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A review by ncrabb
Broken Harbor by Tana French
4.0
Someone brutally murdered Patrick, Jack, and Emma Spain. Presumably, the same person nearly killed Jenny Spain, but she clings to life in an Irish hospital as the book opens.
Mick (scorcher) Kennedy is the lead detective on the case, and Richie Curran is the newest detective on the force; Kennedy and Curran partner to solve the three brutally violent murders in a nearly abandoned housing development. But this isn’t just any development. When Kennedy was a teenager, his mother took a final water walk in Broken Harbor. She deliberately strolled into the ocean where she ardently set about the business of drowning herself. Her decision impacted Mick, his older sister, and especially the youngest daughter, six-year-old Dina. Now an adult, Dina barely hangs onto rationality most days, which forces Mick Kennedy and his sister into the role of reluctant caregivers periodically.
The question remains, who killed Patrick Spain and his two kids? Why did they need to die in such a brutal manner? The killer scattered blood everywhere, and little Emma died when someone forced an ornament from a decorative pillow into her throat. Who did it and why did they do it is the major focus of the book, as is Kennedys return to Broken Harbor with all the baggage that entails.
French’s writing style is sometimes haunting and often lyrical and poetic. She can graphically depict a scene in a few words. That’s why I wonder why this book didn’t go on a hundred-page diet before publication. If the publisher or someone had clipped a hundred pages out of this, no one would notice they were gone. It’s several hours too long.
I came to feel sorry for Kennedy. I understand why the book ended the way it did, but it left me simultaneously saddened and satisfied. You don’t need to have read previous books in this loosely connected series. This works fine as a stand-alone.
Mick (scorcher) Kennedy is the lead detective on the case, and Richie Curran is the newest detective on the force; Kennedy and Curran partner to solve the three brutally violent murders in a nearly abandoned housing development. But this isn’t just any development. When Kennedy was a teenager, his mother took a final water walk in Broken Harbor. She deliberately strolled into the ocean where she ardently set about the business of drowning herself. Her decision impacted Mick, his older sister, and especially the youngest daughter, six-year-old Dina. Now an adult, Dina barely hangs onto rationality most days, which forces Mick Kennedy and his sister into the role of reluctant caregivers periodically.
The question remains, who killed Patrick Spain and his two kids? Why did they need to die in such a brutal manner? The killer scattered blood everywhere, and little Emma died when someone forced an ornament from a decorative pillow into her throat. Who did it and why did they do it is the major focus of the book, as is Kennedys return to Broken Harbor with all the baggage that entails.
French’s writing style is sometimes haunting and often lyrical and poetic. She can graphically depict a scene in a few words. That’s why I wonder why this book didn’t go on a hundred-page diet before publication. If the publisher or someone had clipped a hundred pages out of this, no one would notice they were gone. It’s several hours too long.
I came to feel sorry for Kennedy. I understand why the book ended the way it did, but it left me simultaneously saddened and satisfied. You don’t need to have read previous books in this loosely connected series. This works fine as a stand-alone.