- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Irish Independent; First Thus edition (2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0297607383
- ISBN-13: 978-0297607380
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,307,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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First Sentence
Woodland straddling two counties and several town-lands, a drowsy corpus of green, broken only where the odd pine has struck up on its own, spindly, freakish, the stray twigs on either side branched, cruciform wise. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Woodland straddling two counties and several town-lands, a drowsy corpus of green, broken only where the odd pine has struck up on its own, spindly, freakish, the stray twigs on either side branched, cruciform wise. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
At a time when gory stories of police hunts of predictable killers abound, it is a literary event to read a 'thriller' that is truly memorable. O'Brien's use of real events to create a novel that is terrible and tragic, with a protagonist that is an understandably monstrous, almost fairy-tale bogeyman spawned by a society dark in violence and retribution, is a feat only the best of writers could accomplish. The forest itself, enduring image in fairy-tale and folklore, is a central symbol, lair of the outcast Mich and home to Eily, victim of his wrath against the forest of the world that, unable to cope with its demons, has rejected him. The writing is taut and controlled, yet powerful enough to take the reader into the heart of the horror, to recognise it and understand it. This novel should re-establish O'Brien as one of the best writers of this generation, and deserves the highest recommendation.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel is set in the countryside of Western Ireland and based on a true story which occurred in the Spring of 1994; it's a deeply disturbing read and one I felt uncomfortable with.
A young boy, Mich O'Kane, unhinged by the death of his mother and abused by a priest, is failed by an inadequate welfare society and eventually locked up for a serious crime. Upon release he becomes obsessed with a young, red haired free spirit, Eily Ryan, who is living with her young son in a dilapidated cottage where he used to sleep rough.
Nick-named 'The Kinderschreck' (one who frightens children) he abducts his victim and child to subject them to unspeakable horrors in the woods. He then brutally murders them, along with a young priest he has enticed with a 'last rites' lie.
I found this novel to be a hair-raising tale; a confrontation between evil and innocence, with frightening glimpses into the killer's deranged fantasies.
The writing was graphic, indeed brilliant, with good use of myth, symbol and local lore but it was an ugly, repulsive story; tragically based on real life.
It may be insensitive to the grief of the victim's families, although I personally feel the author is trying to understand what happened, not exploit it. I just did not enjoy reading this controversial novel.
A young boy, Mich O'Kane, unhinged by the death of his mother and abused by a priest, is failed by an inadequate welfare society and eventually locked up for a serious crime. Upon release he becomes obsessed with a young, red haired free spirit, Eily Ryan, who is living with her young son in a dilapidated cottage where he used to sleep rough.
Nick-named 'The Kinderschreck' (one who frightens children) he abducts his victim and child to subject them to unspeakable horrors in the woods. He then brutally murders them, along with a young priest he has enticed with a 'last rites' lie.
I found this novel to be a hair-raising tale; a confrontation between evil and innocence, with frightening glimpses into the killer's deranged fantasies.
The writing was graphic, indeed brilliant, with good use of myth, symbol and local lore but it was an ugly, repulsive story; tragically based on real life.
It may be insensitive to the grief of the victim's families, although I personally feel the author is trying to understand what happened, not exploit it. I just did not enjoy reading this controversial novel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is full of a terrible menace, recalling Barbara Vine at her darkest as it digs deep into the disturbed psyche of a sociopathic killer. Michon is brutally treated as a child and, on being released from prison, he reacts by terrorising his local community, eventually kidnapping a young mother and her child and then a priest.
This is a deeply disturbing book, beautifully written and with great insight into the mind of a killer but by no means a comfortable read.
This is a deeply disturbing book, beautifully written and with great insight into the mind of a killer but by no means a comfortable read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Vintage O'Brien
If you read books by Edna O'Brien,you must be prepared to come up against hard realities.While her first books presents young women finding their own way in the world and free from... Read more
Published 17 months ago by weinweg
Gripping from the start
Based on true events where a young mother, her child and a local priest were brutally slain in Ireland, In the Forest tells the story of a perturbed young man, who has spent most... Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2008 by Sonia
Creepy but great characterisation
I found the first chapter a bit disturbing, how it was written but you relaly got a sense of why Kinderschrek became the sort of deranged individual he became. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2007 by Book Worm
Dark Beauty
This was the first book I had read by Edna O' Brien and it was sensational. Chapters in first person interchange with those in third person. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2007 by Ray
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