FAITHFUL PLACE

TITLE: FAITHFUL PLACE
AUTHOR: TANA FRENCH
Pages: 434
Date: 14/05/2010
Grade: 5+
Details: ARC
Own

It is not very often that I get to read a book before its official release date. But, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of FAITHFUL PLACE 3 months before it will be released here in the UK and Ireland and feel very privileged.
A side note for those living in the US and those with little patience though, this title will be released in the US in July.
And, if a book is ever worth waiting for and reading as soon as you can, this is it. 
This is the story of Frank Mackey. When he was 19 years old he was all set to run away from home with his girlfriend Rosie. But Rosie never turned up that night and Frank never saw her or heard from her again.
Twenty-two years later, Frank is an undercover guard in Dublin, divorced with a nine year old daughter. He hasn't been in touch with most of the members of his dysfunctional family since that night more than twenty years ago when a phone call from his youngest sister forces him to retrace his steps back to Faithful Place in Dublin's Liberties and the family he'd hoped to never see again. Rosie's suitcase has been found in a derelict house, and that's only the first disturbing discovery.
Driven by memories of his past and a need to know the truth, Frank sets out to discover what exactly happened that faithful night. A decision that forces him to reconnect with the his past and his family and will lead to more violence and loss.
Yes, this is a thriller and a mystery but this book is so much more than that. It is the story of families and how they can destroy you; a story of the power of first love and the hold it can have on a person. Most of all though, it's the story of working class Dublin in the 1980's. A time of few jobs and great hardships.
Dublin jumps of the pages in this book. I could see the sights, smell the aroma's and hear the voices.
A friend told me the other day that she was listening to an audio version of an earlier French book, narrated by an American and with no trace of an Irish accent. If this book is ever narrated by anyone other than a Dubliner, I'll consider it a crime because in this book Dublin is as important a character as Frank Mackey himself.
Tana French is getting better with each book she writes. Her sense of her place and her descriptions transport the reader to Dublin. Her characters look and sound real, and her story is heartbreaking and thrilling at the same time because you always feel that this could so easily have truly happened.
In short; Read this book. I can't recommend it highly enough.