Tana French’s writing is so smooth it's like liquid. A thick honey-like plasma that oozes in and dribbles down into the crevices of your gray matter, reminding you precisely why it is you love to read. French paints a mean picture, and she paints it well. She paints in bright, bold colors, outlined in gold, glinting off with power from the sun. She paints in grays and browns, so thick and muddy you can’t see five inches in front of your face.

Our main character this go round is Antoinette Conway. I liked Conway at first, hard-ass and crotchety, left over arrogance you came to know in [b:The Secret Place|20821043|The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #5)|Tana French|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1396671263s/20821043.jpg|21598636], but the more she started to doubt herself and everyone around her, the harder it got to stay by her side. Then, suddenly, Conway steps into the fresh air and you're back. You're with her and you're matching her stride for stride. French has so many specialities...setting, character, mood, storyline, and on and on...so her characters are just flat-out some of the most full-of-life and realistic book people ever.

You devour the thing whole. It's hard to put down because you can’t; you’re starved and stuffed full at the same time. Your head is jam-packed with this story and its life. It breathes and hums with it. French feeds you and still you can’t get enough, but can’t believe you can eat the entire thing. You look at the chunk of book that’s left, once you’re halfway done and you can’t believe there’s that much more. But, there is. There always is, because her stories are life in typeset and there’s always more. The story began before the first pages and will continue on after the last. It doesn’t need you, the reader—you need it.