In the Woods: A Novel (Dublin Murder Squad)
The bestselling debut, with over a million copies sold, that launched Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher and "the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years" (The Washington Post). "Required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting." --The New York Times
Now airing as a Starz series. 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 and stunning in its complexity, In the Woods is utterly convincing and surprising to the end.
Now airing as a Starz series. 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 and stunning in its complexity, In the Woods is utterly convincing and surprising to the end.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
I struggled to get into the story, but once I did, I found it rather riveting and engrossing. Midway through the book, I realized that this wasn't a typical detective series. This wasn't just a classic who-dun-it. I was watching one detective self-destruct while another stood by helplessly unable to help. I was rooting for their partnership. I was willing them to win and continue on, but it wasn't meant to be apparently in the mind of the author. In the end, she chose to destroy the magic of the 2 fascinating characters she created. Nothing really sweet or poetic about it. She blew it all up.
So yeah, I'm not a fan of the ending. Nothing neat and tidy here. And sure I don't like it when an author leaves so much unanswered and so many lingering questions in the air. In this case, she solved one crime, but left open the tantalizing crime that started it all - the one that still aches to be solved and will haunt her characters forever. I respect her creative choices. She chose to stick to a more real ending because this is what LIFE is like after all -- so many unsolved mysteries are still out there, so many crimes unanswered, victims never put to rest, etc. It's a sad but true state of affairs...and not as appealing to this want-to-be idealist. Only time will tell whether I choose to read more by the author or not.
So yeah, I'm not a fan of the ending. Nothing neat and tidy here. And sure I don't like it when an author leaves so much unanswered and so many lingering questions in the air. In this case, she solved one crime, but left open the tantalizing crime that started it all - the one that still aches to be solved and will haunt her characters forever. I respect her creative choices. She chose to stick to a more real ending because this is what LIFE is like after all -- so many unsolved mysteries are still out there, so many crimes unanswered, victims never put to rest, etc. It's a sad but true state of affairs...and not as appealing to this want-to-be idealist. Only time will tell whether I choose to read more by the author or not.
While I understand why people loved this book, I also understand why people hated. There were parts that drug and were hard to get through. I don't like that it left the case involving Ryan unsolved. I also had it pegged from early on the "who done it" in Katy's murder. It kept me reading to get a finalization of the book. I do, however, absolutely loathe two of the characters now and don't think I have disliked. characters in a book so much before.
Read this for my book club. One of the best books I've read to show a police procedural for a local murder in the woods of a small town in Ireland. Also one of the best books I've read to show an unreliable narrator. He tells us right at the beginning: “I crave truth. And I lie.“ And finally ... one of the best books I've read with a duo investigative team. French exhibits beautiful prose within a horrific murder case. I'll have to read more!
Confession: The first time I found myself identifying with this book was page 137. This is what I read...She talks about reading unsuitable books from their libary - The Golden Bough, Ovid's Metamorphoses; Madame Bovary, which she hated but finished anyway...
That's right. I was having a terrible time convincing myself that it would be worth it to keep reading. I was thisclose to quitting. All I could think was:
THIS SUCKS AND IS SLOW AND BORING AND JUST NOT DOING IT FOR ME.
And I don't know when it happened, but it did. I was suddenly utterly enthralled. I finally realized that the book wasn't going to be what I expected. This was not going to be a fast-paced, edge-of-my-seat thriller. This was not going to have me sleeping with the lights on. This was not going to be a YA book that moved very rapidly and had events happening left and right - BAM! BAM! BAM! Once I reached this very important level of acceptance, I found myself really loving this book. I had forgotten what it felt like to addicted to a book and wishing there were more pages. I forgot what it was like to feel truly invested in the story and to have only gotten there by slogging through some "boring" pages (although I feel like if I went back and read them now, my eyes would be fresh and my mind more welcoming). The writing, which I found mediocre if not slightly annoying in the beginning, grew on me. I found myself chuckling throughout, and eating up every damn word. The characters were phenomenal and memorable. Iwas am so attached to them. The "relationship" between Cassie and Rob is one of the best developed I've read in a while.
The Story
You can read the blurb. It's pretty accurate. The main character had two friends who disappeared when he and these two friends were all younger and playing in the woods. He is the lone survivor (and I say that loosely because the other two were never found) but does not recall what happened that day. Fast-forward and he is a murder detective assigned to a case in which a little girl is found murdered in the same woods.
Please don't think that there is no mystery involved in this when I say it's not a thriller. This is most certainly a murder mystery complete with a whodunnit. It is also a mystery of a man and his surrounding world - what is real and what is not. You always want your (mostly) likable main character to be honest - is he really, though? There is a lot of character development and a lot of details. I will warn that everything will not be tied up with a pretty, fancy bow in the end. There are "conclusions" you may not favor. Despite this I feel like I would have been satisfied if this was the only book and not a series. I was very happy to discover that there were more in this series (with a different main character is appears) because I can't get enough.
Now what do you say we do a little discussion on the main characters? Go ahead? Ok! I'm going to leave out all of them except for Adam Ryan ("Rob") and Cassie.
Rob
He is the voice in this book. Everything you will learn is through his eyes. These are his perceptions. This seems quite straightforward at first until you realize that his perceptions are just that - perceptions. And they are coming from a guy who can't even remember what happened when his friends disappeared. These perceptions are coming from someone who has very little nostalgia (this was something quite hard for me to digest, as nostalgia affects me so deeply). He has some memories of the past but often discovers these "memories" were inaccurate. As someone on the murder squad, you expect him to be able to read others, to be a stand up citizen, to have a keen eye. Instead you realize that he is easily fooled by people, drinks like a fish, and misses most clues. He screws up and is utterly human. I liked him. I want to know more about him.
Cassie
Cassie is everything I want in a female character. She is strong and witty yet sensitive to others. Despite this, she was harder for me to like. Her (work) partner, Rob/Adam Ryan, is the only opinion we have, so for some time we can only pick up what he thinks of her. And while he has high opinions of her, you initially see her as a bit drab and a bit of a loss cause. As the story progresses, we become more aware of her actions and tell his skewed opinions to shut up the hell up because HEY! WE REALLY LIKE HER! His views of her are ever shifting as well. I am really excited to read the next book in which she stars in. I want to see what is in her mind because, quite frankly, Rob can be a bit daft and shallow...especially when it comes to women.
This is one of the few books that I had such a hard time picking up for the first quarter of the book, then had a terrible time putting it down, and then ended up giving it FIVE VERY WELL DESERVED STARS.
That's right. I was having a terrible time convincing myself that it would be worth it to keep reading. I was thisclose to quitting. All I could think was:
THIS SUCKS AND IS SLOW AND BORING AND JUST NOT DOING IT FOR ME.
And I don't know when it happened, but it did. I was suddenly utterly enthralled. I finally realized that the book wasn't going to be what I expected. This was not going to be a fast-paced, edge-of-my-seat thriller. This was not going to have me sleeping with the lights on. This was not going to be a YA book that moved very rapidly and had events happening left and right - BAM! BAM! BAM! Once I reached this very important level of acceptance, I found myself really loving this book. I had forgotten what it felt like to addicted to a book and wishing there were more pages. I forgot what it was like to feel truly invested in the story and to have only gotten there by slogging through some "boring" pages (although I feel like if I went back and read them now, my eyes would be fresh and my mind more welcoming). The writing, which I found mediocre if not slightly annoying in the beginning, grew on me. I found myself chuckling throughout, and eating up every damn word. The characters were phenomenal and memorable. I
The Story
You can read the blurb. It's pretty accurate. The main character had two friends who disappeared when he and these two friends were all younger and playing in the woods. He is the lone survivor (and I say that loosely because the other two were never found) but does not recall what happened that day. Fast-forward and he is a murder detective assigned to a case in which a little girl is found murdered in the same woods.
Please don't think that there is no mystery involved in this when I say it's not a thriller. This is most certainly a murder mystery complete with a whodunnit. It is also a mystery of a man and his surrounding world - what is real and what is not. You always want your (mostly) likable main character to be honest - is he really, though? There is a lot of character development and a lot of details. I will warn that everything will not be tied up with a pretty, fancy bow in the end. There are "conclusions" you may not favor. Despite this I feel like I would have been satisfied if this was the only book and not a series. I was very happy to discover that there were more in this series (with a different main character is appears) because I can't get enough.
Now what do you say we do a little discussion on the main characters? Go ahead? Ok! I'm going to leave out all of them except for Adam Ryan ("Rob") and Cassie.
Rob
He is the voice in this book. Everything you will learn is through his eyes. These are his perceptions. This seems quite straightforward at first until you realize that his perceptions are just that - perceptions. And they are coming from a guy who can't even remember what happened when his friends disappeared. These perceptions are coming from someone who has very little nostalgia (this was something quite hard for me to digest, as nostalgia affects me so deeply). He has some memories of the past but often discovers these "memories" were inaccurate. As someone on the murder squad, you expect him to be able to read others, to be a stand up citizen, to have a keen eye. Instead you realize that he is easily fooled by people, drinks like a fish, and misses most clues. He screws up and is utterly human. I liked him. I want to know more about him.
Cassie
Cassie is everything I want in a female character. She is strong and witty yet sensitive to others. Despite this, she was harder for me to like. Her (work) partner, Rob/Adam Ryan, is the only opinion we have, so for some time we can only pick up what he thinks of her. And while he has high opinions of her, you initially see her as a bit drab and a bit of a loss cause. As the story progresses, we become more aware of her actions and tell his skewed opinions to shut up the hell up because HEY! WE REALLY LIKE HER! His views of her are ever shifting as well. I am really excited to read the next book in which she stars in. I want to see what is in her mind because, quite frankly, Rob can be a bit daft and shallow...especially when it comes to women.
This is one of the few books that I had such a hard time picking up for the first quarter of the book, then had a terrible time putting it down, and then ended up giving it FIVE VERY WELL DESERVED STARS.
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