In the Woods

De: Tana French

Narrado por: John McCormack

The inspiration for the major new BBC drama series Dublin Murders.

When he was 12 years old, Adam Ryan went playing in the woods one day with his two best friends. He never saw them again. Their bodies were never found, and Adam himself was discovered with his back pressed against an oak tree and his shoes filled with blood. He had no memory of what had happened.

Twenty years on, Rob Ryan - the child who came back - is a detective in the Dublin police force. He's changed his name. No one knows about his past. Then a little girl's body is found at the site of the old tragedy and Rob is drawn back into the mystery. Knowing that he would be thrown off the case if his past were revealed, Rob takes a fateful decision to keep quiet but hope that he might also solve the twenty-year-old mystery of the woods.

©2007 Tana French (P)2008 Oakhill Publishing

Captivating story mostly badly read

I persisted with this because the story was so complex and the characters interesting but nearly gave because of the awful reader: wrong cadence and intonation peppered through. He did get better as it went on.

I enjoyed this book

I really enjoyed listening to this book. The ending left me feeling a bit let down though, but I’d still listen to the book again.

The narrator was great, but the recording sounds a tiny bit muffled. Something I got used to, but almost made me stop listening in the beginning.

Incredible writing, poor ending

I truly enjoyed the delightful literary style of this author. But I became slightly tired of building out the relationship of the two main detectives and the too-cuteness of it, and then that it fell in a heap in the end. I put up with the slightly cloying character and relationship building, almost for nothing it seems. But the writing itself was poetic and beautiful and imaginative and made it worth it for me.

Excellent story

I liked story, characters. On my taste a bit too much self-pitying and victimhood on the part of each single personage. But may be it’s how are things are written now - everyone is a victim of this or that. Especially in Ireland.

An overly stretched short story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Chapters 20 till end (25) is the entire mystery and the whole read.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Predictable and undramatic.

What three words best describe John McCormack’s voice?

Dull and monotonous. Needs lessons in pronunciation. Calling Urdu (oordu) Erdu????? Really? So high handedness and disregard

Did In the Woods inspire you to do anything?

Change the book

Any additional comments?

I'm thoroughly disappointed and completely misguided with Audible's recommendation of this book.

The end ??

Very good listening .. just rather a long listen with twists going nowhere and with no closure !

very suspensful story, annoying voice

Where does In the Woods rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best criminal thrillers, definitely. Keeps you on the edge of your chair and does it by elegant psychological means, not by resorting to guns and chases

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of John McCormack?

pretty much anyone. He takes some getting used to so that you even concentrate enough to understand what he says - Text-to-Voice in Kindle would be about as good. It gets better later in the book, though, so bear with him. The story is worth it!

A very solid writing style

I liked this novel, even though it left me very frustrated with the ending and with a lot of questions. There was something very different in the narration which was great and very realistic most of the time, but sometimes it kind of wasn’t.
I will hopefully convey this part without spoilers: the narrator at one point turns to the reader and tells us about the person behind the murder: “you were fooled too.” I literally knew who ‘dun it’ in the first few sentences when they were introduced. I immediately thought ‘narcissist’ and the step to ‘psychopath’ wasn’t too big.
I can’t say what bugs me without spoilers, all I can say: I wish more things were explained. Maybe in later novels. The writing was good. The main character was a bit of a tool, but a lot of the supporting characters made up for him. Cassie is awesome.

Don't miss this one, literary crime lovers...

Where does In the Woods rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

In the Woods is one of the best audiobooks I've listened to - partly because I love the story & the writing (I've actually read it before) - but also because it's very well read.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The protagonist's back story is gripping & informs the present-day plot & main character's actions. Without giving anything away, the main character starts to lose the plot as past & present come together...

What does John McCormack bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

I usually prefer reading books but love to listen to audiobooks while driving or walking the dogs. One thing I don't like when listening to an audiobook is the (more old-fashioned) over-the-top storytelling style that quite a few readers have - almost like they're reading to children.

John McCormack reads in a more realist style, more like he's telling you the facts in a one-sided conversation. It draws you in. At the same time his voice is very clear & pleasant to listen to.

At first I thought his BBC accent was some sort of horrible mistake, as the character (told in first person) is Irish, but it emerges that he in fact (for an important reason) does have an English accent. It's a brilliant element of John McCormack's reading that his accent very subtly slides into a more Irish one as events unfold.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Many moving moments - & John McCormack doesn't overplay them - he's a subtle reader. Very effective.

Any additional comments?

The ending was almost ruined. As the narrator says his last words - voice low, atmospheric - a loud voice comes almost over his voice & intones 'Audible hopes you've enjoyed this program'. I needed a few beats to process what the ending was telling me - frustrating, & completely at odds with the style of book & the reading.

A nice start to the series

If you could sum up In the Woods in three words, what would they be?

Well worth listening.

What was one of the most memorable moments of In the Woods?

The quality of writing continued to impress me.

Did John McCormack do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

John McCormack was a good, not great, narrator (but I am fussy). Make sure you get this version rather than the one narrated by Steven Crossley if chronic mouth clicks and whistles give you the creeps.

Any additional comments?

The lovely Marian Keyes (via Twitter) often heaps praise on Tana French, so I thought I should give her a go. I wasn't disappointed. BUT although this is a series, the next books are about different characters, so there isn't an on-going story arc as such. The second book lost me with its rather far fetched story. This one, though, is very enjoyable, but beware, not every loose end is tied up.