In the Woods

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Customer Reviews:

A good debut [Posted on 2008-10-03]
This debut novel from Tana French is a traditional police procedural mystery, which I don't usually care for but can manage maybe once a year. The reason I picked this one up in particular was due to its Irish setting, since Ireland is one of my favorite locales for fiction.

It's done pretty well, I think. It's a pure first-person narration, told by detective Rob Ryan as he and his new partner, Cassie Maddox, investigate the gruesome murder of a twelve-year old girl. The suspects are many: her parents, a team of researchers on a dig site where her body was found, a local group protesting the dig - and the group just happens to have a particular tie to the girl's father - and the list goes on. What only Cassie and the reader know is that Rob has closer ties to the murder and its location than anyone else realizes: as children twenty years earlier, he and his two closest friends had been playing in those same woods when the other two children disappeared and Rob - known by his first name Adam then - was found clinging to a tree with blood in his shoes and a completely wiped-out memory. The crime was never solved, the other children never found. Not too long afterwards his family moved away from the area and Adam/Rob went to a boarding school, and over time changed his name and obscured his personal history enough to conceal who he had been so that his bosses don't know the truth and the media can't hound him.

From the beginning of the case he knows he's breaking all the rules and jeopardizing his career by not revealing his identity and obvious conflict of interest to the higher-ups, but because he has never entirely recovered from that tragedy and still does not remember what happened, he feels driven to investigate this new case on the feeling that it may be tied to that day twenty years ago, and possibly solve the mystery of what happened to his missing friends.

Although at times I didn't feel that the author quite got the POV right - i.e., it was sometimes painfully obvious that it was a woman trying to write from a man's perspective - I thought the very personal self-examination Rob subjects himself to throughout the book, and the very real and frustrating flaws he shows, especially towards the end, were compelling. I was not entirely satisfied by the ending but can't reveal why without spoiling, so you'll have to read it yourself to find out! I don't know if my question is ever answered. I do know that there's a follow-up called The Likeness, and although I haven't read it yet I'm intrigued by the fact that in that one the narrative is apparently given by Cassie. I'm interested to get her perspective this time around, both on what went on during this case as well as the new one. I plan to read it in the next few months or so after I whittle down the pile a bit.

All in all a pretty impressive debut, I thought. I'm no expert on police procedurals so I can't pick it apart like a pro, but aside from a few darker moments (human beings really are the most savage race on earth), I enjoyed it and look forward to reading The Likeness.

Forced myself to Finish it [Posted on 2008-10-03]
I could NOT get into this book at all, I forced myself to finish it hoping that it would get better and it didn't at all. I normally don't read books that are placed anywhere else but the US because I find the dialect a little hard to follow but I gave it a shot and it took me forever to finish which isn't like me at all! I would've thought you would've unearthed something more about the 2 missing childern but NOPE!! Not even a hint, nothing, zip, zilch, nadda!

I figured out who did it too quick, it was too easy to detect, maybe from reading too many mystery novels I don't know. It was just a bore, sad to say if another book is written I wouldn't waste my time with this author. Sorry!

My critique is not in the ending... [Posted on 2008-10-03]
...but the middle of this novel! Ms. French's "In the Woods" is, clearly, her first novel. The premise and characters are interesting (and show the promise in French's writing), but her sense of pacing is entirely off. I was riveted by this novel...for a time. By page 200, I had completely lost interest! Boredom is a cardinal sin of mystery literature! If the journey to the conclusion is painfully uninteresting, why would reading sleuths even bother?

I really felt that the middle section of the book was just padding. Readers weren't getting character development or story progression. The entire narrative just meandered for a while. It drove me completely off the wall! I was invested in the mystery and the characters, but I was completely uninterested in the reading.

That being said, French has a talent for characterization and descriptive writing. If she could fix her pacing problems, I would be a huge fan of her work. I plan to (timidly) explore her second novel, "The Likeness" and see if things have improved...

From S. Krishna's Books [Posted on 2008-10-05]

Detective Robert Ryan thought he left his past behind him. He changed his name, and it's been years since he's seen anyone from "back then." There's no one to associate him with Adam Ryan, the boy who was a witness to a crime in the woods of Knocknaree, a Dublin suburb. There were three of them that summer - Adam and his friends Jamie and Peter. One afternoon, the three of them went into the woods as they always did, but two of them never came out. Adam was found in complete shock, his shoes filled with blood, unable to remember what horrible nightmares occurred in those woods.

Twenty years later, Robert is called back to Knocknaree when a twelve-year-old girl, Katy Devlin, is brutally murdered and he and his partner, Cassie, are assigned to the case. The murder evokes memories of his childhood; though no one on the force except for Cassie is aware of his tie to the earlier case, Robert can't help but feel that the two are connected. As he delves deeper into the mystery of Katy's death, Robert uncovers recollections that have lain dormant all these years and must face the memories that he has tried to hide for so long.

In the Woods is at once a police drama and a psychological thriller. While the procedural portion of the novel is certainly interesting, it is the psychological component that really makes it worth reading. French delves deep into Robert's mind, emerging with the threads that have made up his life - threads that seem to be unraveling before his very eyes. As he begins to remember what has been buried for so long, Robert begins to fall apart. His carefully crafted life begins to crumble, and he desperately reaches out to anything that can save him, namely Cassie.

The mystery portion of the book, while intriguing, doesn't measure up. The resolution to one mystery, while well crafted, is a bit disappointing, and the conclusion to the other is nonexistent. One wonders if French did so on purpose in order to be able to continue the story at a later date. There is more than enough material for her to be able to do so. Her next book, The Likeness, continues Cassie's story, so it isn't inconceivable that French will decide to revisit Robert at a later date.

There is also the problem of the characters themselves. While most of the secondary characters are acceptable, Robert is not a very likeable personage. Indeed, in the book, he admits that he has not been portrayed in a flattering light. He seems indecisive and makes the classic literary mistake of shutting everyone out. That said, it seems as though French wanted her main character portrayed somewhat negatively. She certainly has the capability to write sympathetic characters; Cassie is a perfect example. Still, author's intention or not, it is difficult to read a book with distaste for the protagonist.

Overall, In the Woods is a remarkable debut with an intriguing storyline. Though there are issues with plot resolution and character, the novel demonstrates French's remarkable ability to write a psychological thriller. I look forward to her next novel with anticipation.

Originally posted at Curled Up With a Good Book

Average- Run of the MIll Mystery [Posted on 2008-10-05]
This is your basic nothing special mystery book. If you're looking for a standard no thrills, no surprise ending, no exciting climax then this is for you. Issues I had with the book:
-100 pages too long. French gives us too many details about completely irrelevant things. While I love a book with great descriptions this is just overkill. If I had to read one more sentence talking about how it rained and what kind of rain it was I was going to scream.
-The reader discovers the guilty person just like that. There's no exciting build up. It's just blam, this person did it.
-The ending doesn't tie things together. I don't like books that leave things sloppy and open ended. It's just a personal preference.

Overall, if the book had been shorter I would have been fine with it's plot. Nothing special but it wouldn't have taken up so much of my time. But since it was 400+pages, I was expecting something more than your avg whodunit.

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