Broken Harbor

I can not wait to dive into this. I've set it up on my bookshelf like a showpiece for the past two weeks and have let the anticipation build, but I think I'll have to start it tonight. I stumbled across Tana French's first novel In the Woods two Halloweens ago, struck by its cover art after I fished it out of a back shelf at Borders. I don't like trendy fiction, so I was excited to find someone I'd never heard of. She's become my very favorite author and I almost hate to read her latest because I know I'll hate when it's over.

I've really never been a fan of first person perspective - mainly because it fails to deepen my understanding of characters and usually makes the protagonist sound shallow as hell. "I'm pretty, I'm scared, I'm so hot for this guy...see Spot run....", etc. But Tana French is masterful with first person. She uses it to highlight all the layers and prejudices of her characters: through their eyes, we come to learn just how damaged they are, and just how desperate their circumstances become as the novels unfold.

Her last novel Faithful Place was wonderful. Without an ounce of smut, she paints a picture of a love affair that continues to haunt the protagonist, and as a reader I was catapulted back to Frank Mackey's past - a place that was alive with sensory details and dominated by how much he loved his girl. It's a book that stays with you, that had me very near actual tears, which I can tell you, doesn't happen to me while reading.