Thursday, November 11, 2010

November Discussion 2- In the Woods



In The Woods by Tana French

First, let's get this off our chest- is it equally offensive when the Brits drop the f-bomb? Just wondering.

In The Woods.

Did you hate it? Did you love it? Did you throw your book against the wall when you were done (like me)?

When Rob Ryan and his spunky, tough-but cute- partner take the case of a murder he is brought back to the scene of his kidnapping (?) and disappearance of his two best childhood friends. The case brings up anxieties, tensions, and night sweats as he tries to piece his memory together in a way that may help the present investigation.

The case has it all.....rape victims, rape witnesses, strange families with weird relationships, weird work site employees, a history of beast like folklore, missing persons, and a beautiful, troubled sister.

We picked it for more of a thriller for our Halloween read (How did it do? Did it keep your attention?)

French did an excellent job in character portrayal. That was her strength for me. It was hard, though, to slowly dislike the main character (and perspective voice) as he revealed himself to be just a commitment phobic, scamming kind of a guy as the story unfolded.

I don't want to include any spoilers here, in case you haven't read it yet, so I am again including a link to LitLovers for their In The Woods discussion guide (please scroll down for the publisher discussion questions).

I will leave you with one question.....
will you be reading book 2?




I am not sure if I trust French enough to go on another joy ride.

2 comments:

  1. OK...now this book is haunting me. I'm wondering wht it would be like to loose such an important part of your life...remember Adam/Roy had those pubescent years that were lost. What does that do to one's pesonality profile? At one time I was pretty sure that I wouldn't finish this book, and now I can hardly wait to get my hands on the next one....The Likeness!

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  2. I threw this book down on the side table when I was done. Bah!!! I was so into it, but I had it figured out at least half way through and I got no answers about Ryan's childhood incident. That is cruel. What about the eyes? The beast? IF figurative, that's pretty weak. I kept waiting for the big TAH-DAH and it never came. Totally anti-climatic. Hated everything about the ending. Man I wish I had finished in time for the bookclub.

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