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)

A terrific book that held me captive

I don't know what impressed me more, the narrator or the story!. Clever plot turns and interesting characters. I am going to get the next book right now!

Atmospheric Psychological Suspense

Would you listen to In the Woods again? Why?

I might! Tana French is very good at building psychological suspense, and Crossley does a fine job of conveying tension and unease. It's easy to guess the killer early on in the story, so a repeat listen wouldn't necessarily suffer from already knowing the ending.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I thought the ending was creepy and unsettling, but in a good way. No big surprises in terms of whodunnit, but the slowly building tension as the detectives figure it out was very compelling.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily, but I listened to this book during my morning runs and found it very motivational for getting me up and moving.

Great story

I really enjoyed this book, I got stuck into it and didn't want to stop listening.
The accent by Steven did put me off as I wanted to hear an Irish accent (the next lot of books make up for it). But I understand now.
This was a great book. I hope the character appears again in some of the other books.

Where's the Beef?

I can't really explain the title of this review without including a spoiler, so let's just say that I was disappointed with the outcome. Yes, it was unexpected, which is what we are all looking for in a mystery/crime novel, but not this kind of disappointment, IMHO.

The writing is good and the story develops in an interesting way. The characters are believable - most of them - and developed appropriately.

The reader's performance is mostly good. Voices are consistent from one appearance to the next. He doesn't hurry the story and he is easy to listen to.

I might have to try at least one more Tana French before making a final judgement on the author.

Steven Crossley did not annoy me one time

This wasn't a thrill ride, but high temperature dance that I enjoyed every step of. Steven Crossley is supremely talented at what he does, and his voice just sucks you in. As far as the story goes, I would add it to my list of recommended must reads without hesitation. Tana is smart, raw, and witty. The story was serious, but many times I laughed out loud because of the sheer genius of the prose. A thoroughly satisfying read.

Great Story

What three words best describe Steven Crossley’s performance?

I really am enjoying Tana French's books. However, the narration was a little too annoying for me to not comment about it. If using headphones, the breathing was very apparent. I would suggest listening in a car. Great use of a credit though!

Dublin, Stillorgan, Booterstown

Use to live in Dublin, and story happening in places i am familiar with, it was a nice walk through memory lane. I enjoy the book, nice writing. Will follow with the other parts for sure.

Good book - Terrible ending.

Any additional comments?

I don't know how more people don't comment on the ending of this novel. There are some giant lose ends and it drove me crazy for months after. How can you really not wrap up the protagonist's story? I really don't like that much being left to the imagination.

Disappointed in the ending.

This story started out great and stayed that way until about two-thirds into it but took a dive at that point. I was disappointed that the main character didn't get the answers he needed from his own past and ended up loosing everything he had that was good.

Good Book,

Really well written and character development was good. It was an engaging story all the way through, although I thought the ending could have been better, with all loose ends tied up.