The Secret Place

A Novel

By: Tana French

Narrated by: Stephen Hogan, Lara Hutchinson

Length: 20 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Listen to the New York Times best seller by Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher and “the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years” (The Washington Post).

A year ago a boy was found murdered at a girlsʼ boarding school, and the case was never solved. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to join Dublin’s Murder Squad when 16-year-old Holly Mackey arrives in his office with a photo of the boy with the caption: “I know who killed him".

Stephen joins with Detective Antoinette Conway to reopen the case - beneath the watchful eye of Holly’s father, fellow detective Frank Mackey. With the clues leading back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends, to their rival clique, and to the tangle of relationships that bound them all to the murdered boy, the private underworld of teenage girls turns out to be more mysterious and more dangerous than the detectives imagined.

©2014 Tana French (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An absolutely mesmerizing read." (Gillian Flynn)

"A book full of giddy, slangy, devious schoolgirls who cannot be trusted about anything, at least not on the first, second, third or fourth rounds of questioning.... Part of this book’s trickiness is its way of letting characters hide the truth behind the smoke screen of language and let both readers and investigators gradually figure out who is lying." (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

"There are echoes of Leopold and Loeb and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, but the language and landscape are unmistakably French’s, as is the way she excavates the past to illuminate the present." (O Magazine)

TERRIBLE FEMALE NARRATOR-RUINED THE BOOK FOR ME

It was hard for me to rate the story when the FEMALE narrator absolutely ruined the book, for me. She has one of those voices like on a commercial or maybe morning talk radio that you just find your self ignoring. All of a sudden I realized I wasn't listening and had to rewind, kept doing it over and over. Stephan Hogan was excellent as he was in Broken Harbor, why couldn't the author or the publicist choose the narrator from the Likeness?!

I remember being a teenager, not in the cool group of kids. I went to a private girls school though not boarding. I knew the boys at the boys school. My best friend went to a catholic boarding school and she still knows knows the school and the nuns of today-granted in the US not UK. They conduct searches of the girls rooms, would have found those phone, she feels. They are not oblivious to the newer age things the kids can get into. So I found the story a bit unbelievable in that area.

The detective part was OK. I was a bit disappointed that the pattern Ms French seemed to have going : of using one detective from the previous novel to be that main detective in the next. I thought that was an interesting pattern to have created. it kept the detectives fresh while continuing with the Dublin Murder Squad. Not that I don't enjoy 10 or 17 or 22 books all with the same lead character but I think it would be quite interesting to write-in these new detectives each new book.

So , sadly, after waiting 2 very long years for Ms French's new book- I was disappointed and couldn't wait until when I wouldn't have to hear Lara Hutchinson's voice ever again.

I have listened to the other 4 books twice and must go listen to one again just to get her voice out of head.

I must also say the very end was no surprise.

Another Good Story from Tana

This book makes me happy that I didnt grow up in the age of the internet. High School was hard enough 40 yrs ago, this depiction of HS now was downright scary! Tana French has a talent for weaving a complicated story that doesnt get boring. The reader was excellent. I love those Irish accents! I still chose Faithful Place as my favorite of her books!

Good Mystery, Good Characters

Where does The Secret Place rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The characters are interesting and well-developed, though stay away if you don't want to delve into the minds of teenage girls. The plot is unpredictable and the performances are good. Irish accents and slang.

Too many girls?

I love French's writing--her prose is intelligent and imaginative. Unfortunately, I found it really hard to keep all the girls school characters straight. I'm not sure if that is the fault of listening and having a few too many interruptions that prevent complete concentration on the story. Might be better read on paper.

Fantastic story and structure!

i don't usually read mysteries --this changes my mind! the way in which the story is told is is lovely

Listen to great theatre

Would you consider the audio edition of The Secret Place to be better than the print version?

Live theatre is always better than reading.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Can’t see the value of identifying a favourite character..it’s a work of fiction where all characters should have a role even if its only "Fifth Business."

Have you listened to any of Stephen Hogan and Lara Hutchinson ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Stephen Hogan is extremely good at keeping characters separated, despite doing the voices for eight teenagers he manages to create a "theatrical performance" in the best sense of the term. The book listens like the best in BBC radio drama.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The secret place of the teenage mind.

Any additional comments?

The alternating adult detective/school girl chapters/ narrator, dampens the suspense and plot development. Almost stopped listening it was so annoying but having persisted you are rewarded with an intelligent story.

Another excellent Tana French mystery

I listened to this on Audible. The two narrators are terrific, using various Irish accents. It kept me engaged every minute and I hated for it to be over. As always in French's books, the characters are well defined, interesting and believable, the story is complex yet not obscure, the plot is character-based, and the writing is so excellent I can hardly believe it's a "mystery" novel. No formulaic stuff here. Now I've read all of French's books. Hoping for another to come out soon!

Suspenseful as always!

Loved it! Took me a couple replays on the switchback to understand initially but when I figured that out, I couldn't stop listening.

Another engaging story from Tana French

Tana French's stories are completely engrossing. Once I start, it is hard to stop listening. The readers draw you into the world of the story and you are immersed in every twist and turn. The only thing I don't like is that I have finished this audio book and there init another Tana French book to read or listen to. Ms French! Please write more!

Wonderful

So happy I chose to listen in spite of some of the negative reviews.