed! The group meets to discuss the books next week - I'm definitely looking forward to talking about them with the others.

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  4. I adored this one of hers. I love her writing, but somehow I am slow to read the series. That's okay. It gives me something to savor in the future.

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  5. I love everything about this book. I've been hesitant to read any of her other books although I really want to, but a little afraid I won't like them as much.

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  6. This one has been on my wishlist for a long time! Glad that you loved it. I will have to pick it. It is part of a trilogy, correct?

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  7. I listened to this one a few months go and really enjoyed the narration...but of course at 20 hours I also felt the length and a bit of the wandering. I think I spent the first half of the book just trying to figure out what the story was! I'm always afraid that I'll miss some key points. But I did really enjoy it and look forward to listening to more of her books. Loved her character development!

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