In the Woods Dublin Murder Squad Series #1 by Tana French

4.1 (7)
$19.00
Size:No Size
Low Stock

Product details

Web ID: 15625605

The bestselling debut, with over a million copies sold, that launched Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher and, the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years, (The Washington Post). Required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting. The New York Times Now airing as a Starz series. 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.

  • Product Features

    • Suggested age range- Adult
    • Format- Paperback
    • Product dimensions- 5.4" W x 8.5" H x 1.1" D
    • Genre- Mystery and thriller
    • Publisher- Penguin Publishing Group, Publication date- 05-27-2008
    • Page count- 448
    • ISBN- 9780143113492
  • Shipping & Returns

    • California and Minnesota customers call 1-800-289-6229 for Free Shipping information.
    • For complete details, see our Shipping and Returns policies.

Ratings & Reviews

4.1/5

7 star ratings & reviews

Write a Review
2
4
1
0
0
28 days ago
from Nebraska

Good character studies and plotting mostly

I'm late to discovering the Dublin Murder squad books but I'd heard about Tana French particularly since this one won several prestigious awards. I was mostly pleased with the novel and it kept my interest throughout. The juxtaposition of the past trauma and present murder in the main character Rob were well done, and the flashbacks were a good way to tell his mixed recollection and emotions about both events. The internal struggles of Rob felt very real as a wounded soul trying to find stability in his emotions and relationships. The other main characters Cassie and Sam were truly fleshed out people with their own motivations and history that were good counterparts to Rob's. What I liked: - The interactions between the main characters and story arc about how they changed over time - The police procedurals and department intrigues - Multiple pithy comments from the main character about events and people - Some memorable side characters that were fun, including some of the dig team - Complex family dynamics in Rob's past as well as the grieving family - Nice slice of life in a rural working class Irish community on the outskirts of Dublin - Archeology and public domain disputes as side plots - Good pacing, dialogue, and plotting - Morally grey characters without clear distinctions of good and bad in any - I fall on the side of respecting the lack of resolution in the second of the murders. That was frustrating to read but more realistic given all that had occurred. You did learn some things that didn't contribute to it, and that was important. It would have been worse to have a "band-aid" solution tacked on in the last chapters. What I didn't like - Characters who do stupid self destructive things that even they can see a better solution to - Rob and a significant relationship primarily - One of the aspects of the major plot twist was easily predictable and surprising that the other characters didn't react more actively to their observations than Rob - I'm not a fan of child murder cases in general - Most of the grieving family is presented relatively one-dimensionally until the end On the whole, I'm liable to read others in the Dublin Murder Squad books if they come my way, but I doubt I'll seek them out.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

5 months ago

Had potential

It started off slow but I kept reading anyway. It was getting good towards the middle but there were a lot of random “whodunit.” The ending was not what I expected and there was no closure for the main character. So I almost feel like it was pointless to base the book around his life if it doesn’t tie together in the end.

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

1 year ago
from South Carolina

Well written, good story, ending bit disappointing

Well-written, interesting book. Just not a fan of the unresolved mystery at the end.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago
from Chicago, IL

Excellent

This is exactly what I always hope a thriller / suspense book will be. The details, the characters that were flawed and fascinating and my favorite choice by an author-to leave something unresolved. It's a brave choice that I love. I don't like books that have endings that are too tidy. French gives us an intricate puzzle and intriguing characters. Definitely a must read.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

3 years ago
from York, PA

Great book

I really enjoyed reading this book, In The Woods. While reading this book, I enjoyed it because it had a good plot line which made me want to read more of it. The beginning was really good because it gave me an eerie feeling reading about how that boy was gripping the tree with blood-soaked clothes. The mood of the story was almost frightening. Many sections of the book were really descriptive and they also had really good vocabulary words that I haven't even heard before. The time skip was also good. It showed how Detective Ryan wanted to know what happened and how he had grown from his experience. It was nice that Cassie and Detective Ryan’s relationship had changed a lot from when they first met, it showed a lot of growth throughout the story. I'm amused by all the types of figurative language you used in this story. I especially like all the similes, it showed all of the descriptions that anything could be referenced as. In this book, there were such various themes that came to mind after reading this. My favorite part in the book was probably the denouement, I liked it we found out that Rosiland persuaded Damien into killing Katie. We found out that not one person was involved in the murder, instead, there were 2 people. It was a good feeling when we found this out. This book was really good overall. Thanks for writing this book.

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

4 years ago
from Syracuse, NY

I Loved This Book!

Another author I haven’t read before, though I’ve seen many of her books displayed in bookstores. I finally purchased this one, her first book. I admit that when I started reading, for a slight moment I thought, nah, I can’t get into this. It didn’t catch me right away, but luckily, soon enough, I couldn’t put it down. I loved it! The characters and setting are so drawn out that I felt I was there with them, seeing every emotion of theirs and the places they were at. I have purchased more of her books, standing tall in ‘to be read’ piles!

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

4 years ago
from Fairfield, CT

Phenomenal Mystery + Heartbreaking Twist

Tana French is by far my new favorite mystery author. This first book of the Dublin Murder Squad Series is controversial, but in all the right ways. The characters are so fully-formed and three-dimensional that you truly ache for them as the suspense mounts. I know many people have been disappointed by the ending, but I found it to be more realistic than the typical mystery novel that requires suspension of disbelief just to neatly tie up all the loose ends. Tana French's writing is truly immersive and beautiful. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com