2011 Book Six - In The Woods

I just finished In The Woods by Tana French. First, the back of the book:

The debut novel of an astonishing new voice in psychological suspense. In Tana French's powerful debut thriller, three children leave their small Dublin neighborhood to play in the surrounding woods. Hours later, their mothers' calls go unanswered. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children, gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, Detective Rob Ryan - the found boy, who has kept his past a secret - and his partner Cassie Maddox investigate the murder of a twelve-year-old girl in the same woods. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him, and that of his own shadowy past.

First, I want to say that I picked this book up innumerable times and put it back down trying to decide if I wanted to read it. Obviously, I finally made up my mind and got the book and did read it. Second, the premise was incredibly intriguing.... Sadly, though, I don't think it panned out. The story-line felt forced at times and there wasn't the big "oh my goodness, THAT is what happened...." moment at the end that I kept hoping for. Much like the case in the book, it felt like the author got a little bored and just decided to wrap it all up, stick a stamp on it, and mail it in.

Don't get me wrong, the writing is good and the first part with some of the character development was interesting, I just feel that the author realized that she needed to wrap it all up and be done with it and did so in a somewhat predictable manner leaving lots of stuff that I felt was promised in the early pages unanswered....

Ah well, they can't all be edge-of-your-seat-page-turners, now can they?

Would I recommend this book? Yeah, I probably would. Would I read another of this author? Possibly, I think she does have talent and perhaps in her next books she'll be able to flow better and either answer all the questions or leave the reader on edge waiting for the next installment...this had neither.