In the Woods

Adam Ryan was 12-years old in1984, when he was with two of his friends in the woods. Both friends went missing, never to be found again. Adam was found terrified, with blood in his shoes, "frozen" to a tree. Twenty years later, Adam has since changed his name to Rob and he is now a detective. He and his family had moved away from the area where it had happened years earlier. He has no memory of what happened. He and his partner Cassie take a new case - a little girl murdered in the same area where Rob's friends disappeared all those years ago.

I was drawn in from the start and stayed that way through the entire book. Both cases were very interesting and I loved Rob's interactions with Cassie. This is one book that I did not want to put down. I wanted to keep reading, or if I wasn't already, I wanted to get back to reading. There were a couple of twists toward the end, and I think it ended probably fairly realistically. Loved this book!

I just finished reading this book for the second time, not only to enjoy the excellent writing but to follow up on all the clues. The plot centres ostensibly around the murder of a child on an archaeological site, but the secondary plot concerning the detective and his missing childhood friends becomes front and centre as the book progresses.

I was surprised at the readers who didn't solve the "20 years ago" mystery - Tana French plays it very fair all the way along and gives you a number of clues to consider, without making things plain. The picture becomes clearer as Detective Ryan (who tells both stories) experiences flashbacks, and interviews people who have their own ideas about what happened. He says at the beginning "Our relationship with truth is fundamental but cracked." Tana French's greatest talent is for characterization, and every word and conversation clears another tile of the murky mosaic.

If you were disappointed by the lack of a solution handed to you on a plate, take the time to read this book again and look for the clues and take note of the last paragraph of the opening chapter. The hidden ending gave me a jolt and an incentive to read the next book.

Very disappointing ending. The hook that drew me in was the mystery surrounding Adams (Rob) past. This story never stopped comparing the two crimes and in the end there was no resolution to what happened 20 years ago. If I could sue the author for wasted time, I would.

One of the best mysteries I have ever read, and not a big mystery fan. Beguilling characters, fascinating plot, well written, driven, interesting, frightening, haunting....what an EXPERIENCE this book was! Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended!!!