Beautifully written slow burn thriller. Rural Ireland may as well be it's own character with just as much time dedicated to it as to Cal and Trey and Mart. The comings and goings, the village, the local community. So if you want a quick thriller, this isn't one for you. If you want a smart story that takes it's time and moves all it's pieces into place and then pulls them together... this one is for you!

Retired Chicago Cop -Cal - decides to move from the USA to Ireland to begin a new life
Renovating a cottage -fishing -walking -what could go wrong ?
One day there is a knock on the door and 13 year old Trey wants him to investigate the disappearance of her brother Brendan..Things are going to get a lot livlier than he anticipated..
I enjoyed the story as a whole -although at times the chapters felt a bit padded out with no reward at the end

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review

This is a taut thriller based in a remote Irish village where retired American police officer Cal buys a run-down property and wants to live a peaceful and trouble-free life. However, a local child seeks him out and asks for help finding a missing family member. Reluctantly he becomes involved and uncovers hidden secrets and a web of deceit and intrigue that the close-knit locals have been hiding from him thereby placing his own safety on the line. A truly exciting and absorbing book.

I usually finish every book I request from NetGalley but I could not get on with this book at all. I found it extremely slow and there was not enough happening in the plot to hold may attention. Not for me I am afraid.

Up until now I've given every Tana French novel 5* easily, unfortunately for the first time and if I'm to maintain honesty, I can only give this one 2*. Mainly for the writing which is still of a high quality - where it fell down for me was in the story and length of time it took to get anywhere. Then when it did get somewhere pretty much at the end, it wasnt that interesting.

Main character Cal, ex Chicago cop moved to rural Ireland to escape the rat race but somehow discovering people are people good and bad pretty much everywhere, I thought was a bit of a cliche for a writer of French's calibre. Her descriptive sense of rural life was beautifully crafted but there was too much of it. The Wych Elm, as an example, is a tome but I devoured every page, none of it was wasted time but with The Searcher I found myself skim reading great chunks just to get to an actual plot development.

That underlying sense of tension, that feeling you are heading towards something you cant escape, that is one of the biggest strengths of previous books, it is entirely missing here in my opinion. Sorry to say the resolution felt phoned in and overall I only really finished it out of loyalty to the author and in the hope of a kick ass finale that would make it all worthwhile.

I'll probably be a minority opinion and that I don't mind at all. I'll just settle in and wait for the next book. You cant always love everything your favourite authors put out. This is obviously that one.

If you have a love of well thought out mysteries Tana French's new novel The Searcher is for you. The book follows Cal, an ex-cop from Chicago who moves to a small and sleepy village in Ireland after he retires. The question lies in whether or not this cop is able to let go of his investigative instincts when someone arrives at his doorstep. Without saying much more, this is a great read that kept me hooked in from the very beginning.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

I pride myself on always persevering with books but I REALLY struggled with this one and have unfortunately had to admit defeat before getting all the way through it.

‘The Searcher’ tells the story of Cal Hooper, a retired detective from Chicago who has moved to rural Ireland and purchased a remote fixer upper property. After a messy divorce and the hustle and bustle of the police force in a Chicago he is a man yearning for a quiet life and to be left to live how he wants. However a local kid has other ideas for him when he convinces him to put back on his detective hat and investigate the disappearance of his older brother,

I got halfway through this book before giving up and it’s a very slow burner, nothing has really happened as yet bar the kid appearing on the scene (which took almost four chapters!) and the investigation beginning. The writing is very descriptive but does feel confused, the rural town is described almost like you’d imagine a western to be but when referenced to WhatsApp, the internet and Facebook are added in it just doesn’t seem to fit.

Very disappointed to not be able to finish this but it is just too slow to keep me interested and unfortunately i have been left with a feeling of not really being bothered how this ends, such a shame.

I love Tana French and I was not disappointed. The characters in Tana’s books are always amazing, there is so much detail woven into each character that you want to be where they are, living their story.

In The searcher, Cal who has just retired from the Chicago police force, has started his life again in a remote area of Ireland. When a local child enlists his help to look for her brother, he reluctantly becomes involved with something more sinister.

I cannot stress how much I loved this book....buy it!!

Whilst i enjoyed the plot, i wouldn't say i was captivated by it. The writing is good, though perhaps a little dry at times.

**I was provided an advance copy of this book through NetGalley**

This book is, simply, a beauty.

I approached it with some trepidation, having been disappointed by The Wych Elm, French’s first venture away from the Dublin Murder Squad, but to anyone else with similar worries – The Searcher is absolute perfection.

About 25% of the way through, I told my wife ‘this is in my top three Tana French novels already’.

By 50%, it was firmly positioned.

And by the time I finished it, it had taken the number one slot.

The name has a Wild West feel to it and that’s no mistake. By putting a demoralised, ageing Chicago cop with a code, a wisecracking old man who knows everything about everyone, a feisty widow and a tough, disadvantaged kid together in the largely lawless wilderness of rural Ireland, the narrative conjures the energy of one of the better old Westerns. But with less racism.

I can’t say too much for fear of spoiling things, but I would be shocked if this one doesn’t show up on any awards lists in the latter part of this year. At prose and plot level both, it’s an absolute stonker. I loved every single page.

Can not say much about this book as i only got half way through it. I found it too drawn out and not getting anywhere.

The Searcher by Tana French a thrilling four-star read. I have always enjoyed this authors work, this one didn’t hit the usual spot it seemed a little spotty at the beginning, I felt like I was reading the same couple of pages a couple of times. But then a few more chapters in and it all changed, it became gripping and bedded in, the drama and story felt richer and more what I was accustomed to. There is great bubbling’s beneath the surface in this story, little hints about what was happening and tastes of what to come and little hints at the bigger picture, the history, the story.

The last book by this author that I read was Broken Harbour and it was so good that I worried I might be disappointed. But, if anything, I enjoyed this book even more! The book is written in present tense so the plot feels dynamic and atmospheric. The setting of rural Ireland is beautifully described and the characterisation is flawless. I love her writing. She can draw such incredible imagery with her words that scenes, and even the emotions of them, stay with me after I've finished reading. I'd say this book was more about the character development and the writing than the plot. The mystery tied up well at the end but I enjoyed this book more for the reading of it than for the resolution, and that for me is a five star read.

This book was promoted as a gripping thriller but it just didn’t do it for me. I did finish it but it was a bit of a slog. It just didn’t grip me as I thought it would. Thanks netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TANA FRENCH – THE SEARCHER

I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The rooks, making their nests in the tops of the trees that surround Cal’s farmhouse, both open and close this novel. Given human characteristics, they collectively form a character alongside aforementioned Cal, a grizzled Chicago cop of twenty-five years, retired to the remote Irish countryside to get away from his past by doing up a rundown house.

But for all the mountains and mist and apparent tranquilly, things are not what they seem. A murder has been committed. Or has it? Trey, a tough young kid from a broken home, engages his help. His brother is missing. He suspects foul play.

This unlikely duo are the central nervous system of this atmospheric book, along with assorted, often drunken, farmers and criminal fraternity, some involved in the local drug scene, not to mention his family back home and women who rise to his American charms .

If you enjoy a story full of character, full of brilliant descriptions of weather and scenery (you can breathe the mist and feel the incessant rain on your face) along with a few twists and turns, then this is the book for you. It grew on me as not every book does, and I have felt its grip days after I finished reading it.

My thanks to Netgalley for my copy of The Searcher, a very slow paced but beautifully written novel by Tana French. This is a standalone story which makes me feel a bit sad because you really get to know, and have feelings for the characters.

I became totally invested in Trey's plight and was quite horrified when the quest for truth reached it's conclusion.

Another great book from Ms French.

Cal Hooper has retired from the Chicago police force and moved to a remote Irish village. Here he buys a run down house to do up and recover from work and his divorce.
Life becomes complicated when a local kid asks for his help to find his missing brother. So this is the start of an excellent novel set in the wilds, where people may not be all they seem. At times very tense with lots of threat. Read to find out if all can turn out well. Enjoy.

Tana French is one of my most favourite writers. I am a huge fan of the Dublin Murder Squad books and absolutely adored The Wych Elm and when I read she had a new book, The Searcher, coming out excitement levels were extremely high!

The Searcher, like The Wych Elm is a stand-alone, and boy is it good. Set in Ardenkelty, a small town in rural Ireland, its protagonist is Cal, an ex-Chicago cop. He has moved to Ireland to escape his wrecked marriage and his growing disenchantment with policing. He has a feeling that something bad is going to happen and Ireland is supposed to be a fresh start, the landscape and space a balm to the scars left by working in the city. He soon discovers that a small town can be more oppressive than a big city and that the rules are very different.

He has bought a ruin of a house in the middle of nowhere and is slowly renovating it, stripping back decades of wallpaper and pulling up mildew covered carpets. The bedroom has a camp bed and the bathroom a sheet at the window in lieu of a curtain. He cooks his meals on a camping stove, playing music on his iPhone, the inside of the house light up like a Christmas tree against the dark night. He is being watched, he knows it – he can feel a prickle at the back of his neck, but what he doesn’t expect is a young child to be the watcher.

Trey, is a 13 year old who is part of a family who live in the mountains which surround Ardenkelty. Brendan, the eldest child went missing a few months previously and Trey wants Cal to help find him. Cal’s former career as an ex-Detective has been gossiped about in the small town and so Trey calls on him to find Brendan.

Cal’s knowledge of the intricacies of Ardenkelty is garnered from Mart who lives on a nearby farm. He warns against getting involved with Trey’s plight and the family, explaining that they are bad news, but Cal is unable to turn his back on the uncared for and unloved child.

The town and it’s surroundings is as much a character as Cal, Mart and Trey. The mountains which surround it and the rain which soaks through to your bones is omnipresent and there’s a malevolence which seeps from the pages, a darkness creeping at the edges. Nature is used to great effect; the rooks in the trees outside Cal’s house are characters in themselves – playing, squabbling,throwing him side eyes and taunts. They act as a chorus against the background of the mystery of what happened to Brendan and the secrets hidden in this town.

This is really great storytelling drawing you in to the world of Ardenkelty and it’s people. The decades of history and grievances, the ways of the land and the quiet undercurrent of threat. I read the last third with my heart in my mouth, it is tense, desperate and raw with skilful writing portraying desperation and immense sadness.

This is a slow-burn book which pays dividends. Readers who like action packed books may find this a frustrating read, but Tana French excels at scene setting and at allowing us to understand this town and its people. It’s quite simply wonderful writing. She writes with a skilled hand – before you know it you’re fully invested and the plight of Trey becomes urgent.

I think this may be her best yet you know. I’m desperate for another Dublin Murder Squad book but as long as she is writing stand-alone books as compelling and as wonderful as this I am happy.

Cal has retired as a cop and moved to Ireland to fix up an old cottage. But rumours of his old profession lead a young local to him, with a job that Cal finds hard to extricate himself from.
While the writing is descriptive and evokes the wildness of Ireland, it's just too slow. I found myself skipping ahead as it just dragged.
I did like the relationship between Cal and Trey.

I’ve read all of Tana Frenchs books and love them. This one was different but equally as good, howbeit for different reasons. I loved the slow pace and descriptiveness of this story, with interesting characters and small town realities. Although a slower pace to the Dublin murder novels, I enjoyed it just as much, and was held until the end.

Thanks to netgalley for an advance copy for an honest review.