It's been a long time since a book has truly brought me in and enveloped me completely. A lot of books I read are quick reads, with either characters I already know or characters that are not fully explored. Sometimes, though, I wish for a book that makes me feel like I truly know the characters. One that gives me that feeling that I'm going to run into one walking down the street, or has me dreaming about them at night. I also really like a unique plot that I haven't read over and over. I read a lot of crime/suspense novels, and I tend to see the same kind of ideas more than once.

Tana French has brought a truly unique story in The Likeness. Although it look me a little bit longer to read, it was not from lack of movement through the fantastic plot. French spends pages on character development. Not only that, you can truly envision the house featured throughout the book. The action takes place in Ireland, and French makes me feel like I've lived there all my life.

The Plot

Cassie Maddox (a carryover character from French's first novel, In The Woods) used to work as an undercover officer in Ireland. Her last undercover case, which left her injured, was portraying a college student named Lexie Madison. Curently, Cassie works in Domestic Violence, after her last Murder squad case left her unable to stay in that division (apparently due to things that happened in French's previous book, which I have not yet read, but will soon open up). Cassie gets a strange call from her boyfriend, Sam, who is still working Murder. She is asked to view a body located in an abandoned cottege in a small town. Little does Cassie know, this body is going to change the next few weeks of her life.

The id on the body identifies her as Alexandra Madison. What is more strange is that the body looks just like Cassie. It's as if Cassie's undercover character has come to life, only to end up dead. At the insistence of Frank, her ex boss in Undercover, Cassie goes back undercover to try to solve Lexie's murder. In order to do that, she must become Lexie as she has been for the last four years. That includes fooling Lexie's four best friends, whom she lives with. Rafe, Justin, Daniel and Abby live in a big house in the small town where Lexie's body was found. Can Cassie convince the four friends that she is really Lexie in order to find her killer?

The Book

The Likeness is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It takes over 400 pages to tell Cassie and Lexie's story, but after reading it, I feel like I really know everyone in the book as if I grew up with them and they were my friends. The depth of these characters, the descriptions of the locations and the dialogue makes the story come to life. Not only that, I never knew what was going to happen. Although the ending wasn't a jump-out-of-your-seat shocker, it was interesting and thought provoking. All my questions were not totally answered, but the implications of what happened are there. You, as the reader, are allowed to presume you know what occurred, but you are not given any confirmation of your presumptions.

Each of the characters created by French are completely fleshed out. Although we don't know much about their childhoods ("No pasts"), they truly became people in my eyes. I can envision what each looked like, what they sounded like, what they would do next. Even more minor characters are given a true personality, rather than just a faceless name. Even the house seems to have a personality, and becomes a character all its own. The environment, as described by French, is amazing. Although I have never travelled to Ireland, I could envision what it looks like. I could feel every raindrop, smell every flower in the garden and even taste the drinks the characters consumed. French never overdescribed anything, it was just enough to set my imagination on fire.

For some, the Irish dialect may be a distraction, but I felt it truly added to the story. I can't imagine Cassie or Rafe talking with an American accent. In the beginning, it took a little getting used to, but by the end of the book, I was reading in an Irish accent! Tana French has not just written a book, she has created a world for the reader to fall into. Just like Alice following the Rabbit down the black hole into Wonderland, I felt like I was becoming immersed in Lexie's life right along with Cassie. I held my breath along with her, felt every pain she felt and loved the four friends as she did.

Even though the book is well over 400 pages, I didn't want it to end. It was as if a small piece of my life was over. (Can you tell I liked the book?) I don't want to talk to much about it, though, because I truly want everyone to experience Tana French's world, just like I did. If you like a good, engrossing, crime novel, then dive into The Likeness and experience someone else's life for a while.