Patrick and Jenny Spain were the perfect couple. High school
sweethearts, they had eyes only for each other. They married, had two perfect
kids, and decided it was time to jump on the real estate band wagon. They paid
too much for a house being built in Brianstown, a housing development on the Irish Sea. It was far from family and friends, but they figured
they could turn it around in a few years.
Then came the recession. Pat lost his job, the builder took
off, Brianstown became a ghost town. And then things went from terrible to devastating.
When Jenny’s sister found the bodies, the super assigned the
case to Detective Mike Kennedy and rookie Richie Curran. Brianstown holds
special meaning for Mike Kennedy. When he was young, his family used to
vacation there, back when it was called Broken Harbor.
But the Kennedys never returned after the summer his mother died.
Kennedy and Curran are puzzled by the Spain’s house. Despite the two kids, it is pristine, with nothing out of place. But someone—or something—has knocked holes in
the walls, there are baby monitors everywhere, and there is a huge, lethal trap
in the attic capable of ensnaring a bear.
In no time, the detectives catch a guy who quickly admits to
killing Pat and the two kids, and critically wounding Jenny. But there’s
something not quite right about his confession. The detectives continue
investigating, trying to tie up the loose ends. What they learn is the sad
story of a family’s dreams ripped apart by forces they never saw coming.
Tana French’s Broken Harbor
is a tense, well-plotted police procedural.
The characters are memorable--each is struggling with loneliness,
disappointment, and all the other emotions that come with realizing that life
hasn’t worked out according to plan. This is a great summer read.
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