-
In the Woods
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $27.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Anthony Award winner
Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel winner
Macavity Award winner
The bestselling debut, with over a million copies sold, that launched Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Hunter 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
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.
Critic reviews
"[An] ambitious and extraordinary first novel...rank it high." (The Washington Post)
"Part whodunit, part psychological thriller, and wholly successful...French’s plot twists and turns will bamboozle even the most astute reader.... A well-written, expertly plotted thriller." (NPR)
"In the Woods is as creepily imaginative as it gets." (USA Today)
Featured Article: The 20 Best Mystery Audiobooks to Entertain Your Inner Sleuth
Looking for the perfect audiobook to keep you engrossed and engaged during your next long drive, weekend chores, or a long work day? Look no further than this list of puzzling, mind-bending mysteries that will have you holding on to every word as the narrator pulls you in on the search for clues. We’ve narrowed this wide-spanning genre down to 20 of the best mystery audiobooks we’ve heard so you can get to listening and searching for answers.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Until You're Mine
- A Novel
- By: Samantha Hayes
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Claudia Morgan-Brown finally has it all. Pregnant with a much-wanted first baby of her own, she has a happily established family of two small step-sons and a loving husband with a great career. But she is also committed to her full-time job as a social worker, and her husband travels often. So when Claudia hires Zoe to help her around the house in anticipation of the baby’s arrival, it seems like the answer to her prayers.
-
-
Having trouble..
- By karen on 01-27-15
By: Samantha Hayes
-
Left for Dead
- A Maeve Kerrigan Novella
- By: Jane Casey
- Narrated by: Sarah Coomes
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A violent rapist is attacking women, leaving them for dead on south London streets. When young policewoman Maeve Kerrigan responds to a domestic disturbance, she's horrified to stumble across the latest victim. But as a new recruit - and a female to boot - she'll have to face down not only her own nerves but rampant sexism from her colleagues if she wants to be taken seriously enough to even assist on the case.
-
-
Waste of time & $
- By Mary Ann on 12-11-16
By: Jane Casey
-
Are You Watching Me?
- DS Claire Boyle, Book 2
- By: Sinead Crowley
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dear Elizabeth, I've been watching you. I hope to see you...soon. Liz Cafferky is on the up. Rescued from her dark past by the owner of a drop-in centre for older men, Liz soon finds herself as the charity's face - and the unwilling darling of the Dublin media. Amidst her claustrophobic fame, Liz barely notices a letter from a new fan. But then one of the centre's clients is brutally murdered, and Elizabeth receives another, more sinister note. Running from her own ghosts, Liz is too scared to go to the police.
-
-
Fantastic!!
- By Brett McAteer on 03-06-19
By: Sinead Crowley
-
A Study in Charlotte
- Charlotte Holmes, Book 1
- By: Brittany Cavallaro
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jamie Watson has always been intrigued by Charlotte Holmes; after all, their great-great-great-grandfathers were one of the most infamous pairs in history. But the Holmes family has always been odd, and Charlotte is no exception. She's inherited Sherlock's volatility and some of his vices - and when Jamie and Charlotte end up at the same Connecticut boarding school, Charlotte makes it clear she's not looking for friends.
-
-
3.5 ☆s
- By Ashley C on 01-21-18
-
Falling Off Air
- By: Catherine Sampson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robin Ballantyne's life is finally coming together. After learning she was pregnant with twins and being abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend, Adam, she's settling into life as a single mother. But one night, after putting the children to bed, she hears an argument and suddenly, a body falls past her window. Running outside, she finds the body of Paula Carmichael, a renowned activist.
-
-
Rich, developed and unusual
- By Hannah Coale on 02-02-05
-
Dear Amy
- By: Helen Callaghan
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margot Lewis is a teacher at an exclusive high school in the English university town of Cambridge. In her spare time, she writes an advice column, "Dear Amy", for the local newspaper. When one of Margot's students, 15-year-old Katie, disappears, the school and the town fear the worst. And then Margot gets a "Dear Amy" letter unlike any of the ones she's received before. It's a desperate plea for rescue from a girl who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger - a girl called Bethan Avery, who was abducted from the local area 20 years ago and never found.
-
-
Stunning debut
- By Mystery Maven on 11-18-16
By: Helen Callaghan
-
Until You're Mine
- A Novel
- By: Samantha Hayes
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Claudia Morgan-Brown finally has it all. Pregnant with a much-wanted first baby of her own, she has a happily established family of two small step-sons and a loving husband with a great career. But she is also committed to her full-time job as a social worker, and her husband travels often. So when Claudia hires Zoe to help her around the house in anticipation of the baby’s arrival, it seems like the answer to her prayers.
-
-
Having trouble..
- By karen on 01-27-15
By: Samantha Hayes
-
Left for Dead
- A Maeve Kerrigan Novella
- By: Jane Casey
- Narrated by: Sarah Coomes
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A violent rapist is attacking women, leaving them for dead on south London streets. When young policewoman Maeve Kerrigan responds to a domestic disturbance, she's horrified to stumble across the latest victim. But as a new recruit - and a female to boot - she'll have to face down not only her own nerves but rampant sexism from her colleagues if she wants to be taken seriously enough to even assist on the case.
-
-
Waste of time & $
- By Mary Ann on 12-11-16
By: Jane Casey
-
Are You Watching Me?
- DS Claire Boyle, Book 2
- By: Sinead Crowley
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dear Elizabeth, I've been watching you. I hope to see you...soon. Liz Cafferky is on the up. Rescued from her dark past by the owner of a drop-in centre for older men, Liz soon finds herself as the charity's face - and the unwilling darling of the Dublin media. Amidst her claustrophobic fame, Liz barely notices a letter from a new fan. But then one of the centre's clients is brutally murdered, and Elizabeth receives another, more sinister note. Running from her own ghosts, Liz is too scared to go to the police.
-
-
Fantastic!!
- By Brett McAteer on 03-06-19
By: Sinead Crowley
-
A Study in Charlotte
- Charlotte Holmes, Book 1
- By: Brittany Cavallaro
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jamie Watson has always been intrigued by Charlotte Holmes; after all, their great-great-great-grandfathers were one of the most infamous pairs in history. But the Holmes family has always been odd, and Charlotte is no exception. She's inherited Sherlock's volatility and some of his vices - and when Jamie and Charlotte end up at the same Connecticut boarding school, Charlotte makes it clear she's not looking for friends.
-
-
3.5 ☆s
- By Ashley C on 01-21-18
-
Falling Off Air
- By: Catherine Sampson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robin Ballantyne's life is finally coming together. After learning she was pregnant with twins and being abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend, Adam, she's settling into life as a single mother. But one night, after putting the children to bed, she hears an argument and suddenly, a body falls past her window. Running outside, she finds the body of Paula Carmichael, a renowned activist.
-
-
Rich, developed and unusual
- By Hannah Coale on 02-02-05
-
Dear Amy
- By: Helen Callaghan
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margot Lewis is a teacher at an exclusive high school in the English university town of Cambridge. In her spare time, she writes an advice column, "Dear Amy", for the local newspaper. When one of Margot's students, 15-year-old Katie, disappears, the school and the town fear the worst. And then Margot gets a "Dear Amy" letter unlike any of the ones she's received before. It's a desperate plea for rescue from a girl who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger - a girl called Bethan Avery, who was abducted from the local area 20 years ago and never found.
-
-
Stunning debut
- By Mystery Maven on 11-18-16
By: Helen Callaghan
-
The American Girl
- A Novel
- By: Kate Horsley
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Nan McNamara
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a quiet summer morning, 17-year-old American exchange student Quinn Perkins stumbles out of the woods near the small French town of St. Roch. She is barefoot, bloodied, and unable to say what has happened to her; Quinn's appearance creates quite a stir, especially since the Blavettes - the French family with whom she's been staying - have mysteriously disappeared. Now the media, and everyone in the idyllic village, are wondering if the American girl had anything to do with her host family's disappearance.
-
-
Oh well...
- By Leigh on 08-10-16
By: Kate Horsley
-
Some Kind of Fairy Tale
- A Novel
- By: Graham Joyce
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years ago, 16-year-old Tara Martin disappeared from a small town in the heart of England. Now, her sudden return and the mind-bending tale of where she’s been will challenge our very perception of the truth. For 20 years after Tara Martin disappeared, her parents and her brother, Peter, lived in denial of the grim fact that she was gone for good. Then suddenly on Christmas Day, the doorbell rings at her parents’ home, and there, dishevelled and slightly peculiar looking, Tara stands. It’s a miracle, but alarm bells are ringing for Peter. Tara’s story just does not add up.
-
-
Extremely Well Done
- By Amanda on 07-11-12
By: Graham Joyce
-
The Wicked Girls
- By: Alex Marwood
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two 11-year-old girls meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, journalist Kirsty Lindsay is reporting on a series of sickening attacks on young female tourists in a seaside vacation town when her investigation leads her to interview carnival cleaner Amber Gordon. For Kirsty and Amber, it's the first time they've seen each other since that dark day so many years ago.
-
-
I didn't want to like these girls...
- By Lesley on 08-30-13
By: Alex Marwood
-
Down Cemetery Road
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Julia Franklin
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a young girl disappears in the aftermath, Sarah Tucker becomes obsessed with finding her. Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband’s wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew, as her investigation reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead.
-
-
Not as good as Slough House
- By wisconsinclark on 08-09-20
By: Mick Herron
-
The Beautiful Dead
- By: Belinda Bauer
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crime reporter Eve Singer's career is on the downward slope when a spate of bizarre murders - each carefully orchestrated and advertised like performance art - begin in her territory. Covering these very public crimes revives her byline, and when the killer contacts Eve to discuss her coverage of his crimes, she is suddenly on the inside of the biggest murder investigation of the decade. But as the killer becomes increasingly obsessed with her, Eve realizes there's a thin line between inside information and becoming an accomplice to murder.
-
-
What is this
- By J.Hamp on 02-09-21
By: Belinda Bauer
-
Frantic
- By: Katherine Howell
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In one terrible moment, paramedic Sophie Phillips' life is ripped apart - her police officer husband is shot on their doorstep and their ten-month-old son is abducted from his bed. Suspicion surrounds her possibly corrupt husband, but Sophie believes the attack is much more personal. Sophie enlists her husband's partner in the hunt for her son, but will the history they share prove harmful to Sophie's ability to complete her mission?
-
-
Nice surprise
- By momgiraffe on 10-02-16
By: Katherine Howell
-
The Last Place You Look
- By: Kristen Lepionka
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nobody knows what happened to Sarah Cook. The beautiful blonde teenager disappeared 15 years ago, the same night her parents were brutally murdered in their suburban Ohio home. Her boyfriend, Brad Stockton - black and from the wrong side of the tracks - was convicted of the murders and is now on death row. Though he's maintained his innocence all along, the clock is running out. His execution is only weeks away when his devoted sister insists she spied Sarah at an area gas station.
-
-
Alcoholic PI
- By Karwyn on 05-17-18
By: Kristen Lepionka
-
A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
-
-
series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
-
Resurrection Bay
- Caleb Zelic, Book 1
- By: Emma Viskic
- Narrated by: Lewis Fitzgerald
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Profoundly deaf since early childhood, Caleb has always lived on the outside - watching and picking up tell-tale signs people hide in a smile, a cough or a kiss. When a childhood friend is murdered, a sense of guilt and a determination to prove his own innocence sends Caleb on a hunt for the killer. But he can’t do it alone....
-
-
Excellent book and great 1st book
- By William Michael Dunn on 01-27-17
By: Emma Viskic
-
Luther
- The Calling
- By: Neil Cross
- Narrated by: David Bauckham
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. He’s a murder detective with an extraordinary case clearance rate. He’s obsessive, instinctive, and intense. Nobody who ever stood at his side has a bad word to say about him. And yet there are rumors that Luther is bad - not corrupt, not on the take, but tormented. He seethes with a hidden fury that at times he can barely control. Sometimes it sends him to the brink of madness, making him do things he shouldn’t - things well beyond the limits of the law.
-
-
Scapegoat
- By David on 02-10-13
By: Neil Cross
-
A Killing in the Hills
- A Novel (Bell Elkins, Book 1)
- By: Julia Keller
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What’s happening in Acker’s Gap, West Virginia? Three elderly men are gunned down over their coffee at a local diner, and seemingly half the town is there to witness the act. Still, it happened so fast, and no one seems to have gotten a good look at the shooter. Was it random? Was it connected to the spate of drug violence plaguing poor areas of the country just like Acker’s Gap? Or were Dean Streeter, Shorty McClurg, and Lee Rader targeted somehow?
-
-
A wonderful treat!
- By Joanne on 09-11-12
By: Julia Keller
-
Forward Slash
- By: Mark Edwards, Louise Voss
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball, Ben Elliot
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's posted on your wall. He's following you on Twitter. He knows where you are right now.... When Amy receives an email from her older sister, Becky, announcing that she's off travelling and 'don't try to find me', she is worried. Becky would never do such a thing on a whim. Amy - who is recovering from an abusive relationship that has left her terrified of love - soon finds that Becky had started using online dating sites. Aided by Becky's neighbour, Gary, Amy sets about tracking down the men her sister had dated.
-
-
I Wanted to Love It, but was Disappointed
- By MarisaReads on 12-31-16
By: Mark Edwards, and others
What listeners say about In the Woods
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dottie B.
- 02-14-13
Very mixed feelings (semi-spoilers included)
First, the narration was very good. I would listen to him again.
Second, the first half of the book was also very good even with the overwritten parts. I wanted to know very much what happened in both crimes. I also liked the main characters, and I loved the relationship between the main characters.
Third, the second half of the book really changed my pleasure in listening to the book. The anger and animosity coming from our main character, Rob, was so incongruous with how he had been I was thrown. A very large part of the book that I had been enjoying was the friendship between Cassie and Rob, and once that was taken away, I did not enjoy the book as much.
Fourth, so much of the book was unnecessary and irrelevant that I found myself drifting for long moments (especially during the second half of the book).
Fifth, the conclusion was ridiculous and unresolved and frustrating.
It was almost like two people wrote this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
202 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- John Neely
- 02-01-11
Not worth listening for 20 hours
This book starts with a great idea but it never really develops. There are two mysteries, one in the past, one in the present. The reader is led to believe that they are connected, but after lots and lots of dialogue, memories, etc we find that the first cannot ever be explained (due to "amnesia" on the part of the narrator) and the second could have been solved right away if the right technology had been applied sooner rather than later. The middle third of the book can be dispensed with- it doesn't have anything to do with either plot. Disappointing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
37 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jan
- 03-14-12
Looking for the Next Lee Child?
I'm always on the lookout for multiple book authors like Child, John Sanford, Crais and even Clancy and Grisham. Judging from this first book, Ms. French could be next.
This book was a nice break from the American, everything ties up neatly in the end approach. The characters are intriguing and flawed, and ultimately pay the price (and that's the good guy), but oh so compelling, the realpolitik is (gasp) realistic, the story complex and engaging.
The reader was awesome, crafting words and accents with care, precision and art. Definitely a pleasure and a lovely change of pace to listen to an English accent.
As other reviewers have said, I cleaned the kitchen much longer, took the long way home day after day and stayed up late multiple times to get to the end of this one.
First novels by great authors are one of the rarest and greatest pleasures in reading/listening. Don't miss this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
25 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Sheryl
- 07-07-10
Either love it or hate it.
It looks like people either love this book or hate it. It took me over 8 hours of listening to decide I'm part of the second group. The writing is excellent, even if it does have some language (for those of you who listen in the car with kids!) I just didn't like the ending. I gave it a 3 because it really is a well-written book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Sharolyn
- 06-08-09
In the Woods
This novel is a well written tale that takes its time without dragging. The protagonist is believable and not transparent. The reader is good, although a little "lispy." An excellent listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Lacey
- 07-02-12
Took a left turn and fell off the tracks
This book started out so well, and then.... The main character and narrator is a man with a hidden past, a trauma in childhood that was never resolved. In spite of that, or perhaps because of that, he becomes a detective. He's talented, engaging, and persistent. As he and his partner delve into the murder of a child found in the same location as the site of his childhood mystery, the old trauma comes to the forefront and is always the elephant in the middle of the room. So far, so good, a real page turner figuratively speaking. Then it all falls apart. Our detective makes an error in his personal life and can't seem to recover. The mistake itself is hardly new or different in this world and cannot plausibly account for his permanent slide into incompetence and snarling depression. The current mystery gets solved, but not the old one, which might not be a disaster if the old mystery weren't the core of this man's story. Again, the elephant in the middle of the room on a grand scale. The old mystery has several bizarre features which cry out for some sort of resolution, otherwise why write them in? Why spend so much time on it if there is no progress at all? I almost felt the author had no answer to cover the bizarre set of facts of this old mystery, and therefore left that story line hanging. I might have recovered from the narrator becoming a waste of a human being OR the old mystery remaining unsolved, but not both. Tana French is a talented writer, but I'm almost afraid to read anything else she's written.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- BarbieA1
- 07-18-07
so CLOSE, yet...
Oh my, this book was written more artfully than any I have read in years (and i've read many). I grew to care about the characters and became utterly absorbed in the story. This promised to become one of my all-time favorite novels. Near perfect.
But then the story declined, and left me cold. It became depressing to continue listening... One of the mysteries was solved, but I had the killer picked out early in the story. The second big mystery was left unsolved. I could have dealt with that, had the story involving the major characters come to a more positive resolution.
Tana, you are incredibly talented. You came SO close to writing the perfect novel. Please just work on your story line in the next one, which I can't wait to read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Book lover
- 07-17-14
Terrible narration
What didn’t you like about Steven Crossley’s performance?
You can hear Crossley breathing and moving his mouth, and his performance contains far too many pauses. I actually had to listen to the book at 1.25 speed, just so I wouldn't hear the sound of the narrator swallowing. His voice is perfectly pleasant, but the rest of the performance is enough to drive a person mad.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mare W
- 12-27-15
The point is not the mystery
Having read three other Tana French novels - two of them on audio, I was anticipating ambiguity. She doesn't give all her secrets away. If you're looking for traditional procedural who-done-its, she's not your gal.
I love these novels for her use of language, the haunting beauty of her settings and how fully she describes the historical, economic, social and cultural constructs of Ireland, her adopted country. The resonant voice of her story telling, always first person and especially effective in audiobook form. These elements coalesce and slip down like a smooth, cool mug of Guinness.
With regard to In The Woods, French, writing as narrator and main protagonist, Rob Ryan, as much as tells us not to expect much in the way of clarity in the first line.
“What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this -- two things: I crave truth. And I lie. ”
The point of In the Woods is not the mystery. It is Rob Ryan and the damage he inflicts on himself and others because he can’t remember why his two best friends disappeared when they were children. Or why he was spared. There is resolution, though all is not resolved. As a reader, I didn’t feel cheated by the ending.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- David
- 07-30-07
A little wordy
I found the story interesting and held my attention for the 20+ hours that this novel involves but could have been about 2 hour shorter.
There were many story lines that were behind the scenes but not fully explored and others were dragged on and on and on.
The ending was worth the additional time though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful