Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
The Likeness
by Tana French, Penguin (Non-Classics), 2009
Reviewed by Judi Morrel
Has anyone ever told you that you look just
like someone else? It seems to be an urban legend that everyone has
a double - that's the underlying premise of Tana French's second
novel, in which a protagonist from her Edgar-award winning first
novel, In the Woods, reappears. Detective Cassie Maddox,
recently transferred out of Dublin's undercover squad after a
harrowing experience, is recalled to the unit when a corpse eerily
bearing her likeness and her former undercover identity is
discovered. What follows is a daring and risky operation in
which Cassie re-assumes the fictitious identity of Lexie Madison in
order to smoke out the killer. While there are unexpected plot
twists and plenty of dramatic tension, the most fascinating aspect
of this novel is the portrayal of the characters. The
murdered Lexie had shared her living space with a group of four
graduate students, suspects all in her demise, a compelling set of
unusual characters who have been drawn together to form a
dysfunctional, but recognizable, family of sorts. Reading
this book will make you examine your own family relationships while
entertaining you with suspense as well as lyrical description and
fine characterizations.
- Judi Morrel is Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and associate professor of mathematics at Butler
University.