In the Woods by Tana French

This was a really excellent book!! It was highly suspenseful and intriguing. The story starts out with a flashback by telling about the disappearance of three children who were best friends. When they went to the woods to play, no one thought a thing about it because it was something they always did. When enough time had gone by and it seemed apparent they weren't going to show up, the police were called. One of the children was found; his shoes were full of blood. He was no help in relaying what had happened or where the other two were because he could remember nothing. The other two never showed up or were never found. Now an adult, the boy went by his middle name (Rob) so that he would not be associated with what had happened to him as a child. He is now a police detective.

When a murdered child is found in the same town where Rob's childhood incident had occurred, Rob and his partner Cassie are given the case. She is the only person who know of Rob's past. Parallels are quickly drawn between the two situations, and many feel they are connected. Although Rob knows he shouldn't be working on this case, he forges ahead anyway. As he and Cassie work to bring the little girl's killer to justice, great care is taken to show how all of this is affecting Rob; and great care is also given to showing us how this situation along with memories of his own childhood situation lead to the unraveling of Rob.

This was a book I found hard to put down. There was a carefully woven plot which consisted of much intertwined suspense. The characters were developed so well that you feel that you know them personally, and you feel that you completely understand them, their thoughts, and their feelings. If you are fans of books by Deborah Crombie or Peter Robinson, then you will LOVE this book. I can't wait to go out and get the next one (The Likeness).

Suzanne