Book Reviews
Ms. French resists genre conventions defiantly enough to have written a long, rambling book, one that is more interested in character revelations than in “Aha!” moments about the plot. She could have achieved the same effects much more succinctly in a more tightly edited version of this same story. But Cassie herself remains a strong enough character to sustain interest, even if many of her observations...have a vague, hazy quality. All she needs is a sparring match with Frank, and Cassie quickly returns to the land of the living—and to the subtle demands of her perilous, suspenseful masquerade.
Janet Maslin - New York Times
The Likeness [is] a book even better than the first, which was very good indeed.... The suspense is gut-grinding.... A wonderful book.
New York Daily News
[French’s] already signature blend of psychological insight, beautiful writing and wry humor is on display once more in The Likeness.”
Baltimore Sun
[Tana French] aces her second novel. The Likeness [is a] nearly pitch- perfect follow-up to her 2007 debut thriller, In the Woods.
Entertainment Weekly
Suspense writing is clearly French's forte. Rather than employing cliff-hanger tactics, such as ending chapters with striking discoveries, French relies on more delicate revelations to engage readers all along.
Rocky Mountain News
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
Booklist
Stunning…. French cleverly subverts the conventions of the locked room mystery, ratcheting up the tension at every turn with her multidimensional characters. Readers looking for a new name in psychological suspense need look no further than this powerful new Irish voice.
Publishers Weekly
French creates remarkably complex characters while gradually unpeeling the layers of her story in this rich and insightful psychological thriller. A stunner.
Library Journal
The discovery of her murdered doppelganger leads a Dublin detective to insert herself into the victim's life.… Police procedures, psychological thrills and gothic romance beautifully woven into one stunning story.
Kirkus Reviews