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Whistle Stopper - In the Woods
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List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $7.69
Your Save: $ 6.31 ( 45% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9780143113492
ISBN: 0143113496
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Date: 2008-05-27
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A good first book
Comment: I really enjoyed reading In the Woods. The manner in which it is written (even down to word choice) is evocative and interesting, even beyond the actual plot. And that is something that one does not often see enough of in this genre. The character development and dialogue between the two main individuals in the story is very, very thought-provoking, leaving one wondering about them in a way that just does not happen with most characters in detective-type books. For this reason alone, I think I would buy another book written by Tana French.
Nonetheless, the plot is a bit frustrating. Not because of how the one mystery (of two in the book) is resolved. Despite some people thinking this resolution was unfulfilling and/or simplistic, I liked it. And though the main character does spend a lot of time in the middle of the book drinking and smoking and ignoring his partner, something some other readers also were irritated with, I think this adds to the character development side of the book, presenting a good look at how an individual destructs and a relationship becomes terribly damaged, despite neither side necessarily, ultimately, wanting that.
As for the mystery that remains unsolved, well, that is a bummer. But, this is why I say this is a good first book. Not because I think authors necessarily get better after the first one. (Often, they don't or get worse!) But because I can see this ending of In the Woods as quite masterful, if French takes up the threads of this plot line again in a later book. (I do not believe her next book does, but maybe an even later one . . .)
I merely think, if we can wait over half a dozen books to find out the Harry Potter ending, can we not also wait more than one book for French to tie up some ends? Moreover, not having even something major resolved seems very realistic to me. Even if French never comes back to this thread, I can still see the point behind leaving the mystery unsolved (despite, admittedly, being rather disappointed in the few minutes right after finishing In the Woods that I did not get a clearer answer).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting and frustrating read
Comment: This was an interesting book. It was obvious to me while reading it that it was the authors first novel. I liked that it was long, because I like to read, but sometimes I felt like the author just threw in a bunch of unnecessary words- but besides that Tana French is a very very smart and talented writer. Don't get me wrong, there were parts where I absolutely couldn't put the book down. Reading 3 or 4 long chapters straight through- not realizing I had read so much until my head started to hurt. Although I knew who was behind the murder 1/3 way through the book, it was still a good suspense read. The ending drove me crazy. A very good book all the way through, but at the end I either wanted to throw it at a wall or cry. I guess the fact that it made me so angry proves that it actually was a very good book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wasted potential, disappointing ending
Comment: This book was really well written - the author has a talent for using words. I thought the dual plots were interesting and there was so much potential here that I was greatly disappointed by the lack of resolution at the end. The book was too long somehow, although I can't say exactly why. I just kept reading and thinking "Come on, let's get this solved!" I couldn't believe the way it ended - even if the solution had been a sad or shocking one, I wish there had been a solution of some sort, to have some type of closure. Other than that, I would not warn future readers to avoid the book. It's worth reading.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Knocked me off my feet!
Comment: I just finished Tana French's In the Woods this past weekend, and I have to say it knocked me off my feet! I literally couldn't put it down. The characters have such depth and the plot will definitely keep you guessing...I can't wait to read her new book, The Likeness. Buy this book...you won't be disappointed!
Customer Rating:
Summary: In the Woods -- an Irish Secret History
Comment: The folks who give this a bad review I think are confusing this with a regular detective story. What it reminded me of was a cross between Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell) and Donna Tartt's A Secret History.
The story was a wonderful character development. the "hero" of the story obviously is Cassie, not Rob. And I liked the lack of resolution for the earlier mystery. It had hints of things we really don't want to know, horrors in the shadows, in the closets.
If you want the standard police procedure, skip this. But if you enjoy the works of Barbara Vine or even PD James, you'll love the character development, the "unreliable narrator" that Rob is, the hint of things best left unexplored.
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Editorial Reviews:
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A gorgeously written novel that marks the debut of an astonishing new voice in psychological suspense
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, stunning in its complexity, and utterly convincing and surprising to the end, In the Woods is sure to enthrall fans of Mystic River and The Lovely Bones.
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