In the Woods

Name: In the Woods
Author: Tana French

Tana French

— 2007 —

“

Rob Ryan investigates the murder of a child in the same Dublin woods where his two childhood friends vanished decades ago.

The record

Time
An eveningA season
578 pages, about 12 hours: the length of 1.8 typical books on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climb
Two readers on the same blog post report early trouble: one nearly quit within the prologue, the other quit twice before the midpoint.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live by
In 16 reviews from critics and book blogs, 9 credit the plot and 6 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else does
A critic compares it to Barbara Vine and Patricia Highsmith, both mystery writers with books on the shelf.

on the genre blend
“part whodunit, part psychological thriller (à la Barbara Vine and Patricia Highsmith), and wholly successful”
Nancy Pearl · NPR, 2007
on Ryan and Maddox
“Ryan and Maddox are empathetic and flawed heroes, whose partnership and friendship elevate the narrative”
Publishers Weekly, 2007
on Cassie’s character
“his relationship with her is part of what makes her so compelling and interesting”
a book blog
on the prose
“French’s prose is electrifying and gorgeous, blurring the lines between literary fiction and traditional crime”
a book blog

on the narrator
“too infatuated with her hero”
Marilyn Stasio · The New York Times Book Review, 2007
on the prologue
“The prologue is one of the most overblown, over-written pieces of pure purple”
a book blog
on Ryan and Cassie’s relationship
“spends a little too much time trying to explain and reiterate Ryan and Cassie’s relationship”
a book blog
on the length
“It did not need to be nearly 600 pages.”
a book blog