So far this is my favorite Tana French novel--and I'm actually tempted to say it's one of the best haunted house stories I've ever read. Broken Harbor is what Stephen King would call a "bad place"--no ghosts, but it feels like there's a sickness to it that sucks in those attracted to it.

At first I didn't think I'd like this book as much as the others since Scorcher Kennedy didn't seem like the most gripping of protagonists. He's a very black and white by-the-book cop who seems to have a real problem deciding who should be guilty and then not wanting to look at anyone else. But ultimately his by-the-bookness compels him to look at all the angles, even if ironically the main person challenging his assumptions is doing it for reasons that aren't immediately clear.

Ultimately, though, the town of Broken Harbor really holds a power over me because of all the characters there, especially the family who are involved in the crime and the group of friends that they once had. The book's really full of ghosts that are beautiful and sad even when they're not actually the ghosts of dead people. If there's a central theme to the book it's one of control, and how those who need it too much are in danger, so the relationship between Kennedy and the victims and the suspects is truly tense. The book's full of people acting compulsively to keep the darkness at bay, and the side mystery was one that drew me in easily as much as the main one--it's also the thing that made it feel like a real horror novel. Let's just say I've got a thing about animals in the attic.