In the Woods in Audiobook Junkies

Sep 06, 2013 Tim The Enchanter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, audiobooks, police-procedural, 4-stars, crime

A Plodding but Satisfying 4 Stars

Three quarters of the way through In the Woods, I thought the book was in the 3-3.5 star range. The story itself moves slowly and the murder investigation at the heart of the story unravels very slowly. Generally, I would be bored and would have moved on but for the fact the characters themselves were very interesting.

Unlike many crime novels that I have read, In the Woods is intensely character driven. The investigation is intensely personal to our MC and the ...more

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Aug 08, 2010 Megan (ReadingRover) rated it liked it

Shelves: x-goodreads-challenge-15

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really liked this book for the most part. I did feel like it had its slow points but all in all it was a pretty well paced and engaging murder mystery. The main plot which was the murder of Katy Devlin had some a few good twists and a satisfying enough conclusion. At least we found out what truly happened even if there was only one person punished. The other mystery which was the disappearance of the children in the woods years back with Rob being the one survivor was not nearly as neatly wrap ...more

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Dec 02, 2009 Darcy rated it did not like it

Shelves: mystery, law-enforcement, 2010, did-not-finish

I picked this one up 3 times and each time never got very far, the farthest being around page 25, it just couldn't keep my attention. ...more

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Jul 11, 2013 Darlene rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, bought, audio-1000, audiobook, mystery, read-in-2018

I have long wanted to start this series, but I am somewhat put off by longer books. I decided to listen to this one while painting my children's rooms over a three-day weekend because I could listen for long periods without a break.

The author describes Detective Rob Ryan as someone who craves the truth but lies. I thought that was an odd statement. The event that takes place in the beginning of the book happened during Rob's (then known as Adam) childhood in 1984. He, with two friends, went into I have long wanted to start this series, but I am somewhat put off by longer books. I decided to listen to this one while painting my children's rooms over a three-day weekend because I could listen for long periods without a break.

The author describes Detective Rob Ryan as someone who craves the truth but lies. I thought that was an odd statement. The event that takes place in the beginning of the book happened during Rob's (then known as Adam) childhood in 1984. He, with two friends, went into the woods near his home in Knocknarea and he was the only one who came back out. His shoes were filled with blood, and he was catatonic from shock. He has no memory of what happened, and the other two kids were never found. The story then moves forward to the present, when a case brings him back to Knocknarea.

I have to admit that I struggled a bit with this one. It took me a while to get into it, so I was thankful that the painting kept me listening for 6+ hours at a stretch. I did like the book but it moves slowly and it's quite long (20+ hours on audio). I think if I would have been listening to this one solely on my work commute, it would have frustrated me and taken me forever to get through. For me, I really needed to get a good chunk of listening in to be fully immersed into the story.

While the present-day mystery gets wrapped up by the end of the book, we still do not find out what happened to Rob in those woods when he was a child. We get a few glimpses, but we are still pretty much in the dark. I would love to know whether that part of his past is revealed in the next book in this series, The Likeness. I actually already bought that one in paperback format before I listened to this one, so I'll be continuing on with the series regardless.

Narrator Steven Crossley is very good, and I enjoyed him. As I mentioned earlier, this is a long book so he definitely did a fine job at keeping me listening. I note that other reviewers have complained that his accent should be Irish not British but the author explains the character's lack of an Irish accent on his schooling in England. Still, that doesn't explain why none of other characters have Irish accents.

This review was posted on my book blog:
https://darlenesbooknook.blogspot.com... ...more

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Jul 26, 2016 Summer rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, book-club, 2016

Someone please play the world's smallest violin for this book's protagonist. He's a thirtysomething man who blunders through life like an 18 year old who's just discovered Holden Caulfield. That in itself may be forgivable, but the smugness with which he does it is just ridiculous. He's so easily impressed with himself when he's a complete buffoon* that it was nearly impossible for me to have any empathy for him at all.

This author also hit two hot buttons for me: (1) Character A loving Characte ...more

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