Twelve-year old Adam Ryan was found gripping a tree in the Dublin's Knocknaree forest with dried blood pooled in his shoes, his shirt ripped up in the back, and no memory of what happened to his two best friends forever lost in the woods.
Twenty years later Katy Devlin, a 12-year old local ballet star, is found murdered in the same woods, with grown up Detective "Rob" Ryan, trying to solve her murder while trying to remember what happened to him that summer day in 1984.
In the Woods, Tara French's award-winning debut novel, is a mystery thriller worth the rising pulses and itchy fingers ready to keep turning the page into the wee hours of the night. However, while French creates a tantalizing tangle of plot webs and whodonit clues, her lead characters nearly ruin the book.
Detective Ryan is a surprisingly hollow narrator. He does the usual melancholy borderline alcoholic with too much self-doubt and zero humor. He's a cardboard character who acts more third person than a fleshed-out leader to the story. His partner Cassie Maddox has a touch more pluck as a character, but while her intuition and insights speak to the audience, she also fails into the stereotype of "quirky" with her vespa and college diet.
Thank God the plot is gripping enough to continue on.
Of course, the fourth act is always the most important to a mystery and this one is bipolar. To some, the ending is a mix of both utter surprise and clues along the way, and will wrap up in a gritty package of motive.
However, I image that many people will leave this book irritated. Not all stings have been wrapped up and I certainly won't spoil the book by telling you which ones. Luckily, French has mentioned in interviews that she's not done with this her detective characters, so conclusions may come eventually. If you can wait. If you're ok with answers yet unwritten and are in need of a thrill on a cold summer night, you're in for a treat with this debut novel from a writer bound to be on the bestsellers list for years to come.
0 comments:
Post a Comment