Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to deal with the events of In the Woods. She is out of the Murder Squad and has started a relationship with fellow detective Sam O'Neill but is too badly shaken to commit to Sam or to her career. Then Sam is allocated a new case, that of a young woman stabbed to death just outside Dublin. He calls Cassie to the murder scene and she finds the victim is strangely familiar. In fact, she is Cassie's double. Not only that, but her ID says she is Lexie Madison the identity Cassie used, years ago, as an undercover detective. With no leads, no suspects and no clues, Cassie's old undercover boss spots the opportunity of a lifetime: to send Cassie undercover in the dead girl's place. She could pick up information the police would never hear and tempt the killer to finish the job. So Cassie moves into Whitethorn House, poses as a post-grad student, and prepares to enter Lexie's world.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
The Likeness: A Novel (Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
*Starred Review* French’s debut novel, In the Woods (2007), introduced Dublin Murder Squad detective Cassie Maddox and earned unanimous critical praise. Cassie is back, and French has written another winner. The body of a young woman is found in the ruins of a old stone cottage in a dying village outside of Dublin, and the dead woman and Cassie are virtual twins. Lacking suspects or leads, the victim is reported by the police to be injured but alive, leaving Cassie to step into the dead woman’s life as a Trinity College graduate student and the housemate of four other students. Despite the tensions of being undercover, Cassie quickly learns to love her quirky, insular housemates and her new life in a once-grand house, even as the Murder Squad investigation yields little. Someone stabbed her doppelganger to death, and Cassie must find the killer. The Likeness has everything: memorable characters, crisp dialogue, shrewd psychological insight, mounting tension, a palpable sense of place, and wonderfully evocative, painterly prose. In the Woods was an Edgar Award finalist; this one just might go one step further. --Thomas Gaughan
Review
'French's second foray into the dark world of psychological crime more than proves she's the real deal'**** -- Daily Mirror 'Begin reading this and you won't want to stop' -- Choice 'A literary crime stonker.' -- Lottie Moggach, thelondonpaper 20080819 'Creepily melding elements of Donna Tartt's The Secret History and undercover police procedural, The Likeness seduces from the start ... A nifty tale of desire for belonging, as well as a cool thriller' -- Time Out 20080819 'Claustrophobic, conversational, clever and beautifully written' -- Literary Review 20080801 'riveting... hugely satisfying' -- Irish Independent 20080803 'An intricate and edgy top-notch psychological thriller.' -- Woman and Home 20080801 'Paints a vivid, gritty picture' -- Psychologies 20080801 'Police procedures, psychological thrills and gothic romance beautifully woven into one stunning story' -- Kirkus 20080611 'The Likeness isn't just a good page-turner, but a skilfully written modern novel ... French has a brilliant ear for dialogue ... Also in the best tradition of classic crime writers, such as P D James and Ruth Rendell, her characters are fully-rounded people and she is able to layer plots and storylines with a mastery that belies the fact that it is only her second book.' -- Anne Marie Scanlon, Sunday Independent,Dublin 20080928 'A truly creepy mystery thriller... so gripping you'll want to finish it in one sitting, no matter how many coffees it takes! ******" -- Now Magazine 20080908 'Dense and filled with wonderful characters and atmosphere, The Likeness is riveting.' -- Globe and Mail, Toronto 20081018 'French's writing is lush, intense and gorgeous. She possesses an enviable ability to portray scenes so clearly that you feel you're there and can reach out and touch things or join in the conversation. Snap shots remain imprinted on your mind once the book is put aside.' -- Sharon Wheeler,reviewingtheevidence 20081018
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Product Details
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More About the Author
Tana French grew up in Ireland, the US, Italy and Malawi. She trained as an actress at Trinity College Dublin and has worked in theatre, film and voiceover. She is the author of In the Woods (2007), The Likeness (2008) and Faithful Place (2010). Her books have won Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Barry and ICVA Clarion awards and have been finalists for LA Times and Strand Magazine awards. She lives in Dublin with her husband and daughter.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
257 of 273 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
There will be no spoilers in this review.
As in her first novel, In the Woods, Tana French has created another sensuous, lyrical, haunting, suspenseful story. Although it is considered a mystery, it is much much more than that. It is a story of identity in all its literal and metaphorical forms. It is a social commentary (but never sententious) and it is also about fear and flight and love.
Cassie Maddox and Sam O'Neill are detectives from In the Woods. Although Operation Vestal (from In the Woods) is mentioned several times, these books can be read in any sequence without ruining it for the reader. The setting is again Dublin, Ireland.
Cassie is the star attraction of this story as she goes undercover to live with four liberal arts doctoral candidates whose housemate, Lexie Madison, is found dead from a stabbing in an abandoned cottage. Lexie Madison looks exactly like Cassie, and the name is her last undercover alias, which adds to the mystery. The housemates will be told that she survived the stabbing.
It isn't necessary to give too many plot details. What is more important is the response from reading. This is a generous, gorgeous, thoughtful, poetic story. The tone is almost elegiac at times, especially during her descriptive paragraphs, and the author's use of the extended metaphor is prolific and often profound. At the end of the novel, I looked up hawthorn (the tree, flower, bush) on Wikipedia and had a chill run up and down my spine. Her descriptions, turns of phrase, elegant passages and graceful unfolding keep me fastened and fascinated. What I love about Tana French is that her novels are both character-driven AND plot-driven. She does not sacrifice one for the other. With most mysteries, I only read them once.... Read more ›
As in her first novel, In the Woods, Tana French has created another sensuous, lyrical, haunting, suspenseful story. Although it is considered a mystery, it is much much more than that. It is a story of identity in all its literal and metaphorical forms. It is a social commentary (but never sententious) and it is also about fear and flight and love.
Cassie Maddox and Sam O'Neill are detectives from In the Woods. Although Operation Vestal (from In the Woods) is mentioned several times, these books can be read in any sequence without ruining it for the reader. The setting is again Dublin, Ireland.
Cassie is the star attraction of this story as she goes undercover to live with four liberal arts doctoral candidates whose housemate, Lexie Madison, is found dead from a stabbing in an abandoned cottage. Lexie Madison looks exactly like Cassie, and the name is her last undercover alias, which adds to the mystery. The housemates will be told that she survived the stabbing.
It isn't necessary to give too many plot details. What is more important is the response from reading. This is a generous, gorgeous, thoughtful, poetic story. The tone is almost elegiac at times, especially during her descriptive paragraphs, and the author's use of the extended metaphor is prolific and often profound. At the end of the novel, I looked up hawthorn (the tree, flower, bush) on Wikipedia and had a chill run up and down my spine. Her descriptions, turns of phrase, elegant passages and graceful unfolding keep me fastened and fascinated. What I love about Tana French is that her novels are both character-driven AND plot-driven. She does not sacrifice one for the other. With most mysteries, I only read them once.... Read more ›
135 of 150 people found the following review helpful
By e. verrillo
Format:Hardcover
Likeness is one of those off-kilter books that you love to read because the prose is stunning, but which fails completely as a novel. In order for French's plot to work you have to believe: 1)that an undercover cop could pass herself off as another person to a group of people who knew her "double" intimately, 2)that a person can go from being a hat designer to a PhD student in one year (transcripts? application process? recommendations?),3) that grad school students act like 15-year-olds (well, OK maybe that's not so far off the mark),4) that a trained undercover cop would keep important evidence (the diary) from her superiors, etc. etc. etc. I simply did not buy any of it. There were problems with the writing as well. I found the trendy post-modern "quotes" (Star Trek, Alice's Restaurant) disruptive. And those endless ambiguous, interrupted conversations hinting at dark secrets got old after a while. I wanted some resolution. Even the relationships between the characters were unconvincing. Was Cassie actually supposed to be in love with Sam? Why did Cassie want to be Lexi? Why did the villagers care so deeply about a woman who had died almost a hundred years earlier? In short, the premise was implausible, the book was over-written, and the psychology shaky.
French is a fabulous writer. I'm hoping that her third novel will be a charm.
French is a fabulous writer. I'm hoping that her third novel will be a charm.
105 of 117 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It's feckin' genius, that's what it is. I couldn't write a single sentence as well as Tana French if I started now and lived to be a thousand. And she wrote a whole book, two books, of them. Flawlessly. Word after word, sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph, until the book is as perfect as it could be. It boggles the mind, it really does.
The first time I picked up Raymond Chandler, I knew I was in the hands of something profound and mysterious. I haven't had that feeling again for many years, till In The Woods, and even more powerfully, The Likeness.
Here's an Australian sheep rancher, talking about his daughter:
"But when she was nine, her mother had hemmorhaged, ...and bled out before a doctor could get there. 'Gracie was too young to hear that,' he said. '...I knew as soon as I told her. The look in her eyes: she was too young to hear it. It cracked her straight across.'"
"It cracked her straight across". That's the power of metaphor in the hands of a master. It conveys in a way that touches the heart what exactly happened, in the same way that Shakespeare would use metaphor and words.
It's a privilege to read Tana French, it really is. I feel only pity for the person who wrote of the unbelievable plot, I do. This book isn't about a plot, just as Chandler wasn't about plot, just as we don't read Shakespeare for the plot. Anyone can do plot; but to give feeling and life, undoubted life, to characters on paper, that is to marvel at.
The first time I picked up Raymond Chandler, I knew I was in the hands of something profound and mysterious. I haven't had that feeling again for many years, till In The Woods, and even more powerfully, The Likeness.
Here's an Australian sheep rancher, talking about his daughter:
"But when she was nine, her mother had hemmorhaged, ...and bled out before a doctor could get there. 'Gracie was too young to hear that,' he said. '...I knew as soon as I told her. The look in her eyes: she was too young to hear it. It cracked her straight across.'"
"It cracked her straight across". That's the power of metaphor in the hands of a master. It conveys in a way that touches the heart what exactly happened, in the same way that Shakespeare would use metaphor and words.
It's a privilege to read Tana French, it really is. I feel only pity for the person who wrote of the unbelievable plot, I do. This book isn't about a plot, just as Chandler wasn't about plot, just as we don't read Shakespeare for the plot. Anyone can do plot; but to give feeling and life, undoubted life, to characters on paper, that is to marvel at.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The premise of The Likeness--Detective Cassie Maddox (heroine of French's memorable debut novel, the Edgar-winning In the Woods) assumes the identity of a lookalike murder victim who herself assumed an undercover identity Maddox abandoned years before--certainly sounds absurd on the surface, but the author makes it work, and makes it work well. Once Cassie's (and through her, the reader's) logical objections to the scheme are overcome, French proceeds to deliver a masterwork of suspense, dropping her heroine into a dangerous, emotionally charged situation, where she is constantly aware that any or all of the people she's trying to deceive may wish her dead. The fact that the novel is written in the first person makes it all the more intense.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
finely nuanced novel of pain, life, friendship, love and betrayal
It is hard to let go of this one. It is not a case of loose ends not wrapped up, but more a sense of knowing these folks and wanting them to stay in my life. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Bettie Banks
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!
This is the second book that I have read by Tana French. I like her way of telling a story and this book did not disappoint. Read more
Published 10 days ago by R S Seney
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of them all
I've now read all of the available Tana French books and this is by far my favorite, The combination of fascinating characters, eerie plot, underlying mystery and great writing... Read more
Published 14 days ago by David Drinkwater
3.0 out of 5 stars
Soap Opera Plot
I love French's work and have read everything except her newest book. Unfortunately, this book has a hard-to-stomach soap opera-worthy conceit. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Matthew Kennedy
3.0 out of 5 stars
What a book French has written for us
I found this book to be better than French's first book, the Edgar-award winning, "In the Woods." In fact, I found it to be much better. Read more
Published 20 days ago by Cameron Wiggins
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
Couldn't put it down! Extremely interesting and well written. The only thing I don't like about these books is that I'm sad when they end and I know I won't get to see into that... Read more
Published 21 days ago by dana daspit
4.0 out of 5 stars
AUDIO BOOK -- Enjoyed
The audio version of this book kept my attention for 90% of the story, it was like another person relaying to me an event that they experienced. Read more
Published 22 days ago by J. Blake
2.0 out of 5 stars
Implausable
The good: well written with lots of tension. The bad: the basic premise is simply not believable. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Mark
3.0 out of 5 stars
a good read for the summer
Good read, but needed to be tightened up a bit. Better editing might have helped. Characters were interesting and held my attention but, plot was convoluted and oddly unsatisfying. Read more
Published 29 days ago by wordsmith
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Mystery, interesting characters, but could have been more...
Take what you want and pay for it, says God."
So, now that I've read two books in this series, I'm beginning to notice a pattern. Read more
So, now that I've read two books in this series, I'm beginning to notice a pattern. Read more
Published 1 month ago by ConcupusAl
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