“What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this – two things: I crave truth. And I lie.”

With the adaptation of one of my favorite series coming to Starz, I thought it was time to share a review on “In The Woods” by Tana French.

Synopsis:  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.

 

A psychological mind-f*** disguised as a murder mystery. If you like books that leave you feeling warm and fuzzy at the end you should not read this book. This isn’t a feel good read.
An hour into the audiobook I was hooked. Ryan and Cassie were lovable right from the start. I love their sarcasm and quick wit. This book was so beautifully written, I felt as if I knew the characters personally. Tana French described these characters so deeply and intimately that I easily became emotionally invested in them. This book would not have been as strong as it was without the intense feelings for the characters.
It’s hard to review this book without revealing any big plot twists. Bottom line though is French knew how to get your mind and heart twisted with emotional turmoil along with her characters. There’s not too much closure at the end but that adds to the creepy and eerie mood of the book.

This is a must-read if you love mystery/psychological thrillers.

*****5 Mind-F, The-Show-Better-Be-Just-As-Epic Stars!*****

In The Woods