In the Forest (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series)

Rating:
Summary: Don't read it alone in bed on a stormy night
Review: Into the Forest is a disturbing look into the tortured soul of a man haunted by his past. He, is drawn into deeper evils that suck him ever deeper and deeper, not releasing him - or we readers - till the very last page. Based on a true-life triple homicide in Ireland in 1994, O'Brien's tale takes us into the hunted and haunted mind of O'Kane, the murderer. This story deals with acts of naked violence and is not for the faint of heart. No sunny conclusion, either.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: It seems that Ms. O'Brian did not bother to adequately research the story of Brendan O'Donnell, the real killer on whom she based the antihero of her novel. If you care about accuracy, wait for the local release of the number two Irish best-seller "A Tragedy Waiting to Happen," the account of Tony and J.J. Muggivan, who were not only closely acquainted with Brendan and his family, but were actively involved in trying to prevent these tragedies. Their stories document their struggles to help the mentally ill Brendan, and the system that failed them all.

Rating:
Summary: A walk through the haunted woods
Review: O'Brien's dark jewel of a novel packs a wallop. There are plenty of social explanations for Michan O'Kane's psychotic behavior, but what lingers is our primary experience with his dark desires, his tormenting voices, and his innocent victims. Cloosh Wood may be set in Ireland, but as we read its branches seem to be scraping at the very window. O'Kane's violence seems independent of specific weaponry or motivation - it's a primal force that brushes by us in a crowd and gives us goosebumps or wakes us in the night and sends us downstairs to make sure the children are safe. Forgiveness and understanding are present in this novel, but finally no human characters seem capable of delivering us from evil. We end up simply praying that it passes us by.