In the Woods by Tana French

If you have not read the book, read it now before you read this "review". One of the better books I have read in a long time. I still don’t know what happened in the woods. For awhile I thought he had killed his friends; I’d almost believe it except there is no explanation for what happened to their bodies. Was there some sort of evilness in the woods that killed them and then left? Besides the actual what happened interest of the story, the characters were also really well written. Rosalind is one of the more terrifying characters I have ever met in between the pages of a book. There are many characters and moments in this story that will stay with me. Rob and Cassie, of course but also Jonathan, Katy’s Dad and especially the ballet teacher Simone. In one of the last pages Rob meets with Simone to talk about the journal of Katy’s that she had found. That scene is so devastating and so well written.

Ok, side note on Rosalind and crazy offspring in general. I have often wondered how does a parent handle it if they have a kid like Rosalind? I saw The Good Son, years ago and in that movie the Mom dropped her evil child off a cliff. But in other stories a kid kills someone and the parents destroy their own lives in an attempt to protect them. I guess in this case the parents went both ways. Jonathan was concerned with his other kids and innocent bystanders and the Mom couldn’t believe anything bad about her daughter. Yikes, scary stuff because it does happen. I think if you created this monster, it’s on you to destroy it. Ha. Obviously I don’t have any kids and maybe I read too many books. Back to the book review; seriously good writing, I was brought into their world. I’m not usually a fan of murder mysteries or police drama but this far surpassed any genre. I have Irish friends so I enjoyed the use of Irish phrases and words. Unfortunately she didn’t use “kicks like a whore” my favorite of the Irish sayings but hey, there’s always the next book.

This was a really excellent book; I will have to re-read it in a year or so and see if I get any more insight into what the hell happened in the woods!