In the Woods by Tana French

In the Woods by Tana French

Twenty years ago, three preteen children went to out play in the woods near their home and mysteriously disappear.  After frantic emergency calls, one child is found left alive with blood in his shoes and no memory of what happened to his friends.  Needless to say the event haunts the remaining child yet his mind is sealed against the tragedy.  He moves away, changes his name and is forever changed.

Fast forward twenty years and another child is found murdered in the same neighborhood, in the same woods and the main detective on the case, Rob Ryan, just happens to be the child who was found alive clinging to a tree all those years ago.  Detective Ryan, along with his partner Cassie Maddox must solve the mystery of the murdered girl.  Yet it affects Ryan deeper than he knows, as his mind begins unraveling, as images and memories from his past come flooding back.

In the Woods is a psychological thriller that left me anxious to find out what happened to Detective Ryan 20 years ago.  The most recent murder in the book was rather easy for me to figure out and about half way through the book, I told my book club my guess and it happened to be right.  Unfortunately In the Woods offers no resolutions to the reader and I was left confused and bothered that I didn't have all the answers.  I felt mad and cheated because the book is 429 pages and I wanted a neat ending.

On the positive side Tana French is an excellent writer who provides exquisite detail and description.  Her crime detail is well researched and interesting.  It was not scary but a little mind bending and definitely disturbing.  In the Woods is the first book in a series.  I will not be reading any more of French's books but I know the other members of my book club plan to.  So if you love mysteries and psychological thrillers, In the Woods just might be the book for you, even though it wasn't the book for me.