Sunday, October 7, 2012

Book Review: Broken Harbor by Tana French

Tana French is Irish and her books are set in Dublin and surrounding environs. That adds a unique style and feel. In the Woods and Faithful Place were superb and now her latest, Broken Harbor, features our favorite brash cop - Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy
Opening paragraph hooks the reader, trust me -  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 a dream case.

Mick's a top detective with a great closing record, but he's coming off a problem case, been cooling his heels, and now this case should redeem him. He and his rookie partner, Richie, investigate the murder of Patrick Spain and his two young children. Wife, Jenny Spain, is in intensive care. They live in a half built, half-abandoned Irish development with suspicious neighbors, traces of life in empty homes, baby monitors, cameras, and too many small things that aren't explained. Files are erased from the family home computer, and Jenny's sister shares some past history that's problematic.

Police politics and procedures flow and this psychological thriller keeps the pages turning, the clues popping, and you, the reader, guessing. Tana French keeps the dialogue snappy and the plot lines taut. Great pacing and writing in the thriller genre.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review. This is one series I haven't read so it will go on my wishlist. The setting around the Dublin area sounds interesting.

    Marlene Detierro (Air Medical Transport)

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