Rebecca's Reviews > In the Woods

“Human beings, as I know better than most, can get used to anything. Over time, even the unthinkable gradually wears a little niche for itself in your mind and becomes just something that happened.”

When he was twelve years old, Adam Ryan went playing in the woods 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.

This story line twists and turns to keep you interested and the characters are well thought out and interesting. The interaction of these characters is well constructed and believable and modern day issues are weaved into the plot. I enjoyed the descriptions of the area which lightened a sometimes dark plot.

The author’s voice is clear and humanly self destructive but gains the reader’s empathy because it is recognisably us. I really enjoyed this book and found it totally engrossing and beautifully written. I got quite a few ‘scandi noir’ vibes throughout. The story was extremely well plotted. I did feel it dragged a bit about 3/4 of the way through, and would have liked more resolution to the original mystery and slightly less introspection by the main character. But that's just me being trivial.

Overall, this book is a big full read which I enjoyed from start to finish and highly recommend.

Thank you (Dorian) for recommending this Author/book to me. I really enjoyed it 💖

4.5