In the Woods Summary
Tana French

In the Woods Overview

In The Woods is a psychological thriller by Tana French. The suspense novel revolves around Adam “Rob” Robert Ryan, a detective with the Dublin Murder Squad. Rob comes face-to-face with his past when he and his partner, Cassandra “Cassie” Maddox, are assigned to a murder case in Knocknaree, the village where Rob grew up. Almost twenty years earlier, while playing in the woods near Knocknaree, Rob’s friends Peter and Jamie disappeared. Rob, known as Adam Ryan at that time, was left behind. He remembers nothing of what happened. Despite his background, Rob insists on working the case, a decision that turns out to be disastrous. Themes in the novel include forms of religion, traits of a psychopath, effects of feeling insecure, and survivor's guilt.