The Likeness

The Likeness by Tana French
Published May 26, 2009

About the Book:

The haunting follow up to the Edgar Award-winning debut In the Woods

Tana French astonished critics and readers alike with her mesmerizing debut novel, In the Woods. Now both French and Detective Cassie Maddox return to unravel a case even more sinister and enigmatic than the first. Six months after the events of In the Woods, an urgent telephone call beckons Cassie to a grisly crime scene. The victim looks exactly like Cassie and carries ID identifying herself as Alexandra Madison, an alias Cassie once used. Suddenly, Cassie must discover not only who killed this girl, but, more importantly, who is this girl? A disturbing tale of shifting identities, The Likeness firmly establishes Tana French as an important voice in suspense fiction. And look for French's other mysteries In the Woods, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, and The Secret Place for more of the Dublin Murder Squad.

Tana French's newest novel, The Secret Place, will be published by Viking on September 2nd, 2014.

My Thoughts:

I am so glad that someone suggested Tana French to me.  In the Woods was amazing, and then The Likeness was even better.  The premise of the book is pretty unbelievable, but French works some magic here to make it seem totally plausible.  I think what I love most about her books are her damaged, complicated characters.  Man, she writes them well, and her characters are developed so well that you feel as if you know them.  Her stories are unnerving and disturbing but so good.  The way she pens a psychological thriller could have me reading nothing other than books in this genre if all were like hers.  They are so incredibly well-written.  I don't want to give anything away about this one, so I will leave it at that.  I HIGHLY recommend French's books, and I suggest starting with In the Woods and working your way through them in order as I am doing.  Though they can be read as standalone books, they are a series and each main character has a role in the book prior to theirs.  You get pieces of them that are important to their story from the previous book.