The Searcher

I felt like this was the opposite of a thriller. It was a total slog to get through and very little happened plot-wise. I did not pick up a Tana French book looking for paragraphs of meditations on woodworking or what the Irish countryside looks like (it does sound very lovely). On the plus side, there were some interesting themes about morality and small town life.

This is a moody, character driven, slow burn mystery. The kind that Tana French does so well. She builds the scene, creates the tension and leads you down a dark garden path. There are twists along they way (one that I did not see coming). The ending, however, did not satisfy - it felt a bit bland. I wanted the resolution to be darker.

This book was not at all what I expected. Having never read any Tana French but knowing how renown she was in the bookish world for her creepy and atmospheric thrillers, I was expecting a much more fast paced read. Maybe because most thrillers and mysteries I have read in recent years have propulsive storylines and hairpin twists, I was expecting this book to deliver a similar format. I was initially intrigued that it didn't as it made for a refreshing change in pace. But overall this book was too slow for me. I expected this book to build up tension for a big reveal. I was constantly looking for a turn in the plot that never came. That isn't a fault of the writer or the book but I find the slower pace of this novel wasn't as engaging to read. The Irish setting also gave the novel a melancholic energy that wasn't to my reading preference. However I can appreciate that many other readers would have enjoyed that choice.

This book follows Cal, a retired Chicago police detective who moves to the Irish countryside to enjoy his retirement in peace. However his solitude and serenity doesn't last long when one day a local youth Trey, turns up at his door asking for help in finding their missing sibling Brendan. When Cal begrudgingly agrees to help, Cal finds out the hard way that the idyllic Irish countryside isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I enjoyed the writing style and the premise of this book was interesting. I just think I didn't get from this book what I was expecting going in, which left me a little disappointed. But I can see why Tara French is so highly regarded and I am very excited to go back and read her back catalogue and see if I can find another book of hers to connect with better. A 3.5 star read.


Thanks to the author Tana French, Penguin UK and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I like the Dublin Murder Squad series it's also nice to see Tana French try something different. This is a standalone that starts off a little slow but does a great job in developing Cal as the central character and also has wonderful descriptions of the Irish countryside. The dialogue is always to a high standard, as is the character development. As with all of Tana French's previous work it gets more gripping as it goes on.

This was a slow burn, which generally I don't mind, and there were moments of great writing, but it let me down as a mystery. The issue was in the plotting. The inciting incident and the climax are so subtle they blend right into the rest of the story. The “big reveal” left me wondering “is that all?” and there weren't really any surprises in the end. It felt particularly pointless afterwards, as there is no meting out of justice, which leaves some dark grey areas not dealt with. I love Ireland and wish the book made me love it more, but it made small town Ireland feel pretty bleak, and the people feel pretty shallow and selfish. Overall, I was in it for the writing but the story didn't leave me with that satisfied feeling I hope to get from mysteries.

Well I just found my successor for the Virgil Flowers series! In some ways Cal Hooper is less straightforwardly part of a good guy detective narrative - aside from technically being retired - his doubts about what is the right thing are palpable, but you never doubt that he wants to do the right thing, that he wouldn't hesitate if he knew for sure what the right thing was.
 Lena is a treasure, she rescues the book from falling into a few of the machismo-heavy pitfalls a book about a retired Chicago cop mixed up in new trouble in a small town could easily, lazily drift into. 
Having spent so much of the book worried about Trey, I was relieved by where the book left things.
Seeing Cal make steps in his relationship with his grown kid paralleled/facilitated by his relationship with Trey really adds to the character development. There are a number of shades of gray going on that put this firmly outside the realm of a cozy mystery even if the atmosphere of the Irish village/surrounding countryside is gorgeous and the characterization of the rooks and Cal's relationship with them had me immediately charmed. 
I want to warn off readers who would love the ambience but may be unable to forgive the author for some thought-provoking plot choices. 
There's also a chance that Cal's particular take on trying to adapt his efforts to make a more just world amidst modern social justice movements is going to appear to some readers as less nuanced and more archaic. Room for improvement? Maybe. 
I've already put a hold on the next in the series. Going by the hold list, I'll get the print version long before the audio becomes available, which is a bit of a shame, because Roger Clark performed a hell of a narration for my tandem print/audio read this time ‘round and I expect he'll do as good a job in the next. 
⚠️Animal death, child abuse

I love all the Irish characters in Tana French's novel, especially when she details them talking to one another. Oh sure, occasionally I had to re-read passages. Irish isn't my native tongue. But overall, I think she did a commanding job of expressing the euphemisms used.

That said, I'm not giving her my usual five stars. It's still an awesome story, but at time she got carried away adding her well-drawn characters. I struggled to keep them straight and it detracted at times from the story.

It's interesting how she has an American moving to Ireland and trying to leave his old job as a cop behind, only to have it follow him across the pond. Cal still suffers the PTSD most cops have, from seeing too much and neglecting family to see it. When 14-year-old Trey comes along, it's a relief and a curse. Trey wants Cal's help to look for a lost brother, Brendan.

Or is he lost? Some folks think Brendan just skipped town, but Trey isn't convinced. Trey and Cal become the odd couple, refurbishing his neglected cottage while they explore each other and the townspeople.

Their idyllic village in the West of Ireland has a pub and a grocery store, but it's not as pleasant as it might seem. Everyone has a secret and no one is giving up any information about the missing Brendan. The search for clues requires every ounce of Cal's experience and even more. Trey isn't patient with his long, slow investigation.

Some interesting details reveal the difficulty of getting a gun and permit in Ireland as well as getting accepted into the community. Not everyone who moves to Ireland becomes a permanent resident and many don't last the first winter, but Cal is determined to make it. His loneliness is often a factor and he occasionally calls his grown daughter or thinks of what advice his ex-wife might give him.

Overall, the story was satisfying, if at times a little drawn out. It had all the wrong turns and twists needed in a good mystery.

This was a very satisfying listen. I agree that it was quite slow, especially for the first half, but the descriptions and character development were compelling. I will be thinking about some of the characters in the months ahead. I wish that there had been more justice, but perhaps it was more realistic (?) this way.