My dad is obsessed with Tana French. He loves her so much that he even suggested I look like her. The resemblance is wild stretch and he was clearly projecting. Regardless, his deep affection for her writing meant he left me a copy of this book during his last visit. Thanks dad!This is a spooky detective mystery set in that creepiest of places, the modern day suburb. The book individualizes the most massive crisis to hit my generation: the housing collapse and economic downturn. It's such a huge problem that's affected all of us, but unless you're slogging through Picketty, it's rare to read about. This book paints a clear, shattering portrait of the impact on one small, inconsequential family. The humanity! The savagery! What does it even mean to come out clean on the other side of something so awful?Almost better than all that, though, is French's writing. She keeps you guessing all the way through. At times, you think you've outsmarted the detectives and you're patting yourself on the back and smirking until HOLY SHIT, what just happened? Then you're sure the detectives are absolutely fucked, how will this ever resolve in the next 20 pages? Good heavens, Tana French, at least buy me a drink first. While I enjoy French's languid pace, I was frustrated by it in this book. A family has been murdered, with one survivor, in a locked house. It just took too long to get to the point where the killer was discovered. Maybe my patience level wasn't in the right place to read this, but I was disappointed and skipped ahead to where things finally started happening. A real let down after the early books.
What do You think about Broken Harbour (2012)?
Another psychological thriller with flawed characters. Disappointing ending.
—kamelysh
It was good, really didn't know who did it til the end.
—rossi
