I'm reading the series, but not exactly in order. Of the four that I have read, this was my favorite. It probably won't appeal to everyone, but I appreciate the author's ear for spot-on dialog. It is the story of a darkly disturbed Dublin family and the consequences of mindless violence. Not flawless in plot development and resolution, but the fascinating character development made up for that. It felt as thought I was actually crouched in a corner of their living room in an overstuffed chair, dumbstruck at the mindboggling and toxic cocktail of family loyalty and brutal abuse. I admit it took me a while to see French's method, but now I'm in love. The main character of each book being a secondary character of the last is what keeps this series novel and fresh, especially with the first-person POV meaning that we get the rest of the story.Also, each narrator represents a hackneyed archetype of police procedurals (reliance on them is a plague in the genre, both film and literature). They start out following a script, being who they think they should be until tragedy or trauma jerks them out of it and that facade is completely dismantled. Rob was the maverick detective, who turns out to be a selfish, narcissistic prick. Cassie is a spunky, hard ass female cop who has to learn that letting someone in will wreck that facade, but make her life worth living. Now Frank Mackey...I didn't expect to like him after The Likeness. His affectations as the typical chip-on-his-shoulder bad boy, calling every woman "babe" were annoying. But he became a character I was so invested in. His "spurned by a first love, now can love no one" origin story gets ripped to pieces when he realizes that may not be what happened at all. His story was heartbreaking and beautiful and his evolution as a character was masterful.On the face of it, so many of these characters are male and straight, true, but that's because French seems to have a lot to say about traditional masculinity, and she uses it to good purpose, and not just for the main characters like Frank. That's how you write about yet more white, straight, male detectives with tortured pasts and not make it hackneyed. In fact, I'm not sure anyone else could pull this off, but I'm glad French can.
What do You think about Faithful Place (2010)?
Another amazing piece from Tana French. A little bit of a tear jerker.
—JaBriaMonet
Fun read. Not so gripping as the first two.
—tamarnic
