As July winds down, I appreciate your reading with me. I thought Tana French’s In the Woods was a great book, moody and atmospheric. I enjoyed watching Rob and Cassie as a team (she made a great foil for him, and I’m glad to see she got her own book in The Likeness). The ending was the weakest part by far, but I enjoyed the reading up until that point enough that I took a chance and read French’s new novel, The Likeness (between me and you, The Likeness is great – better than In the Woods; you can check out the first chapter of it here). Feel free to leave any final thoughts on the book in the comments section.

In August, join me here on the blog for Sarah Addison Allen’s Garden Spells. More to come tomorrow!

There are a few scenes in the book that suggest that something out of the ordinary is at work in the woods surrounding Knocknaree.

Specifically, I’m thinking of the scene on p. 187 when Rob slams on the brakes of the car and tells Cassie he’s seen an animal of some kind cross the road, on p. 217 when the old woman that Rob and Cassie interview tells them that her mother always believed the “pooka” took the two children from the woods twenty years ago, and p. 282 when Rob experiences strange things spending the night in the woods alone.

To my mind, Tana French suggests the supernatural, but could these things just be figments of Rob Ryan’s imagination? What do you think?

Has your book club already read In the Woods? What did your group think of it overall? Why would you recommend (or not recommend) this book to other book clubs?