Sharron

YES.YES.YES. If you are looking for a creepy, atmospheric haunting with strong character development and an engaging, original story then grab this one!!! This author KNOWS scary. Her ability to write had me absorb every word, the atmosphere she creates is incredible and the fear that accompanies isolation and darkness is executed perfectly in her writing.

Jack is a reclusive, defensive ass...yet I bet anyone could relate on some level, I did.

Best narrator I've heard yet! He carries the words well, perfectly.

The bear post.....oh God and the window checking. I don't want to spoil anything!!!

I picked this book based on reviews and I couldn't be more satisfied. I even loved the ending----how many horror writers can successfully pull those off??? I'm a big critic that way. This author has just made it to my top #2 and trust me I read a LOT of horror!!! SO GOOD!

While this book introduced a new and fairly original take on our lead character, it lacked excitement, suspense and action for me. I was right into the idea of a sociopath becoming our ant-hero protagonist but his actions and thoughts were pretty disturbing.

I felt this book was far less a zombie-apocalyse than it was about human nature and the sheer ugliness of people. It came across to me that the author wanted to shed light on the faults in diagnosing oneself and characterizing our own behaviour in broad, general terms. When our anti-hero decides he is evil, he acts out in evil, sick ways.

I can give credit however, to the complexity of his character and his development throughout the book. A transformation of sorts takes place within him and he eventually acts human. Maybe this book was never meant to be about zombies, but the living deadness and anti-social behaviours of people with these types of personality disorders. In this case, the purpose of the un-dead apocalypse was to turn a "dead man" into a living one.

With that being said, the plot itself was STRONGLY centred on this man's thoughts and not much actually happens in this book in terms of action and survival. The zombies feel as more of a back-drop for the characters.

I rated this 3*** stars overall because I did enjoy most of it and it kept me going in order to finish the book. Narration was excellent and writing was superb.

---If the darkness of the human mind interests you, it is likely you will find this worth the credit. If you're looking for a solid zombie tale....not here.

I really enjoyed this audiobook yet I must caution: the subject matter is perturbed and this is no happy story. This book brings into question themes of evil, innocence, justice and the many forms of mental illness and coping mechanisms the human psyche allows.
My expectations were not so different from what I was provided but I will admit I was taken aback several times by the the capacity of evil McHugh's world permits. Just when I thought the pain and suffering was over, more gasoline was poured onto the fire.

Mc Hugh's writing has a unique, mature quality about it and she is able to evoke so many powerful emotions. I experienced a great deal of anger, frustration, sorrow and longing for our heroine, Avery. Also, let me say what an INCREDIBLE VILLAIN Faye is. Puritanical, twisted, self-righteous to the extreme and a master of manipulation, cruelty and deceit. I don't think I've been so captivated and utterly repulsed by any fictional character in this manner before. Faye is not your predictable, stereo-typed villain. She is your worst nightmare.
Mc Hugh is also a clever writer; the metaphor and symbolism are no strangers to her. By the second chapter, I would not be surprised if you found yourself, mouth agape at the realization of title's meaning "Rabbits In the Garden."

As an audiobook, Mc Hugh's characters are brought to life through Kristin Allison's beautiful narration. She is highly skilled and was able to deliver the most flawless inflections and voice variations among the different characters. She was excellent.

I would absolutely recommend this book if you are looking for well written page-turner, something creepy and something with meaning and substance.

***Although this was no happy story, I ended this book with a twisted sense of satisfaction. GREAT ENDING!

I read the mixture of reviews for this book prior to download and despite some horrible reviews, decided to take a gamble on this one. If I were 13 I suppose I might be blown away by this book. However, as an adult reader I have read enough books to know the difference between a good read and a cheap thrill. This book had such promise...

As a fan of the post-apocalyptic/zombie genre I was excited to dive into a female author's perspective on zombies (unconsecrated) and was looking forward to a different take on romantic/sexual tension among characters. I know this book is intended for the young adult reader but I could not help but feel as if I were back in 6th grade.

Reasons:

1) Why was our heroine so gravely pathetic? Either about to sob, sobbing, fantasizing, longing, shaking, burning or gasping for air and unable to speak. We've all met Bella from Twilight (also a pity whore) and we've all seen the polar opposite heroine (badass), but I'm telling you it was VERY, VERY hard to like Mary and she is our only window into Ryan's world.

2) Narration wasn't bad at all...until she attempted male voices. Mono-toned and ultra feminine. To me there were no men in this book.

3) The love "quad" in this book wasn't very convincing at all because Ryan didn't develop the male characters into anything more than one dimension. What does Travis look like? Who is he? Or Harry? Do they even have personalities or are they merely in the book so Mary can lust for them and cry? I never "felt" anything for them because there was virtually nothing to them but names in a book.

4) Not entirely original...M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" echoed in this tale.

4) SERIOUSLY....What is with Authors using the same word in every paragraph? Don't they use a Thesaurus? I felt like every paragraph or every few sentences contained the word "flesh" when so many other words could have taken its place.

I can however, give credit to Ryan's atmosphere, storyline and suspense...despite my criticism I wanted to know what happened. I was entertained, to some degree.

Best Scene: Gabrielle attacking the village.

Should you spend the credit? Only if you are new to zombies/mennonites/cults/conspiracies and teenage love-quads and don't mind a heroine with LOTS of feelings!!!

I loved this book. I found myself looking for reasons to discard my daily routine just to keep listening. With In The Woods, Tana French abandons cliches and illustrates crime fiction in a new light.

Fascinating, tantalizing plot, unique exploration into the depths of memory and how it teases, lies, and still manages to form the basis of self. Despite my frustration in trying to solve both mysteries within this thick, delicious plot, the story unfolds with more finesse than your typical hour of crime-drama TV. It unveils layer-by-layer some of the greatest fears and the least expected horrors both known and unknown to man with careful, deliberate writing. I Loved the three-dimensional characters, loved the suspense, loved the hints of mystery, supernatural elements, and the foreboding darkness emanating from the woods. In addition to a great story, beautiful imagery of the Irish countryside and woodlands create an excellent atmosphere. Riveting read.

Despite all of my above praise I must warn you; this is NOT a story that ends with everything tying together in a neat little bow. It will leave you with a nasty affliction of emotional damage or delight, depending on your perspective.

Side Notes:

Narration: Steven Crossley does an amazing job creating different characters through changes in his tone and voice to bring Tana's characters to life. Although he read ferociously through 20 hours of a 500 page novel, listeners could have been spared his long pauses, throat noises and gulps of water!!! ( A little editing perhaps?)

Reminiscent of the best elements of The X-Files and Law & Order combined, with something entirely new to offer.

WORTH THE CREDIT AND THEN SOME!!!

Execution through Rick's writing style alone renders this book a FAIL to me. Telling a story through a supposed twelve-year-old boy's journal is completely absurd when the rhetoric is sesquipedalian in nature and does not read anything like a journal. That is to say he uses large or unusual words to illustrate simple dialogue, as I just did. It removes authenticity from the entire narrative by what seems a shoddy attempt to confuse or impress his young adult readers. I eventually stopped listening in Part 2 of the book after being completely fed up with the author's sloppy overuse of certain words. A few great examples are the words "flesh", "alabaster", and "corpse." I have never seen an author use word repetition to this extent; especially when it would seem his vocabulary is extensive.

Writing style aside, the story was not very engaging in my opinion because you knew what was coming. Perhaps I expected too much from a "monster" book...

Notice I didn't even comment on the gore? I enjoy a good splash of gore and I will credit his ability to illustrate those scenes well, if nothing else.

Rick could have taken his well done research on Anthropophagi and let the story unfold more like a mystery than a poorly scripted dialogue of observations.

Steven Boyer did a great job, given what he had to work with. It would have been nice to hear distinctions among outside characters however, as they were all delivered in the same voice.

I'd start with the useless journal idea and keep cutting...

My review may be a tad harsh but after reading some fantastic books in the horror and YA genres I simply cannot rate this higher than 1 star.

Although I did not enjoy the book I thought Rick's characters were well done and his historical fiction, believable.

I would only recommend this book for those who do not care about writing style or narrative, love monsters and gore and those who don't mind a fairly linear plot.

I came upon this audiobook after craving more of the well-done AMC TV show

His description of the undead is gruesome and enjoyably disturbing

Never heard Jay before but would absolutely look for his name in the future.

YES.

Despite the stereotypes of fans of the zombie/apocalypse genres, there is nothing

This was my first audiobook ever and my very first read by Lincoln and Child. I'm no published author but I am a big critic of the horror/thriller genre itself and this book did not fail to satisfy me. If you're into a dark, morbid premise then the authors do not disappoint. The ability to not only build suspense but maintain it-they do it well. Innovative twists and turns? Absolutely. I was guessing until the end.

My only "bone to pick" (no pun intended) was the stereotyped, FLAT characters. By flat I mean you are provided an image of each character, a weak, brief personality description and he-said-she-said dialogue. If only the authors took a little more time in character development...an archeologist named "Nora"....really? The thrill of the plot alone was enough to keep me reading but I could not help but feel annoyed at the lack of realism or depth in characters.

It was also kind of ridiculous to use sloppy plot devices...for example, characters finding "secret information" inside a "secret drawer" of a "secret box"....I don't care if you're FBI or not, that doesn't happen.

Overall, the book surprised me and I ENJOYED IT, flaws and all. I recommend it for sure.