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)

Riveting

Excellent story that weaves a 30 year old murder with a current one., and the intersecting lives that are involved. Believable characters and a poetic writing style. Recommended.

Intriguing!

Couldn't stop listening, ready to keep going through the series, loved the reader. Very good!

lengthy but kept my interest.

loved the narration. but the entire read I was waiting for the big correlation between past and present. kinda let down. The last few lines of the book were frustrating as there is a vague interaction between the main character and a "passer-by ". does this talk mean something? it must, but the book is so long, I can't remember the finite details. I feel I missed the punch line of a very long joke. sucks

Great Start, painful finish.

The narrator was wonderful and a great voice. And the story was intriguing. Then about 3/4 of the way in the main character suddenly becomes absolutely terrible and ridiculously short sighted. All in all I'd skip it.

Predictable and unresolved

The story is predictable and the author doesn't resolve or explain everything. Gave this author 2 chances. Have to move on to something better. Furthermore, The stories are too long and could have easily been shortened by hours.

my thoughts

I loved the book but really was disappointed it said nothing of Wat happened to Peter and Jamie..

couldn't stop listening

really thrilling and great narration! highly recommended for those who love a good mystery/detective story.

Slow moving, but an ok read

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The main character goes off on long tangents that make you lose interest, so I would have left them out as they are not necessary to the story. The ending was terrible, so be prepared for feeling like you wanted something more.

Do you think In the Woods needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I would like to know how the other plot ends, but I don't think there is enough to warrant a whole other book. I wouldn't purchase it if there was.

Any additional comments?

overall, it was an ok read, but it left me feeling angry with the lack of resolution.

Male self-indulgence is just as annoying

Really not worth the time. She drags the self-loathing out so long, I ended up totally unsympathetic to Rob. Although it's occasionally well written her most ambitious efforts to impress are pathetic. Reader sounds drunk at times that don't fit narrative. Begins a sentence with Casey who is Cassie and character probably named Carl is Carhul half the time.

Unsatisfying ending

What did you like best about In the Woods? What did you like least?

I agree with other reviewers that the writing was excellent. I loved the first half of the book. Then it went downhill. The narrator became a jerk, and the story dragged in many places. The ending did not resolve one of the main mysteries in the story. Supernatural things were vaguely hinted at but never explained. I feel like I just wasted a lot of time to be frustrated at the ending. I will not read more in this series.