Book review: "The Likeness"

Three friends of mine from work were RAVING about this book, and one loaned it to me. I've had it on my kitchen table for a couple of weeks while I caught up with book club reads, but I finally got around to it.

Before I dive into the story, let me tell you about my fatal flaw: I always try to figure out what's going to happen before it does. This applies to books, movies and life in general. (I think this is partially due to my dream thing, which I don't know if I've explained or not. Quickly, then -- I think I have a touch of ESP because I will have dreams and sometimes daydreams about things that end up happening later on. It's like the creepiest dejavu ever.)

So, of course, like 3 chapters in, when I don't know a darn thing yet, I'm trying to figure out the ending.

"The Likeness" by Tana French is about a detective named Cassie Maddox who used to work undercover under the alias Lexie Madison. One day, Cassie gets a call to go out to a murder scene. She enters the room and sees the victim and freaks the hell out because this dead girl looks exactly like her. They could be twins. Frank, Cassie's old boss from the undercover days, is there and says something along the lines of, "You think THAT'S crazy. Get a load of this." He shows her the dead woman's ID -- Alexandra J. Madison. (a.k.a. Lexie, a.k.a. the alias that Cassie invented years before.)

Who is this dead girl? Why is she using Cassie's old alias? And, more urgently, who killed her?

Frank's money is on "Lexie's" roommates, 4 graduate students with whom she shared a house. The roommates have been told that "Lexie" is in a coma and may not make it. Frank told them that because his grand plan is to have Cassie go undercover as Lexie, infiltrate the house and figure out what the hell is going on. Sam, another detective and Cassie's boyfriend, is completely against this idea. But Cassie goes for it.

The problem for Cassie is that she comes to like these people and starts getting too comfortable. The lines start to blur between Cassie and Lexie, and it's not until the truth comes out that things start to get real again.

My only criticisms of this story would be the way everything is revealed in the end. I felt like we built up so long and it all just sort of flooded out. A more suspenseful delivery would have maintained the sinister tone of the novel. Also, the thing with Cassie and Sam at the end. Eh. I mean, I get it: Cassie's figuring stuff out in her own life parallel to what she's figuring out about "Lexie." But still. Eh.

Tana French wrote "In the Woods" before this one. It's about a case that Cassie and her old partner worked on prior to the happenings of "The Likeness," and told from the partner's point of view. Another book, "Faithful Place," is a story told from Frank's point of view. I haven't read either, but I really like French's style of writing so I probably will one of these days.

If you're looking for a page-turner that's not going to give you nightmares, "The Likeness" is the book for you. Oh, and as for my guess on how it was going to end? I'll say this: My instincts were right; my suspect was wrong. Sort of.