Best Book of 2020New York Times |NPR | New York Post“This hushed suspense tale about thwarted dreams of escape may be her best one yet . . . Its own kind of masterpiece.” –Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post“A new Tana French is always cause for celebration . . . Read it once for the plot; read it again for the beauty and subtlety of French’s writing.” –Sarah Lyall, The New York TimesCal … writing.” –Sarah Lyall, The New York Times
Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, Cal uncovers layers of darkness beneath his picturesque retreat, and starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets.
“One of the greatest crime novelists writing today” (Vox) weaves a masterful, atmospheric tale of suspense, asking how to tell right from wrong in a world where neither is simple, and what we stake on that decision.
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Tana French is such a beautiful writer—this book is set in Ireland and you can smell the peat and feel the rain on your parka. A very engaging suspense.
Want to immerse in a completely different, but real, world? Sink into Tana French newest book, The Searcher I hesitate to call it a “thriller” because the pace is quiet, the build is slow…but the sense of tension permeates every page of this mystery set in the Irish countryside, peopled by colorful characters and rooks so big they can kill small game. I loved this story!
This is the first Tana French novel that I have read and….I get it. Mistress of the craft. I savored the entire book and took my time because I did not want the experience to end. Her ability to build up the sense of sinister to a crescendo level is really remarkable. Glad there are more of her books out there for me to read.
Tana French writes in-depth intensive stories that stay with me long after I’ve finished them. A retired American cop in Ireland restoring an Irish country cottage was a step away from her Dublin Murder Squad novels, but a welcome addition to her body of work.
Recently I was on Julie Strauss Best Book Ever podcast and this book came up. I can not recommend this title highly enough. The mystery is good, but it’s the relationship between Cal and Trey and captured my heart. For those who love the intersection between women’s fiction and thriller/mystery, this is one of the best in the category.
The opening of this novel is so vivid, and French immediately immerses the reader into a warm September evening in the middle of the Irish countryside, full of blackberry brambles and mustard coloured gorse and I love how rooks feature throughout. Ex Chicago PD cop, Cal is doing up a derelict house, taking the opportunity of a spell of good weather to finish painting it. He is escaping something and gradually the reader learns about his wife, Donna, and his daughter, Alyssa, what happened and why they are still in America whilst he’s in Ardnakelty.
Ardnakelty village is the sort of place where people drive home drunk from the pub and feuds last a lifetime. So far Cal has been made to feel surprisingly welcome – but as the novel opens, something has shifted, and his cop radar detects that someone is watching him. Cal’s nearest neighbour Mart appears to be an ally and who, in exchange for biscuits, tells him what’s what. This is a neighbourhood where everybody knows everything about your business and there are a whole heap of unsaid rules and codes of conduct imposed by the locals. This goes for potential relationships too. Lena is put forwards as a suitable match for Cal and I really wanted them to get together. I love how cool Lena is, and the part she plays towards the end of the novel raised my opinion of her further. French really excels with her portrayal of all the human interactions within the story.
Cal concentrates on his project, getting fitter, losing weight and at the same time growing hairier! Then he meets a young boy from a dysfunctional and poor family, Trey Reddy, and his whole new lifestyle changes. Trey’s brother, Johnny, is missing and he wants Cal to find out where he is. But for some reason someone else out there doesn’t want him found. The growing relationship with Trey is lovely to watch unfold; how he teaches him to shoot and fish. There are some really funny moments too; the scene in the pub when they introduce Cal to Malachy Dwyer’s poteen, but everything is tinged with a darker undercurrent. The mystery of the slaughtered sheep, the nasty Donie McGrath. This is a dark story hiding under a tranquil, static setting. A third of the way through things get very exciting with a great twist I didn’t see coming, and the conclusion to this dark tale is the perfect fit.
I’ve been a fan of Tana French since her first book, and hers are among the few books I buy in hardcover the minute they’re out. Those searching for a tense mystery might be disappointed in The Searcher, because here French gives us a mystery, sure, in the guise of a missing teenage boy, but that seems to take a back seat to the atmospheric Irish countryside. I adored this book, possibly because I read it in the weeks leading up to the 2020 Presidential election, when I desperately needed to escape, and Ireland seemed appealing. Nobody writes about Ireland better than French, who actually grew up in Vermont, and I adored her descriptions of the village and the interactions between ex-cop Cal Hooper and Trey Reddy, the local kid who is desperate for help finding the missing boy. I am awestruck by French’s ability to make the landscape such an integral part of the story that Ireland itself is a character, with passages like these: “The windshield mottles with big splatters too fast for the wipers to keep up, and his tires send fans of muddy water spraying from potholes. The smell of the fields comes through the cracked car window, fresh with wet grass and fertile with cow dung. The mountains are invisible; beyond the fields there’s only gray, cloud blending into mist. The herd animals stand still, huddled together, with their heads down.”
As I expected from this author, the characters and setting were great. I love Tana French’s writing, and although this was different from other books I’ve read of hers, it was engrossing. She evokes the setting beautifully; it’s a great read for a gloomy cold day.
It pains me to give a Tana French novel just 3 stars, this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020. I loved the Dublin murder mysteries and even the slow burn of The Witch Elm, but this one just didn’t do it for me.
In looking back I realize that she does write male voices often but I think the choice of a retired ex-cox from Chicago perhaps just didn’t ring true to me. I live in Wisconsin but visit Chicago frequently and it’s certainly a far cry from the Irish countryside. I did like this explanation of why he retired, in part “I got weary, Cal said, bone weary.” He did. Every morning got to be like waking up with the flu, knowing he had to trek up a mountain”.
So Cal decided to move to a remote town in western Ireland, why he picked this location exactly is never explained. Perhaps he thought it was just far enough that the badness wouldn’t be found here. Of course he’s proven terribly wrong because there are bad guys and good guys everywhere. He purchases a dilapidated house and starts to work on it from the inside out. It isn’t long before his solitary life is invaded and he is pulled back into the investigative life he left behind.
We do meet some interesting characters here, one of which is Mart, Cal‘s neighbor. Surprisingly he seems to accept Cal, introduces him to lots of the neighbors at the local pub. He’s a more complicated character than we are at first lead to believe, but I pretty much had that figured out. Always watch out for the nice guys!
My favorite character was 13-year-old Trey, a child wise beyond 13 years considering what Trey has had to live with. Her father ran off and her mother is left with a handful of children to raise with little to no funds. Trey has no support system whatsoever. She doesn’t attend school because her mother is too exhausted to care. When her brother Brendan disappears, she is beside herself. She is certain he would never leave her, that something terrible has happened to him. After getting to know Cal in her roundabout way she finally asks him for his help. Although he claims to have retired he can’t seem to leave the matter alone, which gets him in a whole lot of trouble. With his father-like feelings for Trey I had to like Cal more than a little, even though I wanted to shout things at him periodically!!
Not much happened in this book until about the 80% point on my Kindle, it’s a long time to wait and I grew weary. It’s at this point that what is going on around here is uncovered, unfortunately it was quite predictable, given all the red herrings uncovered.
I was really hoping for a wow ending that would pull this up to at least a four star, unfortunately that didn’t happen. I strive for honesty in all of my reviews and it gives me no joy to report that this Tana French novel left me very disappointed. I would love to see her go back to female characters, like Antoinnette the awesome inspector from the Dublin murders series.
I will still follow this author because one disappointing novel doesn’t take away from the great novels she has previously written. It also hits at a bad time in our nation right now when reading a slow burn, depressing novel is hard to reconcile.
Go into this one blind or read a variety of reviews, there are others who really enjoyed this book.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
This novel is set to publish on October 6, 2020
Gripping, slow burn. 4.5 stars!
Engossing, and richly layered, I was drawn into the secrets, alliances, prejudices and misdemeanours of rural, small town Ireland.
Cal Hooper, newly retired both from the Chicago police force and his marriage, deliberately chooses a completely different environment – geographically and culturally – away from any of his previous responsibilities. He is seeking to rediscover his personal code to life, after the accumulation of professional and personal experiences robbed him of his previous certainties. He is aware enough that small communities have their own, and just as complex and sensitive, dynamics as big town Chicago but hopes he can navigate above and around these because of his total lack of connection or history with his new home. But into his life comes 12-year-old Trey from the local no-good family, seeking his help to find older brother Brendan.
This is no high-octane, crash bang action thriller. Its a steadily increasing tension build up, peppered with memorable, credible characters, realistic dialogue and turn of events, a wonderfully described rural Ireland landscape, and a gradual coming to peace and acceptance of Cal of his place in his new life and world.
I was reminded strongly of the atmosphere in the film Winter’s Bone. Highly recommended.
How did I almost let 2021 pass without sharing one of my favorite books? French’s The Searcher won’t be for everyone—it’s a standalone, it’s not a police procedural, and there’s not always a lot happening. But when I was in a reading funk earlier this year, The Searcher pulled me through. I lost myself in the rich characters and setting the way I hadn’t done in what felt like far too long. Thank you, Tana French!
The Searcher is such an amazing book! There are so many different dynamics in the book that you literally cannot guess the ending. I loved Tray’s character and how sucked in I got! Lena is also such a perfect character.
I discovered Tana French through a Zoom book event sponsored by my local bookstore. Megan Abbott was the interviewer, and loving Megan’s writing, I listened to the Zoom talk. I was so enthralled by Tana French’s description that her plot and characters in The Searcher were inspired by John Ford’s western movie, The Searchers, that I wanted to read it. Although her writing is wonderful, I found the story moved at a slower pace than I had expected. It’s a good book, but in my opinion, it’s not the outstanding story I expected.
The Searcher is a book that I was a little hesitant to read after reading Tana French’s last standalone The Witch Elm. I liked the story in The Witch Elm well enough but it was such a slowly-paced novel and I really couldn’t handle another book like that. Thankfully, while The Searcher is still a slow burn, the pacing was much better for me and the book kept me fully engaged even though it is still a little hefty at almost 500 pages. I do love the way French writes a story though, and just like her other novel, this was an atmospheric and emotional story. There is nothing like a remote setting and through articulate and expressive writing, I was able to picture myself in this village in Ireland. I am definitely no stranger to what it feels like to live somewhere that everyone knows everyone, and when you throw in shady characters and a mystery you have the concoction for quite a story.
The audiobook is just over 14.5 hours, but it didn’t actually feel like it, and that is partially thanks to Roger Clark’s brilliant narration. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be the voice of Cal, and he fit into the character and the setting quite nicely. I thought there was a decent amount of tension and suspense in The Searcher, but what really made the book for me was the unlikely relationship between Cal and Trey. As grumpy as Cal tries to be, the introduction of Trey and the friendship they build as the book goes on was very heartwarming. This is a very character-driven novel, but the mystery was an excellent one as well, and French’s writing is both meticulous and descriptive in a way you feel like you are right there without it being too much. The Searcher was such a nice surprise for me after my last experience with her writing, and it definitely has me excited to read more from her in the future.
Let me start off by saying I am a fan. If Tana French published her second-grade limericks I would read them. I love her prose style, the quality and detail of her settings, and the gritty realism of her characters.
In that respect, The Searcher doesn’t disappoint. More incandescent prose. More interesting flawed protagonists. It makes me want to go to Ireland and see this country and culture she portrays so beautifully. I liked the protagonist better than the last one in Witch Elm. Although clueless when it comes to human relationships, retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper is sympathetic in his endeavors to renovate his recently acquired broken-down house and fit in to a small Irish village where families have known each other for generations.
The narrative itself is a slow burn. I was never bored, but I did begin to wonder if we were ever going to find out what happened to Brendan Reddy, who vanished months ago. 13 year old Trey Reddy won’t let the matter rest, and badgers Cal into finding the lost brother.
The pacing felt off to me. It definitely ramped up at the end, which made the resolution feel rushed. In fact, I wondered if I’d missed something along the way. The main characters were very well-drawn; some of the side characters could have done with a bit more development as they became quite important at the end.
Despite this, it’s still worth reading and I once again enjoyed my time spent in French’s company.
The book started slow, really slow. A retired, American detective, divorced moves to a village in Ireland and buys a rundown house/farm. It takes some chapters to build a background and set the stage.
The imagery and the characters the author used kept me interested but not riveted to the story, if you need action right from page one, you’ll probably want to pass on this one. The ending is sort of bittersweet as is life so if you want a hallmark ending you might want to pass. I will give this author another read. Interesting characters.
I just finished reading this wonderful, amazing novel by one of my favorite authors, Tana French. This storyline had me close to tears throughout the entire story. The characters were just wonderful, caring people who did everything they could to help each other, especially Trey and Cal. I absolutely loved them.
This book left me with more questions than answers.
Cal Hooper, newly retired police detective, has moved to the countryside of Ireland. He wants nothing more than to work on his wreck of a house and to walk and enjoy the beautiful scenery. A boring life appeals to him, now. Unfortunately, a young person from the town starts bothering him. Finally Cal figures out that the kid’s brother has been missing. The kid desperately wants Cal to find him. Against his true intentions, Cal is drawn into a search for the kid’s brother. He uncovers surprising evil events in the seemingly- small, sleepy town. He realizes that things aren’t always as they seem.
I love Tana French! Her characters and settings are so very real! She writes so well that the reader forgets she is reading! The words just flow! Sadly, the storyline in this mystery did not captivate me like her others. I found it very slow-moving in parts. Still, any book by Tana French is worth reading!
Beautifully written, slowly but steadily building novel about an ex-cop who blunders into a dangerous local situation in a tiny Irish town where he’s gone to find some peace. I’m not much of a thriller reader (seriously, I often peek ahead because I can’t stand genuine suspense about the fate of characters I like), but I very much enjoyed this novel about a man coming to know and be known in a new place, and in the process getting to know himself a little better, too.
Here’s a short passage that might explain what I mean by beautifully-written: “Even smack in the middle of a temperamental Chicago neighborhood, dawn sounds rose up with a startling delicacy, and the air had a lemony, clean-scoured tinge that made you breathe deeper and wider. Here, the first light spreads across the fields like something holy is happening, striking sparks off a million dewdrops and turning the spiderwebs on the hedge to rainbows; mist curls off the grass, and the first calls of birds and sheep seem to arc effortless miles.”