Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was… fine
Broken Harbor. A place where a family has been butchered in there own house. Family consisting of a man, woman and two kids. So the story is about who killed them obviously. There is stalker in the picture, creepy neighbours, unknown creature in the Attic. And seeming perfect family and two detectives. One is a experienced with a very good track record arrogance and another is newbie who wants prove himself. And a very good writer.
So what happened? A interesting read but not as good as the her last one. the Faithful Place. This has lot of stupid characters including the rookie cop. I don't understand why few characters did what they did. Actually most of the characters were downright stupid or very very irritating. The writer kept on repeating that the "Broken Harbor" the place was very creepy or may be I picturised it in that way. She explain a lot about about the lead characters background such as there friendship with others especially about the Romance between the characters and the friendship with others. It was fine to a certain extent but after that it was too draging. And got bored with all the unnecessary details. I didn't feel sorry for any of the characters except the husband and the kids. What Tana French try to do I felt was unnecessary, making the husband crazy or killing the kids and not showing proper reason put me off. The reason was not just good enough. So I would say I was not really happy with the book or her story telling skills which I was really impressed with her first book. I really hope her next book will be better than this I really like her books and writing hope she doesn't try to confuse us with her trying to be complicated because that's what I felt like, she wanted to write a complicated story with complicated characters which didn't turn out to be so complicated just really stupid but sure it's a good read and definitely worth your time hope you enjoy it more than I did.
So what happened? A interesting read but not as good as the her last one. the Faithful Place. This has lot of stupid characters including the rookie cop. I don't understand why few characters did what they did. Actually most of the characters were downright stupid or very very irritating. The writer kept on repeating that the "Broken Harbor" the place was very creepy or may be I picturised it in that way. She explain a lot about about the lead characters background such as there friendship with others especially about the Romance between the characters and the friendship with others. It was fine to a certain extent but after that it was too draging. And got bored with all the unnecessary details. I didn't feel sorry for any of the characters except the husband and the kids. What Tana French try to do I felt was unnecessary, making the husband crazy or killing the kids and not showing proper reason put me off. The reason was not just good enough. So I would say I was not really happy with the book or her story telling skills which I was really impressed with her first book. I really hope her next book will be better than this I really like her books and writing hope she doesn't try to confuse us with her trying to be complicated because that's what I felt like, she wanted to write a complicated story with complicated characters which didn't turn out to be so complicated just really stupid but sure it's a good read and definitely worth your time hope you enjoy it more than I did.
Classic weird Irish Tana French! This time, I had no clue who the murderer was- fantastic ending! It was creepy and French wove her characteristic tale of present-day Irish life that envelops the reader completely. I love how she takes characters from the Squad that she introduces in previous novels as pricks, and then totally humanizes them. I hated Scorcher in Faithful Place, but I am now a fan. I love the way she does this!
Read more of my review: http://bit.ly/1c7CgNl
Read more of my review: http://bit.ly/1c7CgNl
Quite sad and haunting. Not my favourite Tana French, but still a good gripping read.
mysterious
Excellent installment in the Dublin Murder Squad. Scorcher Kennedy, introduced in Faithful Place is the lead detective in a brutal killing.
Frightening and wonderful. I am so lucky for randomly picking up Tana French's debut [b:In the Woods|237209|In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1)|Tana French|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1283565569s/237209.jpg|3088141] five years ago returning from France. Once again, the mystery is top-notch but the true take-away in [b:Broken Harbour|10805160|Broken Harbour (Dublin Murder Squad, #4)|Tana French|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1336120776s/10805160.jpg|15718578] is watching Kennedy's slow loss of control and descent into natural chaos. Watching Kennedy along with the victims Pat and Jenny Spain and his sister Dina try to maintain their grasp on reality is scarier than the actual murders, which involve a lot of blood and two dead kids.
What French and [a:Gillian Flynn|2383|Gillian Flynn|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1232123231p2/2383.jpg], whom I consider to be her masterful American mystery writer counterpart, do so splendidly is construct fully realized characters (every character in [b:Broken Harbour|10805160|Broken Harbour (Dublin Murder Squad, #4)|Tana French|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1336120776s/10805160.jpg|15718578] is developed--even minor ones like the snooping neighbors) and wonderfully layered plots in which a hodgepodge of themes come together to display some characteristic of human nature. The premise of every French novel is to expose the killer, but French secondarily exposes something dark and wicked and true about humanity. In [b:Broken Harbour|10805160|Broken Harbour (Dublin Murder Squad, #4)|Tana French|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1336120776s/10805160.jpg|15718578] French demonstrates that there are no real divides between chaos and order even though our minds may build false divides in order to avoid that fact. There are always cracks behind ordered, perfect facades where the true nature of life--chaos--is fighting its way out.
What French and [a:Gillian Flynn|2383|Gillian Flynn|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1232123231p2/2383.jpg], whom I consider to be her masterful American mystery writer counterpart, do so splendidly is construct fully realized characters (every character in [b:Broken Harbour|10805160|Broken Harbour (Dublin Murder Squad, #4)|Tana French|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1336120776s/10805160.jpg|15718578] is developed--even minor ones like the snooping neighbors) and wonderfully layered plots in which a hodgepodge of themes come together to display some characteristic of human nature. The premise of every French novel is to expose the killer, but French secondarily exposes something dark and wicked and true about humanity. In [b:Broken Harbour|10805160|Broken Harbour (Dublin Murder Squad, #4)|Tana French|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1336120776s/10805160.jpg|15718578] French demonstrates that there are no real divides between chaos and order even though our minds may build false divides in order to avoid that fact. There are always cracks behind ordered, perfect facades where the true nature of life--chaos--is fighting its way out.
2021: Bleak. Brutal. Devastating. And so good.
—————
2013: This may be my favorite of Tana French's novels, tied with The Trespasser and just barely overtaking Faithful Place, and I loved it immensely.
***
At its heart, it's a book about the terror of madness, the dreams gone awry, the slow spiral that gets you to your breaking point, and the sad pathos of desperately grasping at the straws that tether you to the world of familiar safety of normalcy.
The setting of this novel scares me in the way it's grounded in reality. This is no longer Ireland of In the Woods, Celtic Tiger rushing onto the world's economy stage, a country high on the economic boom. No, this is a land hit hard by the recession, with people losing the spring in their step as disillusionment sets in after the economic high has dissipated, with people seeing their dreams of security floating away like dust in the wind - the dreams that they have spent so long fighting for.
And then the recession came, and Brianstown became a ghost estate, isolated from other communities, a place fitting its old name of Broken Harbour, with scarcely a fifth of houses occupied, with the rest in various stages of unfinished construction declining into disrepair, far from anything, with mostly empty streets and windowless unfinished future homes that will likely never be filled with life that isn't rodents or occasional squatters.
And the promised seaside view is nothing but the cold sea waves relentlessly and hauntingly crashing on the shore, filling the air with the ominous unfriendly sound.
This is also the place where, in one of the formerly dream homes, the bodies of the four members of Spain family were found - Pat and Jenny in puddles of blood downstairs, stabbed viciously and repeatedly, and their small children Emma and Jack strangled upstairs, looking almost like they are peacefully sleeping. It appears to be a senseless tragedy, and only one of the Spains seems to have survived it - Jenny is hanging on to life by a thread in the hospital, in no condition to talk.
And to add to the senseless gruesomeness of the murder, there are countless little things that when put together send the additional chilly shiver down the spine - the empty windows of the surrounding empty houses staring down into Jenny and Pat's yard and home - the perfect hiding places in addition to their unintended creepiness, the puzzling holes in the walls of the house, the skeletons of small animals, the baby monitors serving a purpose much different than that intended, the hints of life Pat and Jenny may have been hiding from the eyes of others, the bear trap in the attic, the online forum messages that become more and more desperately unhinged, and the unrelenting sound of sea waves in this ghost estate. All the little things that when added together can do more than just cause tiny little ominous cracks in the already stretched thin and desperate minds.
I stayed up late into the night reading this book, fighting against the sinking feeling in my stomach telling me that I'm not prepared for the emotions that are to come, and loving every page despite the inevitable soul-crushing that I knew was coming. I would recommend it to anyone - and, since French's 'Dublin Murder Squad' series is really a bunch of unconnected novels, there is no reason not to start with this one.
Unflinching, depressing, scarring, soul-breaking five stars - and a flash of terror every time I think I may hear something scratching in the attic.
------
------
My reviews of the previous books in the 'Dublin Murder Squad' series are here: In the Woods (the first book), The Likeness (the second book), Faithful Place (the third book), The Secret Place (the fifth book), and The Trespasser (the sixth book).
—————
2013: This may be my favorite of Tana French's novels, tied with The Trespasser and just barely overtaking Faithful Place, and I loved it immensely.
***
At its heart, it's a book about the terror of madness, the dreams gone awry, the slow spiral that gets you to your breaking point, and the sad pathos of desperately grasping at the straws that tether you to the world of familiar safety of normalcy.
The setting of this novel scares me in the way it's grounded in reality. This is no longer Ireland of In the Woods, Celtic Tiger rushing onto the world's economy stage, a country high on the economic boom. No, this is a land hit hard by the recession, with people losing the spring in their step as disillusionment sets in after the economic high has dissipated, with people seeing their dreams of security floating away like dust in the wind - the dreams that they have spent so long fighting for.
As Tana French herself says in the interview found on Penguin.com, "Now a solid proportion of our generation are stuck on half–built, half–occupied, abandoned estates with open sewage pits and no street lighting, miles from any friends or family, and many of their houses are falling to pieces. They’re unemployed or being taxed to the point where they can’t pay their mortgages, and no one’s ever going to buy their houses so they can move on. And their belief in a sane world, a world where they have any control over their own lives, has been smashed.Broken Harbour is the place that was supposed to become a seaside community of Brianstown, an estate of 250 homes filled with families enjoying the amenities, building lives, raising children while enjoying the seaside view. As it's not rare in the times of economic highs, it was quickly being put together to cash in on the promise of housing boom, with houses being sold even before they were built.
That haunts me. It should never have happened; it didn’t need to happen. And because Ireland is my home and I love it, I get seriously passionate and seriously angry about terrible things that are done to, and by, this country. That ended up shaping the book."
'I’m the least fanciful guy around, but on nights when I wonder whether there was any point to my day, I think about this: the first thing we ever did, when we started turning into humans, was draw a line across the cave door and say: Wild stays out. What I do is what the first men did. They built walls to keep back the sea. They fought the wolves for the hearth fire.'
And then the recession came, and Brianstown became a ghost estate, isolated from other communities, a place fitting its old name of Broken Harbour, with scarcely a fifth of houses occupied, with the rest in various stages of unfinished construction declining into disrepair, far from anything, with mostly empty streets and windowless unfinished future homes that will likely never be filled with life that isn't rodents or occasional squatters.
And the promised seaside view is nothing but the cold sea waves relentlessly and hauntingly crashing on the shore, filling the air with the ominous unfriendly sound.
'I didn’t tell him: the ghosts I believe in weren’t trapped in the Spains’ bloodstains. They thronged the whole estate, whirling like great moths in and out of the empty doorways and over the expanses of cracked earth, battering against the sparse lighted windows, mouths stretched wide in silent howls: all the people who should have lived here. The young men who had dreamed of carrying their wives over these thresholds, the babies who should have been brought home from the hospital to soft nurseries in these rooms, the teenagers who should have had their first kisses leaning against lampposts that would never be lit.This is the place where the fleetingness of dreams becomes painfully clear, and not only depression but madness is threatening to break through the walls surrounding your home and life. It is the place where desperation lurks just around the corner, traveling along the deserted, ghostly streets. It is the place that epitomizes the rise and fall of the country.
Over time, the ghosts of things that happened start to turn distant; once they’ve cut you a couple of million times, their edges blunt on your scar tissue, they wear thin. The ones that slice like razors forever are the ghosts of things that never got the chance to happen.'
This is also the place where, in one of the formerly dream homes, the bodies of the four members of Spain family were found - Pat and Jenny in puddles of blood downstairs, stabbed viciously and repeatedly, and their small children Emma and Jack strangled upstairs, looking almost like they are peacefully sleeping. It appears to be a senseless tragedy, and only one of the Spains seems to have survived it - Jenny is hanging on to life by a thread in the hospital, in no condition to talk.
And to add to the senseless gruesomeness of the murder, there are countless little things that when put together send the additional chilly shiver down the spine - the empty windows of the surrounding empty houses staring down into Jenny and Pat's yard and home - the perfect hiding places in addition to their unintended creepiness, the puzzling holes in the walls of the house, the skeletons of small animals, the baby monitors serving a purpose much different than that intended, the hints of life Pat and Jenny may have been hiding from the eyes of others, the bear trap in the attic, the online forum messages that become more and more desperately unhinged, and the unrelenting sound of sea waves in this ghost estate. All the little things that when added together can do more than just cause tiny little ominous cracks in the already stretched thin and desperate minds.
'The smell of the sea swept over the wall and in through all the empty window-holes, wide and wild with a million intoxicating secrets. I don’t trust that smell. It hooks us somewhere deeper than reason or civilization, in the fragments of our cells that rocked in oceans before we had minds, and it pulls till we follow mindlessly as rutting animals. When I was a teenager, that smell used to set me boiling, spark my muscles like electricity, bounce me off the walls of the caravan till my parents sprang me free to obey the call, bounding after whatever tantalizing once-in-a-lifetime it promised. Now I know better.'Mick 'Scorcher' Kennedy is a Murder Squad Detective assigned to the case through which he also needs to take his new partner and rookie Detective, Richie Curran (the partnership that ultimately evokes the memory of the similar strong friendship connection between Rob and Cassie in French's first novel). Kennedy would appear to be the perfect man for this strange case - he's well-known for his sky-high crime solve rate, he always plays by the rules, he values his job above everything else, he focuses on the positive even in the darkest times, and he is a walking embodiment of ethics and rationality.
'Here's what I'm trying to tell you: this case should have gone like clockwork. It should have ended up in the textbooks as a shining example of how to get everything right. By every rule in the book, this should have been the dream case.'But because this is a Tana French novel, we just know that before long we will see the unraveling of even the strongest characters, the breakdown of mental defences, the struggle for sanity - basically a poignant drama shrouded in the cloak of murder mystery. And as we inhabit the head of Mick Kennedy, as we get to hear his masterfully created narrative voice, as we - of course! - come to see the deep secrets that even he is hiding in the deep recesses of his mind, we cannot help but hold our breaths as the novel slowly glides to French's trademark soul-shattering mind-punch of an impact - not of the murder mystery itself but of the deep scars it leaves on everyone involved, the scars on the soul that will never fade.
I stayed up late into the night reading this book, fighting against the sinking feeling in my stomach telling me that I'm not prepared for the emotions that are to come, and loving every page despite the inevitable soul-crushing that I knew was coming. I would recommend it to anyone - and, since French's 'Dublin Murder Squad' series is really a bunch of unconnected novels, there is no reason not to start with this one.
Unflinching, depressing, scarring, soul-breaking five stars - and a flash of terror every time I think I may hear something scratching in the attic.
------
------
My reviews of the previous books in the 'Dublin Murder Squad' series are here: In the Woods (the first book), The Likeness (the second book), Faithful Place (the third book), The Secret Place (the fifth book), and The Trespasser (the sixth book).
Pat and Jenny Spain and their family used to have it all, until Pat lost his job in the recession. Now they are struggling to make ends meet. When Pat and the two kids are found dead, and Jenny rushed to intensive care, Scorcher Kennedy and his new partner Richie are called in. At first glance it seems a straightforward case of a family pushed to the brink, but as Scorcher and Richie investigate further troubling details keep poping up that point in other directions. Whilst the case has him working all hours, Scorcher has family problems of his own with his sister Dana, and the case isn't helping. For the first time in his working life Scorcher is beginning to feel like it might be good to have a long term partner, and Richie could be the one. All they have to do is get through this case.
This is book 4 of the Dublin Murder Squad series, although the books are really stand alone so could be read in any order. If you've read earlier books though you will have had a previous introduction to Scorcher Kennedy. I had a very different impression of him from the previous book than I got in this one. I distinctly remember being disheartened when I realised this book had Scorcher as the lead character, because I really wasn't a fan of him. That changed quickly once I started reading though. I can see why he was portrayed as he was in the previous book, especially bearing in mind the personality of the character whose eyes we saw him through.
I was intrigued by the mystery in this book. It seems like everything is sewn up very early on in the book, so I did wonder how there could be so much of the story left, but there's a lot more going on than you first realise. There's a fairly small circle of suspects, and you have a fair idea from early on who the culprit is. The why is the bigger question in this book than the who, and that doesn't become clear until the last minute. You know that there's something missing, so when it all clicks it's like a lightbulb going off.
There is a bit of a loose end in this one for me, I don't want to give away spoilers but there is a particular aspect to this that plays a large part of the story, and isn't ever really resolved properly. I was expecting an extra reveal from French towards the end of the book that never came. It left me with questions, which is the main reason why I've stuck with 4 stars.
This is book 4 of the Dublin Murder Squad series, although the books are really stand alone so could be read in any order. If you've read earlier books though you will have had a previous introduction to Scorcher Kennedy. I had a very different impression of him from the previous book than I got in this one. I distinctly remember being disheartened when I realised this book had Scorcher as the lead character, because I really wasn't a fan of him. That changed quickly once I started reading though. I can see why he was portrayed as he was in the previous book, especially bearing in mind the personality of the character whose eyes we saw him through.
I was intrigued by the mystery in this book. It seems like everything is sewn up very early on in the book, so I did wonder how there could be so much of the story left, but there's a lot more going on than you first realise. There's a fairly small circle of suspects, and you have a fair idea from early on who the culprit is. The why is the bigger question in this book than the who, and that doesn't become clear until the last minute. You know that there's something missing, so when it all clicks it's like a lightbulb going off.
There is a bit of a loose end in this one for me, I don't want to give away spoilers but there is a particular aspect to this that plays a large part of the story, and isn't ever really resolved properly. I was expecting an extra reveal from French towards the end of the book that never came. It left me with questions, which is the main reason why I've stuck with 4 stars.
I wasn’t really pleased with the depiction of mental illness but I liked Scorcher’s character more than I thought I would.