欧宝娱乐

** spoiler alert ** I was told I was going to enjoy this book from several different people and that worried me. I find that when a book is hyped to me I become a bit more critical and cautious of it because if it doesn't live up to that hype than I am obviously disappointed. In the Woods though? Not disappointing. Tana French definitely earned her Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author.

French has an interesting writing style that I immediately fell in love with. Her descriptions are gorgeous, but she uses them only when neccessary. Where some authors may describe in full every setting, every character, every sight and sound and smell, French holds out those descriptions for the important places and situations. The most perfect place she waited to use her beautiful descriptions for? The woods of course.

The entire book is written like a tapestry on so many levels, with the storyline itself woven so intricately and every word chosen and placed perfectly so. Even though it stays true to your classic "whodunnit?" mystery, it bordered more on thrilling and intriguing rather than cliche and boring as a lot of mystery stories are tending to stray towards lately. French also didn't try and take the story to soem sort of crazy extreme in an effort to make it different and "surprising" which usually reads as confusing and unbelievable. There's layers of mystery scattered throughout, from the law enforcement solving a crime, to the haunting hidden somethings of the wood.

Definitely keeping the whole book alive, fun and interesting are Detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox. Every character we get the chance to meet is written out, even if only appearing on one page, to be a fully fleshed out real person. That's again something that seperates French from the overwhelming group of new mystery writers. Even if she needs a character to serve one purpose, she still writes them as if they have been in the story the entire time and if you were to ask her I'm sure she could give you a full background on those background characters. Rob Ryan especially has background, and his entire character is so flawed that at times it edges precariously on being unsympathetic, a daring risk French took and succeeded at. The fact that the reader is suddenly invested in such real characters heightens the excitement in the entire story and brings it up to that final level that makes it a true thriller.

Please do not read the following if you do not want to be spoiled. Seriously. Stop right here.

Okay. Spoiler time: The only disappointment I had with the book was that Detective Ryan's case from when he was twelve was never solved. I thought we would have the solution of both murders/disappearances. And while it could be argued that then it would have just made for a cookie cutter ending, I still felt it left the book slightly incomplete. One of the things we as readers had become invested in is just left completely unresolved. Still, French manages to do that in a way that you don't feel all that ripped off. I don't know how she did it either. Yet another talent leaving me wanting more from Tana French. Thank God I already have The Likeness in my hands!