In the Woods (Tana French)

While driving for 2 days from Iowa to Utah, I sat in the backseat and digested the best-selling book In the Woods by Tana French.

It started off with a bang. There was immediate mystery. It is a book that is basically an emotional, detailed police investigation, on the scene and behind the scenes. I'd never read a book like tihs before and I was instantly intruiged when I first saw it on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. The plot was full of twists and turns and dead ends.

The plot is that in 1984 (backstory) three children went to play in the woods in Knocknaree and only one of them came out, unable to remember what had happened to his friends but being altogether terrified. In present day, a young girl, Katy Devlin, is found in the same woods at an archeological dig, murdered. The young boy, now grown up and using a different name, is put on the case with his partner, Cassie Maddox.

What I loved about the book is that there is so much background and depth to everything. There is poltiical backstory, emotional backstory and every kind of backstory you could want. And you can't guess whodunit. It's a complete surprise by the end. You'll feel completely betrayed by the text and the characters and the author. But it is a satisfying frustration with the ending. I would read this book again, with pleasure, to catch all the hints I am sure Tana French threw in along the way.

Overall, I'd give this book 8 stars out of 10. It was written with impeccable detail and had an intricate storyline. It is definitely on my own list of my 25 favorite books.