In the Woods

A Novel

By: Tana French

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

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)

Spoilers That Will Help...Do Not Read

Ok, now that I have your attention. I am writing this so it will save you a lot of time and money. I do not like spending 20 bucks on a book that has no discernable ending. We have two crimes that may or may not be linked, and a narrator who may or may not have been involved with at least one of them, and then we find out at the end....nothing.
Yes, I am one of these people who needs the plot nicely tied up at the end (bow not necessary). Tell the story or don't, and don't waste my time getting me all het up that this is going to be great...this is going to be such a huge shocker that I am sticking with the cliched characters and silly banter just to find out.....nothing.
I hate when authors do this, and I do not understand why people feel that this cop-out style of writing is acceptible. I want to know what happens at the end. That's why I read the book!

Loooong

I really like the baseline story of this book, but my goodness, it was painfully long.. About 3 or 4 hours longer than it had to be. I feel like the book would've been more of a page turner, concentrated with the good stuff w/o the meaningless extraneous fluff. Also, after investing soooo much time, it didn't resolve like you'd think it would. I can't get those 20+ hours of listening back :(

frustrated

I very much enjoyed the writing and the plot. I progressed through the book with interest. I figured out the current day culprit early on, but was rewarded to find that I was correct in my assumptions, so that was OK. The major problem for me was that I got hooked on the earlier mystery and was really looking forward to the solution to that crime, which never came. How can an author present a puzzle like that and end his book with no solution? Since there was really no correlation between the two, I wonder if the earlier mystery was even relevent, other than fleshing out the main character.

Just sorry I waited so long to read this!

This book sat in my library over a year before I decided to read it. I was put off by some of the very negative reviews, especially since I typically like a strict police procedural OR a cozy type mystery and rarely like "psychologically-probing" books. This novel is such a breath of fresh air, though. The characters are complex, especially the protagonist. I also like that the author didn't tie everything up at the end with a pretty little bow -- made it seem more realistic. Also, without getting into spoiler territory, it would have been difficult to resolve all the mysteries without stepping over the line from realistic fiction to surprise fantasy twist (given the number of Mulder/Scully references early on, I was a bit worried that was the direction she was taking.)

To my taste, I feel the book could have used a bit more editing (especially the latter third), but perhaps I am just ticked because I couldn't stop listening and had a sleepiness night. Not the type of book you put on sleep mode if you don't want to spend the night hitting the button for 90 more minutes (the reverse snooze.)

I actually would love to see more of Rob Ryan, even in episodic sidebars, in French's future novels. Meanwhile, though, she has introduced us to a number of characters I shall look forward to reading more about. I also love in the end when one date tells Rob he should date younger women because they are don't know the difference between intriguing and "f'd" up. This is an author I will stick with for a while.

Overall, amazing debut novel for French.

The narrator delivers well as the protagonist and does a good job with the other characters as well.

Solid Irish crime story but could've been shorter

Any additional comments?

For a homicide detective novel, it went on longer than it needed to. And the main character was interesting and funny but then he became a jerk to his partner for literally no reason — he admits this — and the book wasn't as good after that, although I guess it needed to happen for the plot. That said, it held my interest and, for once, in a crime drama, the female characters weren't simply males with the gender changed to give the story broader appeal. The female characters were genuine women and an integral part of the story. Sure wish there'd been some payoff to the opening plot twist. For squeamish readers, it wasn't too graphic. I don't feel the need to immediately buy the second book in the series; I'll wait for it to be on sale.

Great Story in Need of Editor

I enjoyed this book. I listened to it...and looked forward to doing so.

The hero is a wee bit whiny...the plot drags in some places...but there's an element to the story that makes it impossible to put down. Compelling secrets, stolen memories and shrewd character portrayals make this one fly.

I did find the main character a little tedious and the obligatory romantic subplot rather flat and uninteresting.

But it's a very listenable audiobook. You won't be sorry.

Eh

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I don't think so. It just went on...and on...and on. Then it ended and continued on and on. I found it hard to listen to and frankly, everytime I listened, when not driving, I soon found myself asleep.

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

Yes, the plot is very good.. There are numerous surprise and shocking events along the way as well.

What does Steven Crossley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He stopped me from skipping ahead.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No....I couldnt stop yawning. Not as good FOR ME as it was for others.

great read

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It wasn't dumbed down for immature readers. The psychology and conclusion were chilling.

It is one of my recent favorites

I liked the 1st person style. The story kept me coming back; in fact, it often kept me driving farther than I really needed. There was a story within the main story and all sorts of tangents that had me wondering what they'd find out next. It's a good mystery that seemed as if it could be a current sad news story. As soon as I finished it I couldn't imagine how much I had enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it.

good but...

As many reviewers have said, there are a lot of loose ends. In that, it IS true to life but perhaps I like my books to be tied up neatly at the end. The characters were well drawn and I was pulling for them but... as also was mentioned, a sequel would be great if it tied up the ends. The writing has an almost lyrical quality which was beautiful to listen to. IF you don't really mind loose ends. Go for it.. IT is well written.