Rating: 5/5
Review:
Brilliant
This is another quite brilliant book from Tana French. It has a crime as the plot driver, but it is really a novel of character, of how groups behave and of the experience of adolescence.
The story is told in two intercut narratives. In the present day, the investigation of the death of a boy in the grounds of a girls' school in Dublin a year ago is reopened by a possible new lead. This is narrated by a young Detective Constable, Stephen Moran, in an utterly convincing voice, beautifully capturing both the narrator and what he experiences. The other tale is of what actually happened leading up to the murder told in the third person in fantastically evocative prose which is almost poetic at times. It is perfectly structured and paced, the tension and atmosphere is built relentlessly and it held me completely gripped.
What really makes this book so good is Tana French's ability to understand and portray the inner world of her characters and the experience of school and adolescence. The detective narrator and the adolescent schoolgirls at the centre of the investigation are beautifully painted and even minor characters are completely convincing. French has the ability to portray people vividly in just a few penetrating words or a couple of lines of dialogue, like a teenage girl observing the wealthy mother of a schoolmate: "Alison's mum has had a lot of plastic surgery and she wears fake eyelashes the size of hairbrushes. She looks sort of like a person but not really, like someone explained to aliens what a person is and they did their best to make one of their own." This is just a random example; the book is full of clear insight, exposure of false posturing and often great humanity and compassion.
This is a very fine novel as well as a gripping crime mystery. Warmly recommended to anyone who likes a gripping, intelligent read.
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