In the Woods

A Novel

By: Tana French

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins

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.

©2007 Tana French (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

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)

Get this man some water!

This was my 2nd attempt at listening to this book. Love Tana French’s writing but the narration was so difficult to get through. Not only can you hear this poor man’s dry mouth smacking but his stomach rumbling too. Through the whole book… It was a slog to get through.

The ending was not it.

The beginning of the book starts off so good, setting up the detectives, getting into their lives. the entire time I felt bad for Ryan, so you can see why the ending was absolute crap. He lost EVERYTHING because he was gullible in one moment. tearing apart the 2 best friends/partners and them never speaking again was in many ways the worst part.

I would of never read the book if I knew detective Ryan would be alone, in the woods as he was in the beginning as a boy.

Really enjoyed it

It was long but I loved the deep detail and context. I very much enjoyed it.

Fabulous

A brilliant look into imperfect lives doing the best they can. Enough resolution of the whodunnit to satisfy, but also realistic lack of conclusion to the questions of troubled souls. Great narrating as well.

Definitely worth a read if love detective novels and/or a good story

Great story and characters. Totally immersive. Sad it's over. Now on to the author's next book. Loved it on audible.

Good overall story horrible protagonist

The overall murder mystery and premise of the story is great if not a little predictable. The main issue I have with this book is the main character is 100% not likable. I can’t even feel sorry for what happened to him as a kid because of the actions he takes during the present. I almost gave up listening because of how much I disliked him and the actions he takes. I get your not supposed to necessarily like what he does but I can’t find anything redeemable in the character:

the ending was a disappointment

I loved this book all the way until the end. There was too much left that didn't get a proper ending.

Brilliant story line.

This is a truly clever mystery. Shame it came to such a carefully sad ending leaving the reader sorry for everyone except the head cop.

Realistic but difficult

He says that we were all fooled by Rosalin, but that’s not true. I can’t say it’s unrealistic but it was hard to feel anything for the narrator by the end.

The narrator was great

I think the story was kind of obvious and half baked. I mean not like I could write a better story. I guess it was a really good idea that didn’t deliver. But I liked the narrator. Because I liked the idea I think I will give the author another chance.