Justin's Reviews > In the Woods
In the Woods
by
by
Seriously, man, I wanted to rate this book higher than two stars. I almost went with three, but I just can't do it. This book felt like it ran this long, exhausting marathon only to collapse into a heap, huffing and puffing just before it crossed the three-star line. Right now it's laying there lifelessly. It might get up slowly and crawl across that line later, but I doubt it.
The protagonist of this book really, really annoyed me. It felt like a parody of one of those old black-and-white movies where the picture freezes and the guy steps out toward the camera, lights a cigarette, pulls his hat down, and goes into this long monologue about life or women or his past or whatever. The action would pick up or a new lead would be uncovered, and here comes Rob rambling on for pages and pages.... and pages.
Example:
Cassie: Oh wow! This thing we just found could connect this murder to events from your past! WHOA!
Rob: That is amazing! Great job, Cass!
::Rob steps toward the camera::
Rob: Yeah, Cassie was like that. She was always finding connections to things and blah blah blah. She made a great partner because hey remember that time 20 years ago when my friends and I were in the woods and blah blah blah I want to tell you about all the people I work with and give you a brief description of each one of them and also explain in detail how my boss is and blah blah blah. My mind is trying to remember what happened 20 years ago and you know Cassie and I are great partners and we're best friends and people think we're dating but blah blah blah. Hey, time flies, man. Did I tell you what happened to me as a child? Did I remind you about Katy? Also, her family sure is weird. The people at the dig site are weird. Everyone is a suspect blah blah blah. Let me pause here to tell you how I deal with my roommate and also O'Kelly and my childhood and my current job and Katy and her weird family and interrogation and coffee and vodka and this dream I had and looking for clues and in the woods and we keep hitting dead ends and and and and and blahhhhhhhhhhhh.
Cassie: Hey, Rob. We have a suspect.
Rob: ...
]
The protagonist of this book really, really annoyed me. It felt like a parody of one of those old black-and-white movies where the picture freezes and the guy steps out toward the camera, lights a cigarette, pulls his hat down, and goes into this long monologue about life or women or his past or whatever. The action would pick up or a new lead would be uncovered, and here comes Rob rambling on for pages and pages.... and pages.
Example:
Cassie: Oh wow! This thing we just found could connect this murder to events from your past! WHOA!
Rob: That is amazing! Great job, Cass!
::Rob steps toward the camera::
Rob: Yeah, Cassie was like that. She was always finding connections to things and blah blah blah. She made a great partner because hey remember that time 20 years ago when my friends and I were in the woods and blah blah blah I want to tell you about all the people I work with and give you a brief description of each one of them and also explain in detail how my boss is and blah blah blah. My mind is trying to remember what happened 20 years ago and you know Cassie and I are great partners and we're best friends and people think we're dating but blah blah blah. Hey, time flies, man. Did I tell you what happened to me as a child? Did I remind you about Katy? Also, her family sure is weird. The people at the dig site are weird. Everyone is a suspect blah blah blah. Let me pause here to tell you how I deal with my roommate and also O'Kelly and my childhood and my current job and Katy and her weird family and interrogation and coffee and vodka and this dream I had and looking for clues and in the woods and we keep hitting dead ends and and and and and blahhhhhhhhhhhh.
Cassie: Hey, Rob. We have a suspect.
Rob: ...
]
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Reading Progress
August 19, 2015
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 19, 2015
– Shelved
September 24, 2015
–
Started Reading
September 24, 2015
–
6.0%
"Started this on the plane ride home, and the first 6% has set the bar high for the other 94%."
September 29, 2015
–
31.0%
"I've read so many short books lately that make this book seem looooong."
October 4, 2015
–
43.0%
"This book really takes its time unraveling the mystery, or peeling back the layers of the onion, or whatever."
October 8, 2015
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 85 (85 new)
message 1:
by
Mandy
(new)
Oct 08, 2015 06:11PM
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It had moments that grabbed my attention, but it wasn't consistent. And it was soooooo sloooowwwwwwwww........
Tana French is worth a second try, is all I'm saying.
and if it helps -I may be beating the dead horse by now- I also feel that while she technically writes "murder mysteries/police procedurals" as a generic classification, they're actually much more intellectual than almost any other I've ever come across in the same genre. they all revolve around murders, being the Dublin Murder Squad series, but the cases worked in them are actually secondary to whatever piece of the detective's past the current case relates to. Tana French explains how people work, how they operate (the Likeness) and cooperate (The Secret Place, the Likeness) and how sometimes the people you grew up with and know fundamentally are people you don't know at all (Faithful Place), or places that were once your favorite can be forever changed in your memories by just one incident (Broken Harbor).
if you read one more in the series and are still disappointed, I'll quit trying to convince you. but if you like your second try, I will claim
victory ;)