Author: Tana French
Genre: Police Procedural, Series #3
Published: 2010
Personal Rating: 3.75/5 (good +)
Format: Audiobook
Yearly Count: 44
Frank Mackey, a member of the Dublin Undercover Squad, is called to his hometown when the body of his childhood girlfriend is discovered. After 22 years of being free from his family, Frank is thrust into one mystery after another while having to deal with the very reason he left in the first place - his crazy, dysfunctional family.
This "series" isn't a traditional series. The main character was mentioned in the previous novel The Likeness, but I have no recollection of him. In this one, I kind of liked him, but I did not like his mother or his daughter's contribution to the story line. The story line, by itself, was intriguing and would have kept me guessing without the theatrics of the mother and/or the behavior of the child. (Maybe the audio made the characters more over-the-top than intended, but that's how I received it.) Overall, I enjoyed the mystery and look forward to French's next Undercover Squad escapade.
I've browsed around the Internet and from my observations (so obviously, only from the sites in which I landed and not including Amazon), I discovered that of the three, most people liked In the Woods or this one Faithful Place. Hmmm, I liked The Likeness best! What about you?
I recently read this one and was going to review it, but I was going to include it with my mystery group report. Well, we hardly discussed it. The choice was to read either this one or IN THE WOODS (which I had already read). Almost no one read FAITHFUL PLACE. Now, it's been so long, I'm not going to write a review.
ReplyDeleteI liked it. I didn't love it. As I recall, I liked IN THE WOODS a lot. I haven't read THE LIKENESS yet, but I will. I started it at one point and it just didn't click right then.
I can't find any indication that Tana French is working on another book. We did spend some time in group wondering who the next book would feature. That kid froom the other squad who fed Frank informatiin is what we came up with. What do you think?
I haven't started this series yet, but I really want to.
ReplyDeleteKay ~ He'd be a great one, especially because I remember him! :)
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion ~ The nice thing about this loose series, is that it doesn't matter where you begin.
I enjoyed In the Woods, liked The Likeness, and loved Faithful Place. I thought each book got better than its predecessor. Interesting about the audio versus printed version. I can see how a character might come across more "over-the-top" in an audio version. Sorry you didn't love this one. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the others but have not read this one yet. Thanks for the review as always and increasing my TBR list!!!
ReplyDeleteLes ~ I really think I was at a disadvantage with the audiobook. For me, it played an important role in portraying those characters, and it turned out to be detrimental. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteDanielle ~ Hi, Danielle! Well, Les (above) loved it, so I say stick with the handheld version and you'll be better off. :)