The Likeness: A Novel
Author: Tana French
ISBN: 0670018864
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
Customer Rating:
, based on 38 reviews
Lowest Price: $13.58
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Editorial Review:
The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestselling psychological thriller In the Woods
Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover. She’s transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O’Neill, but she’s too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin. The dead girl’s ID says her name is Lexie Madison—the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective—and she looks exactly like Cassie.
With no leads, no suspects, and no clue to Lexie’s real identity, Cassie’s old undercover boss, Frank Mackey, spots the opportunity of a lifetime. They can say that the stab wound wasn’t fatal and send Cassie undercover in her place to find out information that the police never would and to tempt the killer out of hiding. At first Cassie thinks the idea is crazy, but she is seduced by the prospect of working on a murder investigation again and by the idea of assuming the victim’s identity as a graduate student with a cozy group of friends.
As she is drawn into Lexie’s world, Cassie realizes that the girl’s secrets run deeper than anyone imagined. Her friends are becoming suspicious, Sam has discovered a generations-old feud involving the old house the students live in, and Frank is starting to suspect that Cassie’s growing emotional involvement could put the whole investigation at risk. Another gripping psychological thriller featuring the headstrong protagonist we’ve come to love, from an author who has proven that she can deliver.
That said, I miss the flawed, but interesting, Rob Ryan from the Woods. And Cassie's periodic references in this book to their easy and charming camaraderie prior to the break-up of their partnership reinforces that feeling. Perhaps, when she has fulfilled her creative urges to tell the stories of other characters, Ms. French will give the damaged and self-destructive Rob a repreive and return engagement.
Until that time, I will be happy to enjoy the experiences of other members of Dublin's finest, as crafted by this gifted author.
Picking up after the events in The Woods, The Likeness is told from the perspective of Cassie, a detective in Ireland who has left the murder squad after the previous book's events, and now works domestic violence cases. She doesn't think she can be drawn back in to work on murder cases, let alone undercover work, until a murder victim turns up with a bizarre connection to Cassie. This happens in the first pages of the book, and absolutely hooked me right from the start.
Cassie goes undercover with a group of suspects, graduate students who live together in a large, old house, and insinuates herself into their lives. Is one of them a killer? If so, can she figure out who? Does she want to figure it out? And... will she blow her cover?
Pick up this book, and you won't want to put it down until you have all the answers. I can't recommend this highly enough.
The novel begins six months after the end of "Woods." Cassie has begun a relationship with Sam O'Neill and still suffers from problems from the past. She has transferred from Murder to Domestic Violence for a quieter life. Then she is requested by her former superior from the time when she was an undercover officer to come to a murder scene, and finds that the victim is almost a clone of herself: The victim was going by the name of Lexie Madison, the name Cassie herself had used when she was undercover.
With no clues or leads, an investigatory ploy develops for Cassie to pretend to be Lexie and return to the house she shared with four other students in an effort to solve the murder. The endeavor leads to all kinds of psychological insights into the various characters and with Cassie having to come to terms with her own foibles and way of life. The writing is so good that the reader is drawn forward breathlessly. Highly recommended.
The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestselling psychological thriller In the Woods
Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover. She’s transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O’Neill, but she’s too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin. The dead girl’s ID says her name is Lexie Madison—the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective—and she looks exactly like Cassie.
With no leads, no suspects, and no clue to Lexie’s real identity, Cassie’s old undercover boss, Frank Mackey, spots the opportunity of a lifetime. They can say that the stab wound wasn’t fatal and send Cassie undercover in her place to find out information that the police never would and to tempt the killer out of hiding. At first Cassie thinks the idea is crazy, but she is seduced by the prospect of working on a murder investigation again and by the idea of assuming the victim’s identity as a graduate student with a cozy group of friends.
As she is drawn into Lexie’s world, Cassie realizes that the girl’s secrets run deeper than anyone imagined. Her friends are becoming suspicious, Sam has discovered a generations-old feud involving the old house the students live in, and Frank is starting to suspect that Cassie’s growing emotional involvement could put the whole investigation at risk. Another gripping psychological thriller featuring the headstrong protagonist we’ve come to love, from an author who has proven that she can deliver.
Customer Reviews:
Lyrical prose and engaging characters
Tana French's sequel to The Woods is an equally well-written novel with a more satisfying resolution. The characters are masterfully drawn and draw you into their unique world. Ms. French's mysteries are a delightful change from the best-seller norm, because they extend beyond the entertainment plane into the realm of literary works. You can't wait to get back to the story, but don't have any underlying guilt that you are leaving your intellect behind as you do.
That said, I miss the flawed, but interesting, Rob Ryan from the Woods. And Cassie's periodic references in this book to their easy and charming camaraderie prior to the break-up of their partnership reinforces that feeling. Perhaps, when she has fulfilled her creative urges to tell the stories of other characters, Ms. French will give the damaged and self-destructive Rob a repreive and return engagement.
Until that time, I will be happy to enjoy the experiences of other members of Dublin's finest, as crafted by this gifted author.
2008-11-19
Even better than French's first book
Several months ago, I read French's first book, In the Woods, and I thought that it was absolutely gripping as a mystery, with interesting characters and flowing language. Well, The Likeness is even better.
Picking up after the events in The Woods, The Likeness is told from the perspective of Cassie, a detective in Ireland who has left the murder squad after the previous book's events, and now works domestic violence cases. She doesn't think she can be drawn back in to work on murder cases, let alone undercover work, until a murder victim turns up with a bizarre connection to Cassie. This happens in the first pages of the book, and absolutely hooked me right from the start.
Cassie goes undercover with a group of suspects, graduate students who live together in a large, old house, and insinuates herself into their lives. Is one of them a killer? If so, can she figure out who? Does she want to figure it out? And... will she blow her cover?
Pick up this book, and you won't want to put it down until you have all the answers. I can't recommend this highly enough.
2008-11-01
Thriller of the year
With only two months to go in 2008 Tana French's "The Likeness" is odds-on to be not only the thriller of the year, but maybe the best book of the year. Featuring Detective Cassie Maddox from Ms. French's debut Edgar-winning novel "Into the Woods", and again set in the outskirts of Dublin, it is both exquisitely written and utterly compulsive; you find yourself putting off things that must be done for just another half-an-hour's read. Once you get past the desperately unlikely premise that an undercover cop is such a ringer for a murdered girl that she can be re-introduced into a hermetically-sealed group of PHD students without detection, you simply have to know what led to the death and who did it, and you have to know NOW. Slightly reminiscent of Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" the quality of the prose, the skill of the characterisation, the compulsive arc of the story, the best heroine in contemporary genre fiction, this is a must-read. But don't expect to get anything done for four days after you start it. 2008-10-29
Much better than her first book
I didn't like her first book nearly as much because I think she got some of the characters wrong. The person I did like from the first book was Cassie, so I was glad to see that it was she that was picked for this book. And the characters are bang on in this one - so much so that they carry the book through some otherwise slow parts (it's a fairly long book). But, as with The Woods, the story is gripping and the setting is fabulous. Add the almost (but not quite) overwhelming psychological aspects and you have a great book. 2008-10-17
Mirror Image
Her debut novel, "In the Woods," demonstrated the author's sure hand and promised better things to come. "The Likeness" fulfills that expectation many times over. The plot is unusual, the characters expertly drawn, the surprise element superb. Cassie Maddox, the Dublin detective featured in the initial entry in the series, makes a return appearance in a most unexpected manner.
The novel begins six months after the end of "Woods." Cassie has begun a relationship with Sam O'Neill and still suffers from problems from the past. She has transferred from Murder to Domestic Violence for a quieter life. Then she is requested by her former superior from the time when she was an undercover officer to come to a murder scene, and finds that the victim is almost a clone of herself: The victim was going by the name of Lexie Madison, the name Cassie herself had used when she was undercover.
With no clues or leads, an investigatory ploy develops for Cassie to pretend to be Lexie and return to the house she shared with four other students in an effort to solve the murder. The endeavor leads to all kinds of psychological insights into the various characters and with Cassie having to come to terms with her own foibles and way of life. The writing is so good that the reader is drawn forward breathlessly. Highly recommended.
2008-10-14
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