The Witch Elm

A Novel

By: Tana French

Narrated by: Paul Nugent

Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Named a New York Times notable book of 2018 and a best book of 2018 by NPR, The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, The Boston Globe, LitHub, Vulture, Slate, Elle, Vox, and Electric Literature.

“Tana French’s best and most intricately nuanced novel yet.” (The New York Times)

An “extraordinary” (Stephen King) and “mesmerizing” (LA Times) new stand-alone novel from the master of crime and suspense and author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher.

From the writer who "inspires cultic devotion in readers" (The New Yorker) and has been called "incandescent" by Stephen King, "absolutely mesmerizing" by Gillian Flynn, and "unputdownable" (People), comes a gripping new novel that turns a crime story inside out.

Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who's dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life - he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden - and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, when we no longer know who we are.

©2018 Tana French (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Did the naysayers listen to another book??

I read some of the negative reviews of The Witch Elm, and am gobsmacked. Not liking the main character, thinking he's narcissistic? If your world changed this dramatically, I think you might spend a lot of time thinking about it, as Toby does. Privileged? Yes, but so what? That part of the character gives us more oomph to how these events and changes are so cataclysmic to him. Too long? Man, I love the length. Fleshing out everyone's nuances makes me feel like I am in the same room as the characters. The reader? He is awesomely talented, showing posh and street Dublin, Galway, Midlands accents and more.

In short, I love this book as much as all the other Tana French books. Which is to say, a lot!! She is a treasure.

Ho hum

I was so excited and saved this for a vacation week. I was disappointed. The story unfolds so slowly it gave me road rage or narcolepsy, depending on the moment. I kept waiting for it to get good. It was mildly interesting. I had a hard a hard time believing most of the character’s actions and by the end I didn’t care. I just wanted to finish the book. Don’t waste your credit or your time.

Encore!! Encore!! no, really.

Really, Encore! I wish Tana French could write faster. Every novel is so thoughtful and riveting. The waiting, though,

Very compelling

Tana French wrote a fantastic novel about perception, truth, justice, and human condition. The build up is a bit slow but necessary foundation. Each character is flawed and unreliable. Sorting through it all was compelling. Quite a feat in understanding criminal motivation and human relationships.

A psychological novel about loss and psychopathy,

I’m disappointed. My least favorite of her novels. One of the things that has made French’s previous novels so powerful but also so engaging has been the presence of at least one character who has a moral core. There is one here, but the damage and pathos surrounding him makes the novel depressing rather than intriguing. In the midst of this book that explores themes of narcissism, psychopathy, arrogance, and unfolding truths I found myself wondering why I wanted to put it down. It may be that our rancid political climate has soured me in stories without redemption. I didn’t put it down, and French wrapped things up tidily, but the darkness mirrors the wind and the rain and the Witch Elm Tree in the back yard.

No lack of twists and turns

I liked this book - and the narrator was excellent in spite of a slightly over-the -top style. Still, the English major in me tells me it was over-long and that the plot development sometimes lacked clarity, even after a "big reveal".

Love hate relationship — talented writer, seriously questionable endings

The narrator did an amazing job. I do wonder about his impression of women, only one wasn’t an annoying, flighty person — that may have just been the story though.

As far as the story, and this authors work in general... I am torn. She does an amazing job of bringing the works to life and creating complex realistic characters. We have read two of her books and I find her work enthralling but I hate her endings and I feel like she okays terrible behavior — I’m not talking about the grey area of human behavior or justified misbehavior. I’m not sure if she’s trying to be realistic that the good guy doesn’t always win or if she missed the flaws of her own characters and rewarded the bad guy. On I listened to ended like it was a love story but part of the couple was abusive and twisted. I’m not sure if she felt he redeemed himself or what but it left a bad taste. This story ending made a little more sense but left me unsatisfied and slightly frustrated. It may be intently but it leaves with a love hate relationship with her writing — she has amazing talent but the endings leave a lot to be desired.

Fab narrator

After listening to The Witch Elm, I can’t imagine reading it. Paul Nugent rocked Tana French’s words, characters and exceptional novel. Narrators can ruin a good story. In this case, I cannot imagine a better performance.

provocative and gripping

Tana French once again takes over my brain with complex believable characters and thorny concepts.

French keeps on truckin........

If I would've read the reviews for this book before I bought it I probably wouldn't have. But I'm glad it worked out as it did, I really enjoyed this book.

The book is 22 hours long with each chapter an hour or more. I like to end my listening sessions at chapter's end so I had to be mentally ready to start a chapter and listen to the end.

I would think if the publisher's of the book didn't like the length they would have had the author change it. As it stands the author put exactly what she wanted into the book. There was good character development, good crime work, with the author putting as much explanation into the different scenarios as she wanted. I would call this book a psychological crime thriller, a lot of the book is spent inside to head of the protagonist which I like. There is lots of time spent wondering what it, life, is all about. In the end, there didn't seem to be any certainty to that question, life happens and we deal with it the best we can. You can choose whatever perspective you want no matter how bad or good it gets. At least that was my take.