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)

Great-But not quite as good as the others

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

Very well read but...since the story takes place in a girls school, listening to adults do teenage girls is very tedious after awhile. They all tend to sound like vapid brats just because it's hard for adults to do kids. That would the only reason not to listen...all the other characters are superb.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Again, not as much as the others, but it was a great "locked room mystery" and she always has incredible characters and motives. You just can't wait to see what happens next.

What does Stephen Hogan and Lara Hutchinson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

See above.

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

No.

Any additional comments?

I really love her books. Look forward to the next one.

More than a well-crafted mystery

I have been enjoying these novels, although I have to take them sort of intermittently, as they are very intense, psychologically speaking. This one in particular was very compelling and confronting at the same time. The author's various detectives are always complex, battling personal demons of one sort or other, so this tale of teenage schoolgirls who mostly wear their hearts on their sleeves might be supposed to be an easier read. But the author's take on the forces that shape us into the adults we become is thought-provoking and highly identifiable. And compelling and intense. And the mystery is satisfying as well. Really a great read. Taking a break before the next one, though!

Disappointing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not up the the story line quality of her prior 4 books.

Would you ever listen to anything by Tana French again?

Only if the story gets good reviews.

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

Can't recall, but this performance was top drawer.

Could you see The Secret Place being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Justin Bieber would be perfect for the dead guy!

Not the best Tara French effort

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This was not my most favorite Tara French book. It was very tedious to listen to it.

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

I would have made the characters more in depth. There seemed to be no chemistry between the murder detectives, and there were too many young girls to keep straight through the 20 hours plus. The ending was very vague and confusing.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator did little to differentiate between the voices of the school girls. They all were read with a California Valley Girl accent, which, for an Irish boarding school student body was annoying!

Did The Secret Place inspire you to do anything?

Not really

Darn!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

One of my favorite authors. Always have like the narration until now. Couldn't understand the female voice. This is the first time a reader has bothered me so much.

Haunting

Another great addition to the Dublin Murder Squad Series. I can't wait to see what she will come up with next!!

bad narration, good story

there were two narrators, alternating chapters. both read for all the characters in a given chapter, which was odd. it was often difficult to tell which character was speaking. it would have been better to have a single narrator and didn't actors for each main role.

Narration detracted from the book

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

Lara Hutchinson's breathy voice sounded like she was trying to whisper much of the time, making it difficult to understand if there was any outside noise. It is very rare that I have to stop and repeat multiple times because I couldn't hear the narrator clearly. Her singing voice was lovely. Stephen Hogan had a lower woman's voice that he used with the same intonation for three different female characters (McKenna, Joanne and Orlaigh). He would have done better not to have tried.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Secret Place?

The last chapter in which you realized what Holly had done to try to help Selena, with the understandin of how it had worked out.

Would you be willing to try another one of Stephen Hogan and Lara Hutchinson ’s performances?

I'd rather not listen to Lara Hitchinson again. I liked Stephen Hogan in Broken Harbor.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Holly heard her mother talking about her old school friends and realized that her friendships would be with her even if she lost contact with her friends but that they wouldn't necessarily determine as much of her life ans she had thought.

The Dublin Squad is slowing down

If you’ve listened to books by Tana French before, how does this one compare?

The reading was a bit distracting. A bit like radio drama. I don't like the way the young students voices were done and I prefer one reader. Read me the book, don't perform it.

Any additional comments?

My least favorite of Tana French, but I did enjoy it.

Not Up to Par With Previous Books

What made the experience of listening to The Secret Place the most enjoyable?

As always with Tana French, I enjoyed this book although not quite as much as all the previous ones. Probably because of the female narrator.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I had a very difficult time understanding the female narrator who voiced the girls. She spoke softly and with a heavy "lilt" that made for listening problems. The girls section makes up half of the book, so this was quite an issue for me.