Photo from amazon.com.
Publisher’s Description for The Trespasser, by Tana French:
In bestselling author Tana French’s newest “tour de force” (The New York Times), being on the Murder Squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she’s there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she’s getting close to the breaking point.
Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers’ quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed-to-a-shine, and dead in her catalog-perfect living room, next to a table set for a romantic dinner. There’s nothing unusual about her—except that Antoinette’s seen her somewhere before. And that her death won’t stay in its neat by-numbers box.
When I was little, and I'd managed to get my hands on some grape or orange Bubble Yum or Hubba Bubba, I'd have a pep talk with myself: "You can DO IT this time!"
It never worked.
The flavor was always so concentrated and intense when I put a piece in my mouth that I both loved and couldn't handle it. I'd try and chew through the candy-like texture until it mellowed out and became actual gum. But it invariably overwhelmed me so much that I'd have to swallow it for some relief.
This is basically the same way I've handled Tana French books—until now. It took all six books in this series, but I've finally cracked the code with The Trespasser:
1. Listen to the audiobooks so it's basically impossible to skip ahead and ruin the ending because it's too intense to handle. This way, your anxiety about the whodunnit can stay at bay while you enjoy the experience.
2. Enjoy the story as much as possible, because French can paint a mood like no other, and the wrap-up never quite lives up to the anticipation and atmosphere of the book. The experience is always better than the ending.
3. Pack your suspension of disbelief for the 20 pages of prose-etry dialogue from an ancillary character that will inevitably crack the case wide open 15% from the end.
With French, it's always worth the ride.
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