Broken Harbor

Broken Harbor by Tana French
Published 2012

About the Book:

The mesmerizing fourth novel of the Dublin murder squad by New York Times bestselling author Tana French

Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Tana French’s bestselling Faithful Place, plays by the book and plays hard. That’s what’s made him the Murder squad’s top detective—and that’s what puts the biggest case of the year into his hands.

On one of the half-built, half-abandoned "luxury" developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children are dead. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care.

At first, Scorcher and his rookie partner, Richie, think it’s going to be an easy solve. But too many small things can’t be explained. The half dozen baby monitors, their cameras pointing at holes smashed in the Spains’ walls. The files erased from the Spains’ computer. The story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder who was slipping past all the locks.

And Broken Harbor holds memories for Scorcher. Seeing the case on the news sends his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family one summer at Broken Harbor, back when they were children.

With her signature blend of police procedural and psychological thriller, French’s new novel goes full throttle with a heinous crime, creating her most complicated detective character and her best book yet. 

My Thoughts:

Another 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads for me!  Love love love Tana French!  This one really kept me guessing for a long time on who the killer was.  As the About the Book states near the end, Scorcher was definitely one of her most complicated characters for the detectives so far.  I went in really unsure what I thought about him, but was really intrigued by him as the book went on.  This one might be one the darkest and most disturbing yet as well of her books, but I like that sort of thing.  I think I was more spooked when reading it late at night than her others too.  What I really love about her books is how they are a psychological/murder mystery genre but also they are really deep, complex character studies.  I highly recommend all of them!

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.

The Cellar

The Cellar by Natasha Preston
Published March 1, 2014

About the Book:

When sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson goes missing one night, her family, friends and boyfriend are devastated. Nothing ever happens in Long Thorpe, so the disappearance of a school girl shocks the whole community. The police waste no time in launching a search and investigation, but with nothing to go on and no trace of Summer, hopes of finding her quickly fade.

Colin Brown, is a thirty-year-old solicitor living alone after the death of his mother. He suffered a traumatic and abusive childhood, and is left with no sense of right or wrong. Desperate for the perfect family, Colin, referring to himself as Clover, turns to drastic measures to get what he wants.

My Thoughts:

Wow, what a crazy, twisted book!  I borrowed this from a friend (Thank you, Kat!) who really liked the book, as did her daughter.  The actual writing wasn't the best ever (but not terrible), but the story itself really drew you in.  The author has a really twisted imagination!  I was anxious to find out what was going to happen, but I was also scared to keep reading and see what would happen.  I don't want to give anything away, but wow, Colin/Clover is a total psycho!   If you can handle pretty disturbing stuff, I recommend this one!