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Cal Hooper #2
The Hunter
It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die.
Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.
A nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.
Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.
A nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.
467 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2024
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72566 people want to read
About the author
Tana French
26 books29.4k followersTana French is the New York Times bestselling author of In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, The Secret Place, The Trespasser and The Witch Elm. Her books have won awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Dublin with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,068 reviews
January 17, 2024
Page 159 - the first time something slightly interesting happened. It lasted less than a page.
Page 246 - we finally get a murder! Woohoo! Oh, wait, it's someone who I don't care about and have exactly zero interest in who killed them? Fab.
God, this book was a chore. I'm sorry to keep harping on about this, but I do so miss the days of the Dublin Murder Squad novels. They were just so deliciously reliably good. We'll probably never get another, but I shall keep on dreaming.
As a writer, Tana French is a waffler, but I didn't mind when the characters and mysteries were so interesting, the pages and pages of dialogue so witty and delightful. It's not that I dislike Cal and Trey but I just don’t care about them enough to sit through all the wordiness and waffle. And, man, the plot here was so uninteresting to me.
Basically, Trey's dad Johnny has returned, bringing along with him an Englishman and a wild tale about buried gold in Ardnakelty. A massive chunk of this book is about him trying to convince the local men to come aboard his scheme, and Cal and Trey being suspicious of his intentions. I was never into it. It has taken a while for me to get into a couple of French’s past books (well, The Witch Elm and The Searcher), but there's usually a moment when I do settle into the story. That never came here.
I just did not care about buried gold or Johnny's scheming. I did not care about the dead person. When the dead body appeared, I actually took a moment to think "is there anyone in this book who would actually make an interesting culprit to this murder?" I came up with one person and, hey... guess what?
It's interesting. French has worked with a much smaller pool of suspects before and made it more difficult to guess the culprit. I thought it was fairly obvious here.
When she's at her best, French is a fantastic writer, but the stories and characters haven't really lived up to my expectations in the non-DMS books. To end on a positive, this was my favourite exchange in the book:
Page 246 - we finally get a murder! Woohoo! Oh, wait, it's someone who I don't care about and have exactly zero interest in who killed them? Fab.
God, this book was a chore. I'm sorry to keep harping on about this, but I do so miss the days of the Dublin Murder Squad novels. They were just so deliciously reliably good. We'll probably never get another, but I shall keep on dreaming.
As a writer, Tana French is a waffler, but I didn't mind when the characters and mysteries were so interesting, the pages and pages of dialogue so witty and delightful. It's not that I dislike Cal and Trey but I just don’t care about them enough to sit through all the wordiness and waffle. And, man, the plot here was so uninteresting to me.
Basically, Trey's dad Johnny has returned, bringing along with him an Englishman and a wild tale about buried gold in Ardnakelty. A massive chunk of this book is about him trying to convince the local men to come aboard his scheme, and Cal and Trey being suspicious of his intentions. I was never into it. It has taken a while for me to get into a couple of French’s past books (well, The Witch Elm and The Searcher), but there's usually a moment when I do settle into the story. That never came here.
I just did not care about buried gold or Johnny's scheming. I did not care about the dead person. When the dead body appeared, I actually took a moment to think "is there anyone in this book who would actually make an interesting culprit to this murder?" I came up with one person and, hey... guess what?
It's interesting. French has worked with a much smaller pool of suspects before and made it more difficult to guess the culprit. I thought it was fairly obvious here.
When she's at her best, French is a fantastic writer, but the stories and characters haven't really lived up to my expectations in the non-DMS books. To end on a positive, this was my favourite exchange in the book:
"I'd say he got religion," Bobby says. "The Yanks do always be getting religion. Then they're not allowed do the business unless they're married."
"Where would he get any religion round here?" Senan demands. "Everyone's Catholic. You don't get that; it's not the fuckin' chickenpox. You're either born with it or you're not."
February 5, 2024
Dark and Brooding
The Hunter is a quiet, character-driven novel fueled by intrigue, mystery, and murder.
Two years have passed since retired Police Detective Cal Hooper moved from Chicago to the small village in West Ireland, where he has taken a local teenager, Trey Reddy, under his wing. But when Trey’s absentee father returns home with a cunning scheme, the peaceful life that Cal and Trey have built comes crashing down.
Read The Searcher before The Hunter to better understand Cal and Trey's backgrounds. Be aware that this novel is different in tone, plotting, and structure from French's Dublin Murder Squad series, so be open to something different if you plan on reading this.
The chapters alternate between Cal, Trey, and Lena’s POV, with a few others mixed in. Johnny Reddy's character brings chaos into the calm as he preys upon the vulnerable and exploits their desires to achieve wealth, forcing Trey and others to come to terms with their beliefs about loyalty and friendship.
One of the strongest elements of the novel is the beautiful landscape of Western Ireland, set against the unusual summer heat and drought conditions. The heat and lack of rain escalate the tension.
The Hunter is a beautifully written, complex, and nuanced book. The pacing is slow, especially the first 20% in which French sets up the plot. However, it is a bit drawn out and overwrought. I imagine that the pacing will turn off some readers. I got past it as I got deeper into the novel, especially as French explores the complicated dynamics of small-town life coupled with fragile familial bonds. She also explores themes of friendship, family, and love. The strong characterization is subtle and bold, and Johnny Reddy is one of the most compelling and complex characters. All comes together in a satisfying conclusion that left me wondering if we will see Trey and Cal again in future books.
I received a complimentary copy of The Hunter from Penguin Group Viking in exchange for an honest review.
The Hunter is a quiet, character-driven novel fueled by intrigue, mystery, and murder.
Two years have passed since retired Police Detective Cal Hooper moved from Chicago to the small village in West Ireland, where he has taken a local teenager, Trey Reddy, under his wing. But when Trey’s absentee father returns home with a cunning scheme, the peaceful life that Cal and Trey have built comes crashing down.
Read The Searcher before The Hunter to better understand Cal and Trey's backgrounds. Be aware that this novel is different in tone, plotting, and structure from French's Dublin Murder Squad series, so be open to something different if you plan on reading this.
The chapters alternate between Cal, Trey, and Lena’s POV, with a few others mixed in. Johnny Reddy's character brings chaos into the calm as he preys upon the vulnerable and exploits their desires to achieve wealth, forcing Trey and others to come to terms with their beliefs about loyalty and friendship.
One of the strongest elements of the novel is the beautiful landscape of Western Ireland, set against the unusual summer heat and drought conditions. The heat and lack of rain escalate the tension.
The Hunter is a beautifully written, complex, and nuanced book. The pacing is slow, especially the first 20% in which French sets up the plot. However, it is a bit drawn out and overwrought. I imagine that the pacing will turn off some readers. I got past it as I got deeper into the novel, especially as French explores the complicated dynamics of small-town life coupled with fragile familial bonds. She also explores themes of friendship, family, and love. The strong characterization is subtle and bold, and Johnny Reddy is one of the most compelling and complex characters. All comes together in a satisfying conclusion that left me wondering if we will see Trey and Cal again in future books.
I received a complimentary copy of The Hunter from Penguin Group Viking in exchange for an honest review.
May 8, 2024
Is this a 500 page slow burn? Yes. Is it brilliant? Also yes. I never miss a Tana French book because she is SO GOOD. But I'm one of the people who thought The Witch Elm was unputdownable, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. If you are looking for nonstop action and twists, this is not that book. But Tana French is. SO. GOOD.
March 15, 2024
Ever sit in a pub and listen to two grizzled men spinning yarn while they drink beer and listen and listen and listen as you shift in your hard wooden chair because it takes them a million times as long as it should to tell a simple story? That ends up not even being that interesting?
Yeah, that.
Also, searching for buried gold is so Hardy Boys 1928.
Audio Notes: 16.5 hours is....a lot. Especially when combined with how little actually happens in the story.
Yeah, that.
Also, searching for buried gold is so Hardy Boys 1928.
Audio Notes: 16.5 hours is....a lot. Especially when combined with how little actually happens in the story.
April 2, 2024
EXCERPT: Johnny always liked to make a fine entrance. When he turned up outside her window, he came smelling of expensive aftershave - robbed, probably - with his jeans ironed, every hair in place, and the Cortina waxed to a sparkle. He was the only fella Lena knew who didn't have broken fingernails. Today his clothes are shiny-new right down to the shoes, and not cheap shite either, but his hair is straggling over his ears and flopping in his eyes. He's tried to slick it into place, but it's too overgrown to behave. If Johnny Reddy has come home in too much of a hurry to get a haircut, it's because he's got trouble following close behind.
ABOUT 'THE HUNTER': It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die.
Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.
MY THOUGHTS: I have rationed myself reading The Hunter, eking out the pleasure of being back in Ardnakelty with Trey, Lena and Cal for as long as possible. It's a place I never want to leave. I love the characters Tana French has created, and the ambience of the setting.
Ardnakelty is a small, fictional West Ireland town. It's the sort of place where you might think nothing ever happens. You'd be wrong.
The Hunter follows on from The Searcher, which you really need to read prior to this if you want to understand why Trey is hell-bent on exacting revenge. You will also get the background on Cal, a retired Chicago cop, his relationship with Lena, and why he is so protective of Trey.
The feckless Johnny is Trey's father, returned home after a long absence; a man who is always looking for the easy way, a charmer, a man who tells a story well. A man not to be trusted. He wanders back into his home, and everywhere else, like he'd only popped out to get a packet of cigarettes, but with a story (or five, the story depending on whom he is telling it to) at the ready.
The Hunter is not a thriller although I was thrilled in a quiet way. When I put this down, I couldn't wait to get back to it; to people like Tom Pat, named for both his grandfathers and still insisting on being addressed by both names even years after their deaths for fear of insulting one of them.
The Hunter is very much a character driven novel, told in a very Irish way; meandering, wandering off track, before coming back to the point from an entirely different direction. I loved it and, if Ardnakelty were a real place populated by these characters, I would go visit, maybe even stay a while - or longer.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
#TheHunter #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Tana French is the New York Times bestselling author of In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, The Secret Place, The Trespasser and The Witch Elm. Her books have won awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Dublin with her family.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Penguin General, UK, via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Hunter by Tana French for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
ABOUT 'THE HUNTER': It’s a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die.
Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.
MY THOUGHTS: I have rationed myself reading The Hunter, eking out the pleasure of being back in Ardnakelty with Trey, Lena and Cal for as long as possible. It's a place I never want to leave. I love the characters Tana French has created, and the ambience of the setting.
Ardnakelty is a small, fictional West Ireland town. It's the sort of place where you might think nothing ever happens. You'd be wrong.
The Hunter follows on from The Searcher, which you really need to read prior to this if you want to understand why Trey is hell-bent on exacting revenge. You will also get the background on Cal, a retired Chicago cop, his relationship with Lena, and why he is so protective of Trey.
The feckless Johnny is Trey's father, returned home after a long absence; a man who is always looking for the easy way, a charmer, a man who tells a story well. A man not to be trusted. He wanders back into his home, and everywhere else, like he'd only popped out to get a packet of cigarettes, but with a story (or five, the story depending on whom he is telling it to) at the ready.
The Hunter is not a thriller although I was thrilled in a quiet way. When I put this down, I couldn't wait to get back to it; to people like Tom Pat, named for both his grandfathers and still insisting on being addressed by both names even years after their deaths for fear of insulting one of them.
The Hunter is very much a character driven novel, told in a very Irish way; meandering, wandering off track, before coming back to the point from an entirely different direction. I loved it and, if Ardnakelty were a real place populated by these characters, I would go visit, maybe even stay a while - or longer.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
#TheHunter #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Tana French is the New York Times bestselling author of In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, The Secret Place, The Trespasser and The Witch Elm. Her books have won awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Dublin with her family.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Penguin General, UK, via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Hunter by Tana French for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
April 1, 2024
Oh, I needed this to get me out of my slump! Five big stars.
The Hunter is Tana French’s latest in the Cal Hooper series and it’s even more engrossing than the first. It starts off nice and slow, lulling you into a false sense of calm. Don’t go into this expecting high drama and lots of action. Another reviewer used the word brooding and it’s an apt description.
Cal retired from the Chicago PD and moved to a small Irish town. He’s building up some nice relationships, including helping Trey, a young teenager, to become a little more civilized. But then her long absent father turns up and everything gets upended. He’s got a scheme involving an ancient tale about gold in the mountains surrounding the town. Cal worries what it means for Trey.
The story alternates between Cal, Trey and Lena, Cal’s sort of girlfriend.
French gives you a great sense of time and place. This may be rural Ireland, but don’t go thinking thatch roofed cottages with no amenities. And each of her characters rang true. Just when you think you understand the nature of a person, she adds another layer and shows you just how wrong you were to make an assumption. I adored the themes of revenge and how far we’ll bend our moral compass for someone we love.
Many of the characters were also in the first book, and Trey’s rationale for certain of her actions is tied to the first book, but this can easily be read as a stand-alone.
I listened to this and once again Roger Clark was the perfect narrator. He not only embodied Cal but did a good job with Trey and the women’s voices.
The Hunter is Tana French’s latest in the Cal Hooper series and it’s even more engrossing than the first. It starts off nice and slow, lulling you into a false sense of calm. Don’t go into this expecting high drama and lots of action. Another reviewer used the word brooding and it’s an apt description.
Cal retired from the Chicago PD and moved to a small Irish town. He’s building up some nice relationships, including helping Trey, a young teenager, to become a little more civilized. But then her long absent father turns up and everything gets upended. He’s got a scheme involving an ancient tale about gold in the mountains surrounding the town. Cal worries what it means for Trey.
The story alternates between Cal, Trey and Lena, Cal’s sort of girlfriend.
French gives you a great sense of time and place. This may be rural Ireland, but don’t go thinking thatch roofed cottages with no amenities. And each of her characters rang true. Just when you think you understand the nature of a person, she adds another layer and shows you just how wrong you were to make an assumption. I adored the themes of revenge and how far we’ll bend our moral compass for someone we love.
Many of the characters were also in the first book, and Trey’s rationale for certain of her actions is tied to the first book, but this can easily be read as a stand-alone.
I listened to this and once again Roger Clark was the perfect narrator. He not only embodied Cal but did a good job with Trey and the women’s voices.
February 2, 2025
“Down at the bottom of the mountain, among the pretty little fields and the neat smug bungalows, Ardnakelty is ripping itself to pieces.”
Let’s get it straight from the start — this book is not a crime novel or a murder mystery or a police procedural despite being penned by Tana French of the Dublin Murder Squad series fame. If you go into it expecting mystery and thriller vibes you’ll be sorely disappointed since what you get is a thoughtfully unhurried and measured exploration of a rural Irish community mistrustful of strangers and opaque to them, plus a story of shaking off vestiges of childhood for the often unpleasant task of being and acting like an adult.
“I don’t blame you for wanting revenge,” Lena says. “But you haveta take into account where it’ll lead, whether you like it or not. That’s what I mean when I tell you not to act like a child. Children don’t take things into account. Adults have no choice.”
The only murder that happens is past the midpoint of the book, the whodunit is irrelevant, and what’s important is what the murder stirs up in the community rife with its own aches and pains and warts and all.
This story takes us back to the setting of the previous book - The Searcher - a tiny village deep in the Irish countryside where everyone knows everyone, and grudges and judgments can go back generations, and it can take a long time - if ever - for a stranger to crack the wall of wariness. Cal Hooper, an ex-cop from Chicago, is a stranger, a “blow-in” trying to make Ardnakelty home. Cal has been seeing Lena Dunne, a local widow who tries to stay out of Ardnakelty’s business. And Cal has also became a surrogate father to a local troubled teen, Theresa “Trey” Reddy whom he befriended a couple of years prior when Trey was looking for those in the village who may have had a part in the disappearance and likely murder of her older brother.
“It seems laden with too many things that a kid Trey’s age is incapable of knowing, even if he could explain them to her: the full weight and reach of her choices, how unthinkingly and how permanently things can be forfeited. She’s much too young to have something the size of her future in her hands.”
And it’s Trey now who’s at the center and the heart of The Hunter, trying to find some justice as she sees it as her good-for-nothing estranged father Johnny reappears after years of absence and with a shady and dangerous scheme in mind that’s bound to hurt Ardnakelty locals. And Trey gets in quite a bit over her head in her quest for justice and revenge, when actions may have unforeseen consequences.
“Things are shifting in the layers of Trey’s mind: plates grating across each other, crushing old things and heaving new ones to the surface, faster and more painfully than they should have.”
Justice in Ardnakelty is different from what Cal is used to from his policing times. Here things are less clear, less right-or-wrong, more murky, more ambiguous, less satisfying in neatly tying up the loose ends. It’s all about juggling the compromises and minimizing the damages and figuring out where your loyalties lie. There isn’t a right path to take — the one to take may need to be the one that causes a little less hurt than the others.
“She feels like she’s drowning, deeper in bog every second, the mountain sucking her down.”
Tana French is a master of her craft at this point, and she has no problem maintaining the low but persistent tension that keep that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach going for all 400-plus pages; not suspense but rather gnawing worried unease that is way more effective at hitting you exactly where it hurts. She nails the dialogue and lays down layers of subtext and subtlety without ever hitting a false note or slipping into an easy cliche.
Will I miss her police procedurals and Dublin Murder Squad detectives getting metaphorically torn to shreds under French’s unflinching look into their deepest and darkest? Absolutely. But do I regret seeing this more literary and contemplative French focusing instead on the places that base their moral code on things other than the law while she still unflinchingly looks into their deepest and darkest? Not at all.
5 stars with no doubt.
————
My review of the first book in this series, The Searcher, is here.
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An interesting interview with Tana French about this book, going into her reasoning for stepping away from detectives point of view, is here: https://crimereads.com/tana-french-on...
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Also posted on my blog.
May 16, 2024
Tana French has become an auto buy for me. Her mysteries are smart, surprising, and driven by character -- which is what matters most to me in a novel, I think. This is the second of her novels featuring retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper in Western Ireland, a classic fish out of water, and local teen Trey Reddy, a quiet girl who is the embodiment of the truism that still waters run deep. When Trey's waster of a dad returns with a get-rich-quick scheme for the small village, things grow dark fast. Another gem from Tana French.
July 18, 2023
Come for the complex interpersonal dynamics, clockwork plotting, and sharp dialogue, stay for the gorgeous descriptions of place and landscape. Another engrossing and all out enjoyable read from a master of tone.
March 27, 2024
4.5★
“Johnny Reddy has always struck Cal as a type he’s encountered before: the guy who operates by sauntering into a new place, announcing himself as whatever seems likely to come in handy, and seeing how much he can get out of that costume before it wears too thin to cover him up any longer.”
Retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper has been living near the tiny Irish village of Ardnakelty for a couple of years now, restoring old furniture, growing veggies, and trying to strike a balance between keeping to himself and mixing with the locals enough not to seem too foreign.
In Cal’s previous story, The Searcher, he ended up with a misfit young teen, Trey, as an offsider. For a long time Cal assumed she was a boy. Her clothes, her unkempt hair and her silent manner were all boyish, the product of an unhappy, poor home up on the mountain.
“Two years ago, when she first showed up in his back yard, she was a scrawny, silent kid with a self-inflicted buzz cut and a half-grown bobcat’s urge towards both flight and fight. Now she’s up to his shoulder, the buzz cut has relaxed into a rough crop, her features are getting a new clarity, and she rummages and sprawls around his house like she lives there.”
Trey (Teresa) is now 15, still boyish, but becoming a sometimes cynical, know-it-all teen. After promising not to seek revenge, Cal told Trey what had happened to her older brother, Brendan, who had disappeared, but Trey didn’t tell her family. Mum and the kids all behave as if he has run off to London and will come home one day, the same as their daddy did.
Instead, it’s her father, Johnny Reddy who turns up, bringing another man from London, who says he is following up his long-lost local heritage and has something of a treasure map he wants help with. GOLD?! Music to a poor Irish farmer’s ears.
As the opening quotation shows. Cal’s got Johnny’s number. Trey seems to be torn between hating her father for having deserted them and wanting his approval. Johnny plays his part beautifully – the head of the family, whose return has been so long awaited - and he expects their respect and help.
“ Johnny tells a story well, with the air of a man with a pint in his hand and a night of good company ahead.
. . .
He beckons with his head to Trey and arranges himself comfortably, leaning his arms on the barred metal gate. Trey’s dad likes being comfortable, and he’s good at it; he can make anywhere look like he belongs there.”
In spite of her promise to Cal, Trey is determined to get revenge for Brendan, even using her father’s scheme if necessary.
“It seems laden with too many things that a kid Trey’s age is incapable of knowing, even if he could explain them to her: the full weight and reach of choices, how unthinkingly and how permanently things can be forfeited. She’s much too young to have something the size of her future in her hands.”
I can see French’s characters, imagine gossipy Noreen, standing on the stool in her shop, trading secrets as she dusts, while Tom Pat sits and watches and Trey shops for smokes for her dad and eggs for her mum.
Cal and widow Lena are now an item, almost defacto parents to Trey, although Lena remains very independent and lives in her own home.
When confronted, Lena tells Cal’s neighbour Mart to stop calling Cal a blow-in. Cal is her man and she’s a local and that’s that. He is one of them now. French describes Mart’s response perfectly.
“Mart’s eyes flick over her, not in the mindless way a man assesses a woman, but with thought behind them. It’s the way he might assess a sheepdog, trying to prise out its capabilities and its temperament, whether it might turn vicious and how well it would come to heel. “
The atmosphere is unusual for Ireland – a very hot, dry summer with nary a drop of rain, and it’s a constant topic of conversation. They aren’t used to the heat, which is such a central character in so many stories from other countries.
The Emerald Isle is a little dusty, but the language and the place and the story are totally Irish - the twisty paths through the woods around treacherous hidden bogs where you can bury anything.
There was a point in the middle where it felt to me as if it dragged, and I was beginning to wonder where it was going, then, suddenly, action! I was taken by surprise, and after that, the story barrelled along.
It’s a great read. It’s been a fair while since I read The Searcher, but French fills in enough background that we know who the characters belong to, and this story is otherwise separate from the previous book.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Viking for the copy for review of #TheHunter.
My review of The Searcher
UPDATE: I heard her say in an interview that she's working on a third book for what has become a series. At the moment, it sounds as if it will concentrate on the relationship between Cal and Lena.
“Johnny Reddy has always struck Cal as a type he’s encountered before: the guy who operates by sauntering into a new place, announcing himself as whatever seems likely to come in handy, and seeing how much he can get out of that costume before it wears too thin to cover him up any longer.”
Retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper has been living near the tiny Irish village of Ardnakelty for a couple of years now, restoring old furniture, growing veggies, and trying to strike a balance between keeping to himself and mixing with the locals enough not to seem too foreign.
In Cal’s previous story, The Searcher, he ended up with a misfit young teen, Trey, as an offsider. For a long time Cal assumed she was a boy. Her clothes, her unkempt hair and her silent manner were all boyish, the product of an unhappy, poor home up on the mountain.
“Two years ago, when she first showed up in his back yard, she was a scrawny, silent kid with a self-inflicted buzz cut and a half-grown bobcat’s urge towards both flight and fight. Now she’s up to his shoulder, the buzz cut has relaxed into a rough crop, her features are getting a new clarity, and she rummages and sprawls around his house like she lives there.”
Trey (Teresa) is now 15, still boyish, but becoming a sometimes cynical, know-it-all teen. After promising not to seek revenge, Cal told Trey what had happened to her older brother, Brendan, who had disappeared, but Trey didn’t tell her family. Mum and the kids all behave as if he has run off to London and will come home one day, the same as their daddy did.
Instead, it’s her father, Johnny Reddy who turns up, bringing another man from London, who says he is following up his long-lost local heritage and has something of a treasure map he wants help with. GOLD?! Music to a poor Irish farmer’s ears.
As the opening quotation shows. Cal’s got Johnny’s number. Trey seems to be torn between hating her father for having deserted them and wanting his approval. Johnny plays his part beautifully – the head of the family, whose return has been so long awaited - and he expects their respect and help.
“ Johnny tells a story well, with the air of a man with a pint in his hand and a night of good company ahead.
. . .
He beckons with his head to Trey and arranges himself comfortably, leaning his arms on the barred metal gate. Trey’s dad likes being comfortable, and he’s good at it; he can make anywhere look like he belongs there.”
In spite of her promise to Cal, Trey is determined to get revenge for Brendan, even using her father’s scheme if necessary.
“It seems laden with too many things that a kid Trey’s age is incapable of knowing, even if he could explain them to her: the full weight and reach of choices, how unthinkingly and how permanently things can be forfeited. She’s much too young to have something the size of her future in her hands.”
I can see French’s characters, imagine gossipy Noreen, standing on the stool in her shop, trading secrets as she dusts, while Tom Pat sits and watches and Trey shops for smokes for her dad and eggs for her mum.
Cal and widow Lena are now an item, almost defacto parents to Trey, although Lena remains very independent and lives in her own home.
When confronted, Lena tells Cal’s neighbour Mart to stop calling Cal a blow-in. Cal is her man and she’s a local and that’s that. He is one of them now. French describes Mart’s response perfectly.
“Mart’s eyes flick over her, not in the mindless way a man assesses a woman, but with thought behind them. It’s the way he might assess a sheepdog, trying to prise out its capabilities and its temperament, whether it might turn vicious and how well it would come to heel. “
The atmosphere is unusual for Ireland – a very hot, dry summer with nary a drop of rain, and it’s a constant topic of conversation. They aren’t used to the heat, which is such a central character in so many stories from other countries.
The Emerald Isle is a little dusty, but the language and the place and the story are totally Irish - the twisty paths through the woods around treacherous hidden bogs where you can bury anything.
There was a point in the middle where it felt to me as if it dragged, and I was beginning to wonder where it was going, then, suddenly, action! I was taken by surprise, and after that, the story barrelled along.
It’s a great read. It’s been a fair while since I read The Searcher, but French fills in enough background that we know who the characters belong to, and this story is otherwise separate from the previous book.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Viking for the copy for review of #TheHunter.
My review of The Searcher
UPDATE: I heard her say in an interview that she's working on a third book for what has become a series. At the moment, it sounds as if it will concentrate on the relationship between Cal and Lena.
December 15, 2023
4+
Cal Hooper #2
It’s an unusually hot summer on the west coast of Ireland where Cal settles after early retirement from the Chicago PD. Here he finds the peace he craves and a relationship with Lena Dunne. However, Trey (Theresa) Reddy is not happy as her father Johnny has breezed back after a four year absence, claiming to have been in London. With a twinkle in his eye and a smile like an ever ready battery, with words meant to charm but probably full of blarney, though Trey thinks he’s full of something else. What does Cal think? He believes there’s potential to disturb the peace and he’s not wrong as Johnny has a ‘big idea’ that will be ‘good for the place’ as he claims there’s gold in them there hills. When millionaire Cillian Rushborough arrives in Johnny’s wake everything that Cal, Lena and Trey have tried to create in this small corner of the Emerald Isle is under threat.
I first visited Ireland as a seven year old and fell in love with the place and the people and Tana French transports me right back there. There’s a real sense of place with vivid descriptions, some fantastic dialogue which is rich in humour, bringing the area and the characters to life in vibrant technicolour and making me feel as if I’m right there, observing the stir and drama that Johnny brings. At the start some of the images especially from the scarecrow (doesn’t work!) and the rooks makes me laugh out loud, however, those devilishly clever birds know something’s afoot! The characters we meet in The Searcher enter the scenes one by one, all portrayed so well with aptly chosen phrases. I grin when Mart Lavin sidles into Cal’s place, less so with Johnny but the furore he creates is gripping.
This is a character driven slow burner stroll around Ardnakelty and the surrounding hills which is brimming with atmosphere and twists with terrific ever changing dynamics which are brilliantly done. The heat adds something unexpected, somewhat like Johnny and it transforms the landscape as Johnny has the potential to do. It all seems sunny on the outside but it hides a darkness within. What emerges in the claustrophobic heat is a complex plot with multiple layers, peel back one and find something else concealed within. Revenge is a strong element here but it has the potential to bring a load of danger. The tension slowly builds, reaching a crescendo towards the surprising end, I so don’t see THAT coming!
Although I think Tana French has produced a magnificent sequel, it’s maybe a tad overlong as I suspect she’s having far too much fun with the chinwags and Jamesons in Sean Ogs and who can blame her?? I hope there’s to be a number three....
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
Cal Hooper #2
It’s an unusually hot summer on the west coast of Ireland where Cal settles after early retirement from the Chicago PD. Here he finds the peace he craves and a relationship with Lena Dunne. However, Trey (Theresa) Reddy is not happy as her father Johnny has breezed back after a four year absence, claiming to have been in London. With a twinkle in his eye and a smile like an ever ready battery, with words meant to charm but probably full of blarney, though Trey thinks he’s full of something else. What does Cal think? He believes there’s potential to disturb the peace and he’s not wrong as Johnny has a ‘big idea’ that will be ‘good for the place’ as he claims there’s gold in them there hills. When millionaire Cillian Rushborough arrives in Johnny’s wake everything that Cal, Lena and Trey have tried to create in this small corner of the Emerald Isle is under threat.
I first visited Ireland as a seven year old and fell in love with the place and the people and Tana French transports me right back there. There’s a real sense of place with vivid descriptions, some fantastic dialogue which is rich in humour, bringing the area and the characters to life in vibrant technicolour and making me feel as if I’m right there, observing the stir and drama that Johnny brings. At the start some of the images especially from the scarecrow (doesn’t work!) and the rooks makes me laugh out loud, however, those devilishly clever birds know something’s afoot! The characters we meet in The Searcher enter the scenes one by one, all portrayed so well with aptly chosen phrases. I grin when Mart Lavin sidles into Cal’s place, less so with Johnny but the furore he creates is gripping.
This is a character driven slow burner stroll around Ardnakelty and the surrounding hills which is brimming with atmosphere and twists with terrific ever changing dynamics which are brilliantly done. The heat adds something unexpected, somewhat like Johnny and it transforms the landscape as Johnny has the potential to do. It all seems sunny on the outside but it hides a darkness within. What emerges in the claustrophobic heat is a complex plot with multiple layers, peel back one and find something else concealed within. Revenge is a strong element here but it has the potential to bring a load of danger. The tension slowly builds, reaching a crescendo towards the surprising end, I so don’t see THAT coming!
Although I think Tana French has produced a magnificent sequel, it’s maybe a tad overlong as I suspect she’s having far too much fun with the chinwags and Jamesons in Sean Ogs and who can blame her?? I hope there’s to be a number three....
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
January 18, 2024
Probably the kindest thing for me to say is that if you enjoyed The Searcher then this sequel will appeal, returning as it does to Cal, Trey, Lena and Marty. Again, it's a slow burn of a novel as Trey's father returns with a money-making scheme that stirs up old feelings of resentment and revenge.
Personally, this departure from French's previous work isn't to my taste: the small Irish village, the ex-Chicago cop, the enigmatic Trey don't appeal and there's a bit too much unlikely drama for a tiny hamlet.
French is incapable of writing a bad book but this new direction isn't working for me in terms of either characters or location - at least there are fewer extended descriptions of sanding drawers this time but really, the plot just feels bonkers!
French has been one of my favorite and must-read authors ever since her In the Woods - but two disappointments in a row from this latest series and it's clearly just not my thing.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via Netgalley.
Personally, this departure from French's previous work isn't to my taste: the small Irish village, the ex-Chicago cop, the enigmatic Trey don't appeal and there's a bit too much unlikely drama for a tiny hamlet.
French is incapable of writing a bad book but this new direction isn't working for me in terms of either characters or location - at least there are fewer extended descriptions of sanding drawers this time but really, the plot just feels bonkers!
French has been one of my favorite and must-read authors ever since her In the Woods - but two disappointments in a row from this latest series and it's clearly just not my thing.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via Netgalley.
July 12, 2024
I didn't realize this was going to be a trilogy, but I understand why it would be, because the author sort of leaves you hanging at the end of this one as to how the three main characters will continue their pseudo-family.
Trey is fifteen now and just as taciturn as ever. She and Cal, the ex-cop from the US, have become friends and have their woodshop together. They mend and make new furniture for the town's people. Trey excels at the work and has come out of her shell a bit because of it and Cal's benevolent influence. He has become the father she's been lacking, as her real da has run off to London four years ago and good riddance. It's easy to slip into their Irish way of speaking when you've read almost 5oo pages of it.
But then, her good-for-nothing da turns up on the doorstep bringing a posh Londoner with him who has a tale to tell of his ancestors being from there and of gold that might be right under the surface. The farmers, who are having a tough summer, because of the unseasonable hot weather, turn to this interloper with suspicion at first, but then with hope. They are ready to listen and put their money up too for a rich return. Trey hates the townspeople as much as she hates her father, so Cal has no idea which way her efforts will tend and only hopes he can be there to protect her when everything goes awry.
Trey is fifteen now and just as taciturn as ever. She and Cal, the ex-cop from the US, have become friends and have their woodshop together. They mend and make new furniture for the town's people. Trey excels at the work and has come out of her shell a bit because of it and Cal's benevolent influence. He has become the father she's been lacking, as her real da has run off to London four years ago and good riddance. It's easy to slip into their Irish way of speaking when you've read almost 5oo pages of it.
But then, her good-for-nothing da turns up on the doorstep bringing a posh Londoner with him who has a tale to tell of his ancestors being from there and of gold that might be right under the surface. The farmers, who are having a tough summer, because of the unseasonable hot weather, turn to this interloper with suspicion at first, but then with hope. They are ready to listen and put their money up too for a rich return. Trey hates the townspeople as much as she hates her father, so Cal has no idea which way her efforts will tend and only hopes he can be there to protect her when everything goes awry.
April 8, 2024
Tana French puts words together in an unusual way to create magic. Consider:
"The breeze flows in soft and sweet as cream."
"The night flowers have the rich, honeyed scent of some old cordial."
She tells this slow burn of a story in a circuitous, winding manner. Her measured pace mirrors the unusual, languorous summer heat. A lot of the plot unfolds in the conversations, and dialogue writing is another of French's gifts. She slowly builds tension, one detail at a time.
French returns me to Ardnakelty and picks up her tale two years after The Searcher ends. Her cast of characters all return with a few additions. Mart Lavin is still the devilishly clever puller of town strings. Trey still conveys volumes with a shrug, though she is slightly more forthcoming. These two are the most complex, and to me, the most intriguing of the characters with whom French has populated Ardnakelty. Cal and Lena have become romantically involved as well as being good friends. Crashing the party are Johnny Reddy, Trey's smooth talking father, and his rich Englishman partner setting up a deal amongst the townspeople.
French directs her characters to look into their hearts and ask themselves how far will they go for the ones that they love; how far will they deviate from their moral compasses?
Though aspects of the plot are a bit of a stretch, the writing and characters are strong enough to keep me engaged and I am engrossed watching what is seething below the surface of this seemingly quaint Irish town. If you enjoyed The Searcher, this one will definitely work for you.
Publication 2024
"The breeze flows in soft and sweet as cream."
"The night flowers have the rich, honeyed scent of some old cordial."
She tells this slow burn of a story in a circuitous, winding manner. Her measured pace mirrors the unusual, languorous summer heat. A lot of the plot unfolds in the conversations, and dialogue writing is another of French's gifts. She slowly builds tension, one detail at a time.
French returns me to Ardnakelty and picks up her tale two years after The Searcher ends. Her cast of characters all return with a few additions. Mart Lavin is still the devilishly clever puller of town strings. Trey still conveys volumes with a shrug, though she is slightly more forthcoming. These two are the most complex, and to me, the most intriguing of the characters with whom French has populated Ardnakelty. Cal and Lena have become romantically involved as well as being good friends. Crashing the party are Johnny Reddy, Trey's smooth talking father, and his rich Englishman partner setting up a deal amongst the townspeople.
French directs her characters to look into their hearts and ask themselves how far will they go for the ones that they love; how far will they deviate from their moral compasses?
Though aspects of the plot are a bit of a stretch, the writing and characters are strong enough to keep me engaged and I am engrossed watching what is seething below the surface of this seemingly quaint Irish town. If you enjoyed The Searcher, this one will definitely work for you.
Publication 2024
April 13, 2024
Sequel to The Searcher (2020).
dnf
February 2, 2024dnf
bring back old tana french.
i wanted to give this a chance despite not having been particularly into its predecessor, The Searcher, but i just can't bring myself to feel invested in the story. it all feels so generic and is lacking the atmosphere and psychological depth of french's earlier works.
bring back old tana french.
i wanted to give this a chance despite not having been particularly into its predecessor, The Searcher, but i just can't bring myself to feel invested in the story. it all feels so generic and is lacking the atmosphere and psychological depth of french's earlier works.
January 17, 2025
I give up on Tana French. The Searcher was mediocre, and so was this sequel. I liked the plot, but it took way too long to unfold. If a story is going to take its time, then I need to be hooked by something else - dialogue, what’s happening between characters, the psychological process of a character, etc. None of that was in either of these books.
March 20, 2024
Who am I kidding, this is five stars. It didn't hit me as hard as previous books of hers have, but there is no fault here. She's just a master of character and atmosphere, and she knows how to seed a twist in such a way that it has thematic value, not just shock value.
Like its predecessor, The Searcher, this is a slow burn character study of a mystery. Also like The Searcher, this is a mystery where the investigation isn't even the third most important thing happening. This is a mystery where our main characters are involved in the happenings in a decidedly non-legal way. It's still a bit of a shock reading these books when I'm so used to being so deeply on the side of the law with her Dublin Murder books, whereas here many of the characters are actively obscuring the course of "justice", and we're meant to sympathize with many of them, to some degree. Cal is a retired Chicago cop, and he has taken that retirement seriously. It's far important to him to keep the peace in his new community, and most importantly, to keep his surrogate daughter Trey safe.
The plot in this one kicks off (though seriously, prepare for a slow burn with intricate character dynamics here) when Trey's absentee father comes swanning back to town, stirring up the whole place with talk of making a fortune. A fancy Englishman he met in London has stories of gold hidden in the fields and the mountain, stories he heard from his granny, who moved to London decades before. All is of course, not on the up and up, and the presence of Johnny Reddy leaves not a stone overturned.
I was absolutely pulled in by this book and its intricate small town politics. The character of Mart, the little king of the little mountain, continues to be one of Tana French's most fascinating, and the little family Cal has created in Ardnakelty her most endearing.
Already impatient to see what she will write next.
Like its predecessor, The Searcher, this is a slow burn character study of a mystery. Also like The Searcher, this is a mystery where the investigation isn't even the third most important thing happening. This is a mystery where our main characters are involved in the happenings in a decidedly non-legal way. It's still a bit of a shock reading these books when I'm so used to being so deeply on the side of the law with her Dublin Murder books, whereas here many of the characters are actively obscuring the course of "justice", and we're meant to sympathize with many of them, to some degree. Cal is a retired Chicago cop, and he has taken that retirement seriously. It's far important to him to keep the peace in his new community, and most importantly, to keep his surrogate daughter Trey safe.
The plot in this one kicks off (though seriously, prepare for a slow burn with intricate character dynamics here) when Trey's absentee father comes swanning back to town, stirring up the whole place with talk of making a fortune. A fancy Englishman he met in London has stories of gold hidden in the fields and the mountain, stories he heard from his granny, who moved to London decades before. All is of course, not on the up and up, and the presence of Johnny Reddy leaves not a stone overturned.
I was absolutely pulled in by this book and its intricate small town politics. The character of Mart, the little king of the little mountain, continues to be one of Tana French's most fascinating, and the little family Cal has created in Ardnakelty her most endearing.
Already impatient to see what she will write next.
March 14, 2024
Tana French does not really write mystery novels. It's the closest category to what they are, it's the best way to shelve her books, but they are not necessarily "in genre", following genre conventions and there is a lot more there for the reader (some of them) to enjoy than the whodunnit part being surprising and tight. The Dublin Murder Squad books were more "in genre" than her newer ones, but even those could be quietly deconstructionist. And this new trilogy (crossing fingers it will be a trilogy) is something quite unusual and difficult to describe...
This, and the Searcher are stories about a small rural town in the West Ireland, and its underlying ruthlessness. The setting is charming and quiet and with its own very specific evils all lurking around - I was almost settling in for a nice cozy read, reading about adults being adults who have acquired some wisdom along the way (and a teen being a teen on her way to getting it). It is very much a sequel to the The Searcher and according to interviews Tana French is starting to write a third volume on this (though she is not commiting to actually finishing it).
In the Searcher, her 8th book she wrote for the first time from a 3rd person PoV (the american "blow in", but still only one PoV. In this, her 9th novel, we get 3 third-person PoVs, for a change, including a couple locals, and there are more layers to stories and motivations because of that.
Her writing is just always gloriously to my taste - the descriptions, the dialogue, the rhythm - and then there is the insight into what makes people tick, how they react, what is there. (Incidentally, in her career she was both an actress and an archeologist, and I think both show, and in a very good way in her writing). For me this is fantastic people watching and the mystery, the crime is just the excuse.
Incidentally, ah the dogs, Tana French describing dogs being dogs is just, well, perfect (a few other things also are perfect to me).
If this is going to be a trilogy, or even right now, maybe it should not be titled the Cal Hooper series. I realized with this book (though I was just slow, I guess) that the titles of the books are
Like The Searcher there is an underlying western (American 19th century western, John Ford movie style and that is another tie between westerns and Ireland) theme - I do not know how she pulls it off but she does, the very strong western tropes and ethos (almost pun like) are somehow natural in a realistic irish 21st century countryside. The villain figure, if we are going to call them it, is one for the ages.
It's really difficult for me to judge or rate her books. I am a fangirl, pure and simple. They just click for me, and this is one extra, a new one, of course I wanted it and it did not disappoint. It is better than The Witch Elm (and softer), and I do think it is better than The Searcher - while it still feels like a middle book in a trilogy somehow, it brings more consequences, more depth. But if you never read any of her books, do not start here or even with The Searcher. Start with The Dublin Murder Squad (ideally, start witht the first In the Woods, but any, except The Secret Place, will do).
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the same narrator as The Searcher, Roger Clark and he did again an amazing job. The accents (and lots of them, american, irish, english) were fantastic, the tones, everything just right. But I admit I would have loved to have heard an irish woman read Lena, I even have a dream casting for that!
I discovered Tana French books last year, and went through all her back list, knowing this was coming out this year, feeling a little bit depressed now somehow, while being in no way disappointed.
This, and the Searcher are stories about a small rural town in the West Ireland, and its underlying ruthlessness. The setting is charming and quiet and with its own very specific evils all lurking around - I was almost settling in for a nice cozy read, reading about adults being adults who have acquired some wisdom along the way (and a teen being a teen on her way to getting it). It is very much a sequel to the The Searcher and according to interviews Tana French is starting to write a third volume on this (though she is not commiting to actually finishing it).
In the Searcher, her 8th book she wrote for the first time from a 3rd person PoV (the american "blow in", but still only one PoV. In this, her 9th novel, we get 3 third-person PoVs, for a change, including a couple locals, and there are more layers to stories and motivations because of that.
Her writing is just always gloriously to my taste - the descriptions, the dialogue, the rhythm - and then there is the insight into what makes people tick, how they react, what is there. (Incidentally, in her career she was both an actress and an archeologist, and I think both show, and in a very good way in her writing). For me this is fantastic people watching and the mystery, the crime is just the excuse.
Incidentally, ah the dogs, Tana French describing dogs being dogs is just, well, perfect (a few other things also are perfect to me).
If this is going to be a trilogy, or even right now, maybe it should not be titled the Cal Hooper series. I realized with this book (though I was just slow, I guess) that the titles of the books are
Like The Searcher there is an underlying western (American 19th century western, John Ford movie style and that is another tie between westerns and Ireland) theme - I do not know how she pulls it off but she does, the very strong western tropes and ethos (almost pun like) are somehow natural in a realistic irish 21st century countryside. The villain figure, if we are going to call them it, is one for the ages.
It's really difficult for me to judge or rate her books. I am a fangirl, pure and simple. They just click for me, and this is one extra, a new one, of course I wanted it and it did not disappoint. It is better than The Witch Elm (and softer), and I do think it is better than The Searcher - while it still feels like a middle book in a trilogy somehow, it brings more consequences, more depth. But if you never read any of her books, do not start here or even with The Searcher. Start with The Dublin Murder Squad (ideally, start witht the first In the Woods, but any, except The Secret Place, will do).
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the same narrator as The Searcher, Roger Clark and he did again an amazing job. The accents (and lots of them, american, irish, english) were fantastic, the tones, everything just right. But I admit I would have loved to have heard an irish woman read Lena, I even have a dream casting for that!
I discovered Tana French books last year, and went through all her back list, knowing this was coming out this year, feeling a little bit depressed now somehow, while being in no way disappointed.
March 12, 2025
Finished this late last night and fell asleep before I could rate it.
I think if this had been written by anyone else but Tana French, it wouldn't be so highly rated. In fact, if anyone other than Tana French had written this, it never would have left the slush pile.
I say that because this sequel to The Searcher (which was originally a standalone novel but is now the first in a series) suffers from all of the same issues as the first book, except the conditions seems to have progressed. This book is slow. And by that I mean painfully slow. If the first book was molasses, then this book moves as fast as continental drift.
We're back in the small Irish town to which Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago police officer, emigrated. It's two years following the events of The Searcher and Cal has spent them being happy, it seems like. He's a surrogate father to Trey, and content in his relationship with Lena - it's the retirement he was after when he picked this town as his future home. But then Trey's good-for-nothing biological dad comes barreling back into town with a harebrained scheme that is going to mean nothing good for his family.
If you're going to pick up this book, you're going to need to love that storyline - wrap yourself up in it like a blanket - because it's basically all this book has to offer. It takes forever for anything to happen and once it does, you'll be waiting a loooooooong time for even one more thing to pop off. There's a moderate amount of drama at the end, but it's hardly an adequate payoff for trudging through 450 pages of next-to-nothing.
Can a girl get a secondary plotline? I won't even be greedy and ask for a third. But not even ONE? Even a hint of something else going on in this town would have made this immensely more bearable.
As big of a fan as I still am of the Dublin Murder Squad books (which begin with In the Woods, in case you're unfamiliar), French's more recent releases have made me much less excited about her and her work, and that's sad.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts over on my Booktube channel, abookolive.
I think if this had been written by anyone else but Tana French, it wouldn't be so highly rated. In fact, if anyone other than Tana French had written this, it never would have left the slush pile.
I say that because this sequel to The Searcher (which was originally a standalone novel but is now the first in a series) suffers from all of the same issues as the first book, except the conditions seems to have progressed. This book is slow. And by that I mean painfully slow. If the first book was molasses, then this book moves as fast as continental drift.
We're back in the small Irish town to which Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago police officer, emigrated. It's two years following the events of The Searcher and Cal has spent them being happy, it seems like. He's a surrogate father to Trey, and content in his relationship with Lena - it's the retirement he was after when he picked this town as his future home. But then Trey's good-for-nothing biological dad comes barreling back into town with a harebrained scheme that is going to mean nothing good for his family.
If you're going to pick up this book, you're going to need to love that storyline - wrap yourself up in it like a blanket - because it's basically all this book has to offer. It takes forever for anything to happen and once it does, you'll be waiting a loooooooong time for even one more thing to pop off. There's a moderate amount of drama at the end, but it's hardly an adequate payoff for trudging through 450 pages of next-to-nothing.
Can a girl get a secondary plotline? I won't even be greedy and ask for a third. But not even ONE? Even a hint of something else going on in this town would have made this immensely more bearable.
As big of a fan as I still am of the Dublin Murder Squad books (which begin with In the Woods, in case you're unfamiliar), French's more recent releases have made me much less excited about her and her work, and that's sad.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts over on my Booktube channel, abookolive.
April 3, 2024
Well, this was a disappointment. After I read In the Woods I was hooked on Tana French and wanted to read all her books. Until now, I've enjoyed all her books, but the last 2 have been my least favorite, and this one I didn't enjoy at all. It was too slow and I just can't get attached to the characters like I did in her earlier works.
February 21, 2024
A boiling hot summer in a remote Irish village. The crops are failing, the cattle haven't got enough food and everyone is tired and sweaty. It is at this very moment, when everyone is vulnerable because of the ferocious heat that one local guy comes back from London with promises of gold on their land. A handful of farmers are attracted by the tall tales; some out of boredom, some out of necessity. For Cal, it is because he wants to know how he will need to protect his young friend Trey from her returning father.
The talk amongst the townspeople is slippery and communication with half words is difficult for Cal to be interpreted correctly at best of times, but in the sweltering heat, the lack of clarity builds up to dangerous assumptions. And when a murder happens, the moment comes to show allegiances and to bury any grudges to protect your loved ones.
Just as in the previous book 'The Searcher', the mystery is merely a baseplate on which the characters are build. The book is all about Cal, Trey and Lena, small time crooks and their scams, and shifty townspeople. But the main character is the small village itself and the flow of talks, how a few words here and there can make or brake a reputation and how fragile and futile the truth really is.
The story focuses more on the village, and the surrounding nature and the perpetual rhythms of long warm days, in that regard it certainly reminded me of Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor.
It is an exceptionally good slow burn, with insights in human nature, where all of the characters are intriguing and the mystery -although not the focus- is very well spun.
A very heartfelt thank you to NetGalley, Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton & Viking and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The talk amongst the townspeople is slippery and communication with half words is difficult for Cal to be interpreted correctly at best of times, but in the sweltering heat, the lack of clarity builds up to dangerous assumptions. And when a murder happens, the moment comes to show allegiances and to bury any grudges to protect your loved ones.
Just as in the previous book 'The Searcher', the mystery is merely a baseplate on which the characters are build. The book is all about Cal, Trey and Lena, small time crooks and their scams, and shifty townspeople. But the main character is the small village itself and the flow of talks, how a few words here and there can make or brake a reputation and how fragile and futile the truth really is.
The story focuses more on the village, and the surrounding nature and the perpetual rhythms of long warm days, in that regard it certainly reminded me of Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor.
It is an exceptionally good slow burn, with insights in human nature, where all of the characters are intriguing and the mystery -although not the focus- is very well spun.
A very heartfelt thank you to NetGalley, Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton & Viking and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 30, 2024
Free Range Reading
Tana French is one of my favoured authors. Whenever she publishes something new, I put a hold on at the library as soon as they order it. Once again, I was well entertained.
Cal Hooper, retired Chicago cop, has settled into this small Irish community more or less. He still keeps a wary eye on some of his neighbours, who may be clandestine and Machivellian about their grudges and revenge. Despite these reservations, he has become a mentor to young and rather feral Trey Reddy. She is handy at woodwork which the two of them pursue as a team. And he has acquired a woman friend, Lena, who likes him fine, but vows she'll never marry again.
All's well until Trey's deadbeat dad shows back up in town after being gone for years, spinning a tale about a foolish Englishman and gold in them thar hills. There's plots a plenty, between Johnny Reddy, his Englishman Rushborough, Cal, Trey, and the community's menfolk. Who's conning who? Who is going to shoulder the blame? Will Cal and Trey have a relationship left when the dust settles? Is Trey more like her conman daddy than we gave her credit for?
Johnny Reddy is a charming con man and the whole community knows it, but they're willing to play along at least for a little while. But, as we learned in the first book, they can turn really nasty when they feel like they've been wronged. Cal has tried, with limited success, to remain neutral in his dealings with them. He spends a lot of this book uncomfortably trying to thread the needle of being part of the community but not complicit in a crime.
Trying to stay straight around twisty people, trying to stay neutral in a bad situation, trying to figure out a stroppy teenager—Cal has his work set up for him. French doesn't go easy on him. I find myself hoping that she will find another twisty problem for him solve in another book.
Tana French is one of my favoured authors. Whenever she publishes something new, I put a hold on at the library as soon as they order it. Once again, I was well entertained.
Cal Hooper, retired Chicago cop, has settled into this small Irish community more or less. He still keeps a wary eye on some of his neighbours, who may be clandestine and Machivellian about their grudges and revenge. Despite these reservations, he has become a mentor to young and rather feral Trey Reddy. She is handy at woodwork which the two of them pursue as a team. And he has acquired a woman friend, Lena, who likes him fine, but vows she'll never marry again.
All's well until Trey's deadbeat dad shows back up in town after being gone for years, spinning a tale about a foolish Englishman and gold in them thar hills. There's plots a plenty, between Johnny Reddy, his Englishman Rushborough, Cal, Trey, and the community's menfolk. Who's conning who? Who is going to shoulder the blame? Will Cal and Trey have a relationship left when the dust settles? Is Trey more like her conman daddy than we gave her credit for?
Johnny Reddy is a charming con man and the whole community knows it, but they're willing to play along at least for a little while. But, as we learned in the first book, they can turn really nasty when they feel like they've been wronged. Cal has tried, with limited success, to remain neutral in his dealings with them. He spends a lot of this book uncomfortably trying to thread the needle of being part of the community but not complicit in a crime.
Trying to stay straight around twisty people, trying to stay neutral in a bad situation, trying to figure out a stroppy teenager—Cal has his work set up for him. French doesn't go easy on him. I find myself hoping that she will find another twisty problem for him solve in another book.
March 12, 2024
The Hunter is the second book in the Cal Hooper series by award-winning Irish author, Tana French. After some two years fixing up his dilapidated house near Ardnakelty in the west of Ireland, ex-Chicago cop, Cal Hooper is settling in, happy with the contrast to city life: “being boring is among Cal’s main goals. For most of his life, one or more elements always insisted on being interesting, to the point where dullness took on an unattainable end-of-the-rainbow glow. Ever since he finally got his hands on it, he’s savoured every second.”
His renovation is coming along, the villagers seem to tolerate him, Lena Dunne regularly shares his bed, and Trey, now fifteen, is building her furniture-restoring skills under his watch. His discreet, low-key care has a positive effect on her academic performance and her social acuity. For Trey, Cal’s place has peace, while at home “Their mam is silent, but it’s not a silence with peace in it. It takes up space, like some heavy thing made of rusted iron built around her”
Then her four-year-absent father, Johnny Reddy turns up. Cal sizes him up: “a type he’s encountered before: the guy who operates by sauntering into a new place, announcing himself as whatever seems likely to come in handy, and seeing how much he can get out of that costume before it wears too thin to cover him up any longer.”
Johnny invites a select few farmers to hear about a scheme guaranteed to put money in their pockets: a wealthy Londoner they are soon referring to as a Plastic Paddy, who claims a connection to the village, has a tale from his granny of gold in the ground. The Reddy family’s poor reputation ensures that many start out sceptical, but meeting the very posh Cillian Rushborough convinces them they can pull it off.
The likelihood of actual gold being low, Cal is quickly convinced there’s more to it all than what Reddy is saying: just who is scamming whom?
“The main talent Cal has discovered in himself, since coming to Ardnakelty, is a broad and restful capacity for letting things be. At first this sat uneasily alongside his ingrained instinct to fix things, but over time they’ve fallen into a balance: he keeps the fixing instinct mainly turned towards solid objects, like his house and people’s furniture, and leaves other things the room to fix themselves.”
Against his usual instincts, Cal gets involved, if just to keep an eye on where things are going, to make sure there’s no backlash on Trey when things go pear-shaped, as they inevitably will.
Each processing events in their own way, Trey and Cal and Lena aren’t sharing all they know, out of misguided concern or uncertainty, each trying to protect or not worry the other. Each acts according to their own agenda, sometimes at crossed purposes. Trey sees the opportunity for a kind of justice she’s longed for to be served. And then, one of the new arrivals is murdered…
Once again, French provides a slow burn tale in which readers can immerse themselves in gorgeous descriptive prose such as: “the fields sprawl out, a mosaic of varying greens in oddangled shapes that Trey knows as well as the cracks on her bedroom ceiling” and “Summer air wanders in and out of the window, bringing the smells of silage and clover, picking up sawdust motes and twirling them idly in the wide bars of sunlight” and “This barely even feels like a conversation, just a series of stone walls and briar patches.”
Also: “The house got a fresh coat of butter-coloured paint and some patches to the roof a couple of years back, but nothing can paper over its air of exhaustion. Its spine sags, and the lines of the window frames splay off-kilter. The yard is weeds and dust, blurring into the mountainside at the edges”
The dialogue as written easily evokes the Irish brogue, while the banter is often blackly funny: at one stage, Cal is surprised to find himself engaged, and the pub scene is very entertaining. The quirky cast from the first book, including those smart and amusing rooks, still appeal, and the reader’s investment in the main protagonists is amply rewarded.
This instalment is cleverly plotted with enough turns in the story to keep the reader thoroughly intrigued. While this sequel can be read as a stand-alone, there are some spoilers for the first book, and why would one deny themselves the pleasure of reading that one first? Brilliant Irish crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Penguin UK.
His renovation is coming along, the villagers seem to tolerate him, Lena Dunne regularly shares his bed, and Trey, now fifteen, is building her furniture-restoring skills under his watch. His discreet, low-key care has a positive effect on her academic performance and her social acuity. For Trey, Cal’s place has peace, while at home “Their mam is silent, but it’s not a silence with peace in it. It takes up space, like some heavy thing made of rusted iron built around her”
Then her four-year-absent father, Johnny Reddy turns up. Cal sizes him up: “a type he’s encountered before: the guy who operates by sauntering into a new place, announcing himself as whatever seems likely to come in handy, and seeing how much he can get out of that costume before it wears too thin to cover him up any longer.”
Johnny invites a select few farmers to hear about a scheme guaranteed to put money in their pockets: a wealthy Londoner they are soon referring to as a Plastic Paddy, who claims a connection to the village, has a tale from his granny of gold in the ground. The Reddy family’s poor reputation ensures that many start out sceptical, but meeting the very posh Cillian Rushborough convinces them they can pull it off.
The likelihood of actual gold being low, Cal is quickly convinced there’s more to it all than what Reddy is saying: just who is scamming whom?
“The main talent Cal has discovered in himself, since coming to Ardnakelty, is a broad and restful capacity for letting things be. At first this sat uneasily alongside his ingrained instinct to fix things, but over time they’ve fallen into a balance: he keeps the fixing instinct mainly turned towards solid objects, like his house and people’s furniture, and leaves other things the room to fix themselves.”
Against his usual instincts, Cal gets involved, if just to keep an eye on where things are going, to make sure there’s no backlash on Trey when things go pear-shaped, as they inevitably will.
Each processing events in their own way, Trey and Cal and Lena aren’t sharing all they know, out of misguided concern or uncertainty, each trying to protect or not worry the other. Each acts according to their own agenda, sometimes at crossed purposes. Trey sees the opportunity for a kind of justice she’s longed for to be served. And then, one of the new arrivals is murdered…
Once again, French provides a slow burn tale in which readers can immerse themselves in gorgeous descriptive prose such as: “the fields sprawl out, a mosaic of varying greens in oddangled shapes that Trey knows as well as the cracks on her bedroom ceiling” and “Summer air wanders in and out of the window, bringing the smells of silage and clover, picking up sawdust motes and twirling them idly in the wide bars of sunlight” and “This barely even feels like a conversation, just a series of stone walls and briar patches.”
Also: “The house got a fresh coat of butter-coloured paint and some patches to the roof a couple of years back, but nothing can paper over its air of exhaustion. Its spine sags, and the lines of the window frames splay off-kilter. The yard is weeds and dust, blurring into the mountainside at the edges”
The dialogue as written easily evokes the Irish brogue, while the banter is often blackly funny: at one stage, Cal is surprised to find himself engaged, and the pub scene is very entertaining. The quirky cast from the first book, including those smart and amusing rooks, still appeal, and the reader’s investment in the main protagonists is amply rewarded.
This instalment is cleverly plotted with enough turns in the story to keep the reader thoroughly intrigued. While this sequel can be read as a stand-alone, there are some spoilers for the first book, and why would one deny themselves the pleasure of reading that one first? Brilliant Irish crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Penguin UK.
March 9, 2024
Sigh…it’s hard to rate a book with great writing but a boring story. Tana French is my favorite author but this one just didn’t do it. I typically love her books because of the descriptions of Ireland scenery and culture, the character development of the detectives, and the twists and turns she has the stories take. This book had none of those ingredients. The murder doesn’t happen until 250 pages in and *spoiler* the person murdered is not someone you care about.
Trey is our main character with an arc (I guess we already covered Cal in the searcher?), placing this book as a whodunnit vs detective uncovering a mystery.
It feels like Tana is trying to move away from the detective solving a murder storyline and into something different — a bit of commentary on rural Irish culture perhaps? if this is the route she’s taking, the story needs to be more realistic. This much crap wouldn’t happen in a random small town.
Trey is our main character with an arc (I guess we already covered Cal in the searcher?), placing this book as a whodunnit vs detective uncovering a mystery.
It feels like Tana is trying to move away from the detective solving a murder storyline and into something different — a bit of commentary on rural Irish culture perhaps? if this is the route she’s taking, the story needs to be more realistic. This much crap wouldn’t happen in a random small town.
July 11, 2024
The Hunter is the sequel to The Searcher by Tana French. Although not the intention, it appears that the Cal Hooper books will now be a trilogy because, as Ms. French says so eloquently, the arc of the story has not yet been attained in the relationships between Cal Hooper, Trey Reddy and Lena as they attempt to cobble together a family. In this book, there is a difference in the point of view. Previously, in The Searcher it was only from the perspective of the protagonist Cal Hooper, but now we hear from Trey, now fifteen years old, and Lena, a neighbor and close friend of Cal’s, as they become more involved with one another and with Trey as she makes a lot of strides. But alas, there is a blazing heat wave sweeping across the small rural townland in western Ireland causing an edginess, as Johnny Reddy, a nev’er-do-well and frequently absent father returns bringing an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland. There are parallels here to the the great gold rush in the western part of the United States. What can go wrong? While Cal and Lena want to protect Trey, she doesn’t want protection but revenge! This is quite the atmospheric tale as the plots unfold amid the beautiful writing of Tana French, much like poetry.
”She feels like she needs to be ready, just in case. The feeling is familiar and strange at the same time. Trey is good at noticing things outside herself but uninterested in noticing things inside, so it takes her awhile to recognize that this is the way she felt most of the time, up until a couple of years ago and Cal and Lena. It faded away so gradually that she forgot it, till now.”
March 13, 2024
Tana French never lets me down. She is one of my favorite contemporary writers of any genre, and when it comes to the mystery genre, she absolutely shines. Ms. French's characters truly set her apart. She takes her time bringing them to life for us, peeling back layer after layer. This isn't a seat-of-your-pants breathless thriller. It's the best of possible slow burns. I'm always invested in her flawed protagonists, but I especially love her cop and teenage characters. In The Hunter, I got both, and in a remote Irish village to boot. If you like crime fiction, do yourself a favor and read this book.
April 3, 2024
4 Stars
The continuing story of Cal Hooper and his young friend Trey.
Cal becomes a father figure to Trey as he gets used to living in a small Irish town.
When Treys good for nothing, father returns from his adventure problems begin to surface.
Trey knows her father is up to no good when he brings a wealthy businessman to the community.
Her father is telling the businessman there is gold to be found in the area.
Trey wants to expose her father for what he is but cause no harm.
Cal knows Trey is up to something and wants to protect her at any cost.
I loved this continuation of Cal and Trey and hope there's a third book about them.
Tana French is one of my favorites
The continuing story of Cal Hooper and his young friend Trey.
Cal becomes a father figure to Trey as he gets used to living in a small Irish town.
When Treys good for nothing, father returns from his adventure problems begin to surface.
Trey knows her father is up to no good when he brings a wealthy businessman to the community.
Her father is telling the businessman there is gold to be found in the area.
Trey wants to expose her father for what he is but cause no harm.
Cal knows Trey is up to something and wants to protect her at any cost.
I loved this continuation of Cal and Trey and hope there's a third book about them.
Tana French is one of my favorites
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April 20, 2024DNF Why is it so difficult to give up on a book? I stopped reading The Hunter at page 131. If a book does not grab me I usually quit after 50 pages so I gave this one extra time to reel me in. And Tana French is one of my favourite Irish authors. The story takes place in the agricultural part of Ireland, where dozens of farmers are being encouraged to invest in a scheme recommended by an untrustworthy Irish man recently returned from London. There is also a retired Chicago PD policeman who had moved to the area years ago. And everyone spends lots of time in the pub. My opinion of this book is my own and I’m sure most readers would enjoy The Hunter.
March 28, 2024
Two years have passed since the events of The Searcher (it's possible, of course, to read The Hunter without having read its predecessor, but not advisable—characters' backstories are alluded to but not developed in this sequel). In the quiet intervening years in the west Ireland village of Ardnakelty, Cal has grown a garden, he and Lena have fallen into a comfortable routine of dinner and sleepovers a few nights a week and Trey has settled into teenagehood, attending school regularly and developing some mad carpentry skillz under Cal's loving tutelage.
Deep into the heart of this summer, however, as a heatwave yellows the green hills that tower over Ardnakelty, a shadow descends, darkening the hearts of the affable locals. Johnny Reddy, Trey's ne'er-do-well father, swans in from London looking like the cat who ate the canary, all slick haircut and natty clothes, letting everyone know he's come to reclaim his place at the head of his ragtag family. Cal immediately sniffs out trouble, the red flags most evident in Trey, who — after all the work he's done to get her to open up, trust, relax — shuts down and retreats into a turtleshell of resentment.
And then the plot thickens.
2020's The Searcher still sits high atop my Best Of All Time Mountain. It would always be hard to follow up with a sequel as impactful in tension and storytelling. I loved this next installment (and hopeful there will be more), but it isn't The Searcher. That's not to say it's a disappointment, it's just not as good. The plot, although original and entertaining for all the ways it brings a full cast of characters into play and plunges us into village intrigues past and present, strains credulity and flattens the tension as a result. The primary cast, including "blow-in" Cal, an American ex-cop who landed in Ardnakelty two years before looking to retire in a peaceful back of beyond, his lover, Lena, a lifelong Arndakeltian who has tried but can't seem to quit the place, and Trey, the feral adolescent Cal tamed in The Searcher, spend A LOT of time in their own heads, thinking about everyone else's next moves.
But man, I still looked forward to settling into the sofa each evening with The Hunter and sighed with longing when it ended. I didn't want to leave Ireland, nor set aside French's ridiculously fine writing and her masterful storytelling.
If you're expecting, and wanting, the hardbitten, gritty noir of French's Dublin Murder Squad series, you'll be disappointed (a dead body doesn't appear in The Hunter until ~page 300). If you are looking for a deeply immersive story with finely-crafted characters, an irresistible landscape, and slow-burning tension, start with The Searcher and keep going with The Hunter. You won't want to stop.
Deep into the heart of this summer, however, as a heatwave yellows the green hills that tower over Ardnakelty, a shadow descends, darkening the hearts of the affable locals. Johnny Reddy, Trey's ne'er-do-well father, swans in from London looking like the cat who ate the canary, all slick haircut and natty clothes, letting everyone know he's come to reclaim his place at the head of his ragtag family. Cal immediately sniffs out trouble, the red flags most evident in Trey, who — after all the work he's done to get her to open up, trust, relax — shuts down and retreats into a turtleshell of resentment.
And then the plot thickens.
2020's The Searcher still sits high atop my Best Of All Time Mountain. It would always be hard to follow up with a sequel as impactful in tension and storytelling. I loved this next installment (and hopeful there will be more), but it isn't The Searcher. That's not to say it's a disappointment, it's just not as good. The plot, although original and entertaining for all the ways it brings a full cast of characters into play and plunges us into village intrigues past and present, strains credulity and flattens the tension as a result. The primary cast, including "blow-in" Cal, an American ex-cop who landed in Ardnakelty two years before looking to retire in a peaceful back of beyond, his lover, Lena, a lifelong Arndakeltian who has tried but can't seem to quit the place, and Trey, the feral adolescent Cal tamed in The Searcher, spend A LOT of time in their own heads, thinking about everyone else's next moves.
But man, I still looked forward to settling into the sofa each evening with The Hunter and sighed with longing when it ended. I didn't want to leave Ireland, nor set aside French's ridiculously fine writing and her masterful storytelling.
If you're expecting, and wanting, the hardbitten, gritty noir of French's Dublin Murder Squad series, you'll be disappointed (a dead body doesn't appear in The Hunter until ~page 300). If you are looking for a deeply immersive story with finely-crafted characters, an irresistible landscape, and slow-burning tension, start with The Searcher and keep going with The Hunter. You won't want to stop.
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