Faithful Place.

I keep forgetting I haven’t posted on Faithful Place, even though it’s already in a box waiting to be sent to my dad to read.  Let me take you back to the cooler days of July, dear readers, and tell you about my internal debate, which went something like this: “Self, you are broke and trying to save money for multiple vacations.  Do you really think that this book will be worth buying in hardback on the day of its release?”

And then I went back and reread my reviews of Tana French’s first two Irish mysteries, In the Woods and The Likeness, and said, “Oh, hell yes, it will be worth it.”

And it was.  Matter of fact, Faithful Place might be my favorite of the three loosely-tied-together mysteries.  I suddenly had a great deal of understanding for Frank, the main character, who was gruffy and kind of an ass in The Likeness, and even kind of liked him.  I was sucked into the gritty side of small Irish town politics, and I tore through this book in less than two days and licked my chops afterward.

Tana French has a wonder quality as a mystery writer in which she’s able to balance character development as well as a quick and engaging plot, and yet, she’s never quite to be trusted in terms of narrator reliability.   A writer whom you trust implicitly and yet keeps you on your toes is truly one worth savoring… if only you could stop turning the pages.

And that’s why there’s plenty of time to re-read this book, and why it was so worth the splurge.