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| The Entertainment Review |
| By: Tana French Publisher: Viking |
For those who have read “In The Woods” by Tana French and have been waiting for the Dublin based sequel are
going to be happy with what they read in “The Likeness.” French sharpens her style, hones her protagonist and
narrows her perspective. The result is a book that is sure to keep readers up in order to finish this amazing story,
which is a sign of success for any book.
Many readers will enjoy this book much more than its predecessor. That novel introduced readers to the former
partner of Detective Cassie Maddox, Rob Ryan, as he told of their investigation. The characters and the dialogue in
the book proved to be very intriguing, but the plot seemed to be far too ambitious and it had far too many details.
The sequel turns to the next major case that Cassie undertakes and turns on a idea even more daring that Rob’s
own dilemma in “In The Woods.” This time around Cassie must take on the persona, or likeness, of Lexie Madison,
who she strongly resembles, in order to find the killer that she is searching for.
The prose the French uses carries a forceful yet often poetic delivery. Those that read some of the passages aloud
will quickly recognize a personality behind the printed words that Cassie speak throughout the book. Both Rob and
Cassie emerge as full bodied characters, and where “The Likeness” is arguably much better that “In The Woods”
when it comes to the concentration on a more restricted and gothic type of setting that allows a fewer number of
characters to prowl around under her inspection as she seeks to solve the mysterious case of Lexie Madison.
Through her investigation Cassie interrogates a local farmer who speaks as a rural Irish young man about what the
Big House in question, Whitethorn, represents to villagers left out of the boom. Cassie also speaks to an airheaded
yuppie opportunist that sounds like a stoned sophomore that many see as the stereotypical student on college spring
break. The continued homogenization of Ireland under the globalized media and capital gain their own eloquent
critique from a resident of the Whitethorn that sets in motion the last third of the book that will keep readers waiting to
find out what happens at the end of the book. As she did with “In The Woods,” French places her detectives into an
exurban Dublin that dispiritingly shows the loss of place, the destruction of heritage and the long memories of what it
means for the Irish to be dispossessed of both tradition, roots, family and comfort.
While the book isn’t completely void of a few bits of humor, especially early in the book, it is a serious entry into a
vanishing past under a SUV, executive driven and clueless profiteering included. Neither of the books revels in
stereotypes, religion and pubs, gregarious barflies and menacing priests are as absent as any sustained evocation
of Dublin’s charm or Wicklow’s peace. The future of French’s Ireland appears as desolate and cheapened as much
of the rest of the advanced world. In it, as Rob learned, so does Cassie how desperately those who resist such
progress may be twisted in their desire for escape.
going to be happy with what they read in “The Likeness.” French sharpens her style, hones her protagonist and
narrows her perspective. The result is a book that is sure to keep readers up in order to finish this amazing story,
which is a sign of success for any book.
Many readers will enjoy this book much more than its predecessor. That novel introduced readers to the former
partner of Detective Cassie Maddox, Rob Ryan, as he told of their investigation. The characters and the dialogue in
the book proved to be very intriguing, but the plot seemed to be far too ambitious and it had far too many details.
The sequel turns to the next major case that Cassie undertakes and turns on a idea even more daring that Rob’s
own dilemma in “In The Woods.” This time around Cassie must take on the persona, or likeness, of Lexie Madison,
who she strongly resembles, in order to find the killer that she is searching for.
The prose the French uses carries a forceful yet often poetic delivery. Those that read some of the passages aloud
will quickly recognize a personality behind the printed words that Cassie speak throughout the book. Both Rob and
Cassie emerge as full bodied characters, and where “The Likeness” is arguably much better that “In The Woods”
when it comes to the concentration on a more restricted and gothic type of setting that allows a fewer number of
characters to prowl around under her inspection as she seeks to solve the mysterious case of Lexie Madison.
Through her investigation Cassie interrogates a local farmer who speaks as a rural Irish young man about what the
Big House in question, Whitethorn, represents to villagers left out of the boom. Cassie also speaks to an airheaded
yuppie opportunist that sounds like a stoned sophomore that many see as the stereotypical student on college spring
break. The continued homogenization of Ireland under the globalized media and capital gain their own eloquent
critique from a resident of the Whitethorn that sets in motion the last third of the book that will keep readers waiting to
find out what happens at the end of the book. As she did with “In The Woods,” French places her detectives into an
exurban Dublin that dispiritingly shows the loss of place, the destruction of heritage and the long memories of what it
means for the Irish to be dispossessed of both tradition, roots, family and comfort.
While the book isn’t completely void of a few bits of humor, especially early in the book, it is a serious entry into a
vanishing past under a SUV, executive driven and clueless profiteering included. Neither of the books revels in
stereotypes, religion and pubs, gregarious barflies and menacing priests are as absent as any sustained evocation
of Dublin’s charm or Wicklow’s peace. The future of French’s Ireland appears as desolate and cheapened as much
of the rest of the advanced world. In it, as Rob learned, so does Cassie how desperately those who resist such
progress may be twisted in their desire for escape.
