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dbzvin 's review for:
The Witch Elm
by Tana French
Toby, a PR agent for an art gallery and a generally lucky person as the opening statement of the book proclaims. He comes home one night after drinking with his close friends and in the middle of the night hears two men in this living room. It's a break in. He grabs a candle holder as a weapon, makes himself known to these men, and is beaten within an inch of his life. he wakes up in a hospital, family come to visit, a girlfriend he believes is hanging on a thread now wants to emotionally support him, investigators try to help identify the two men. The break-in burglars, turns out, also stole some things including his car. He agrees to take some time to recover at the Ivy House, his uncle Hugo's estate. It is revealed to Toby that his uncle is dying from a brain tumor. The Ivy House, a special haven he and his cousins Susanna and Leon spent their weekends and breaks from school, another unwanted event occurs in Toby's story when he, and others, find a human skull by a wych elm tree. This skull becomes another thread in a complex investigation our author weaves.
I never read from Irish authors but it takes some getting used to their dialog. Tana French, an author I heard of through a Stephen King blurb one day, peaked my interest because I wanted to read a horror novel by a woman outside the US. Nothing but mere curiosity as my personal motivation to read this. I like to diversity my reading catalog. I'm pleased with this choice.
French is very gifted writer. She is good at making me, the reader, feel physical pain. Descriptions of Toby's his pain shook me. I wanted to get out, and felt physically paralyzed. Other times I felt terrified with Toby's world changing so quickly as one catastrophe happens after another. Near the end a final crescendo of chaos wraps the whole novel up in a box and you'll put it away in your shelf in fear of breaking it open again.
Beside being a quality page-turner, this book is a horror story on the surface, and a crime drama at its core. And wow, the quality is top rated. Tana French knows how to bring you terror and keep you guessing.
I never read from Irish authors but it takes some getting used to their dialog. Tana French, an author I heard of through a Stephen King blurb one day, peaked my interest because I wanted to read a horror novel by a woman outside the US. Nothing but mere curiosity as my personal motivation to read this. I like to diversity my reading catalog. I'm pleased with this choice.
French is very gifted writer. She is good at making me, the reader, feel physical pain. Descriptions of Toby's his pain shook me. I wanted to get out, and felt physically paralyzed. Other times I felt terrified with Toby's world changing so quickly as one catastrophe happens after another. Near the end a final crescendo of chaos wraps the whole novel up in a box and you'll put it away in your shelf in fear of breaking it open again.
Beside being a quality page-turner, this book is a horror story on the surface, and a crime drama at its core. And wow, the quality is top rated. Tana French knows how to bring you terror and keep you guessing.