Book Review: In the Woods

In the Woods by Tana French

My review

 
rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are sometimes when I read a book and get insanely jealous of another writer’s ability. This is one of those times. French is able to put words together in a way that often left me stunned.

(The basic plot of the book, for those of you who don’t know, goes as follows (per Booklist): “Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, land the first big murder case of their police careers: a 12-year-old girl has been murdered in the woods adjacent to a Dublin suburb. Twenty years before, two children disappeared in the same woods, and Ryan was found clinging to a tree trunk, his sneakers filled with blood, unable to tell police anything about what happened to his friends. Ryan, although scarred by his experience, employs all his skills in the search for the killer and in hopes that the investigation will also reveal what happened to his childhood friends.”)

The book was full of twists and turns, and I believe it will stay with me for quite some time. I highly recommend it, but with one caveat: don’t go in expecting your typical police procedural. Honestly, this book felt more like I was reading Literature than a crime novel, if that makes sense. It’s a book you’re supposed to think about after you finish the final page. Read it and tell me what you think–I’d love to talk to someone about it.

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