While retired cop Cal Hooper hasn't been fully accepted by the insular community of his new home in a small Irish village, he's earned a grudging respect, mostly because he's taken the rudderless teenaged Trey under his wing.. The uneasy peace is sorely tested when Trey's errant dad returns to the village, bringing a stranger with him.. Building on the revelations of "The Searcher," French explores grief, anger, and the bonds of community in the face of adversity. How far would you go to protect the people, places, and things that matter most to you? For fans of microscopic character development and slow-burning literary mysteries.

While it doesn't fit in my school library, I personally love any book by Tana French. Her mysteries are always first class and her writing is fantastic.

I love Tana French however for whatever reason i found this a difficult read. It took me a lot of “time outs” if you will for me to finish it. I anticipated the ending, wrong, and was glad that I decided to finish this. I got to about 60% done when I came to a complete stop. Unimaginable, but I was frustrated with the anticipated ending I am so glad unfinished. Perhaps this was more about me than the title but redemption, the power of those who are “outside” the norm, the power of the norm,
The power of people who have no idea of redemption -perhaps it is the conflicts present in today’s society made me pause so many times. Again glad I finished. I’d give it a 4.5 but will rate it a 4

The Hunter
Tana French
Pub Date: March 5, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
French has done it again! Quality writing in an enjoyable read!
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 less: 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.
Loved this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

The Hunter brings us back to Cal Hooper's land in Ireland, and to his mentor/mentee/father/daughter relationship with local girl Trey. When Trey's father returns and brings with him a lot of trouble, the town reacts and plots.

I had a lot of trouble finishing this novel. It doesn't have the suspense/mystery/police detective angle that many of French's other books have. It's very slow-moving; I didn't feel interested until about 60% of the way in. The scenes with the local men talking were a struggle. I never felt particularly invested about what they were concerned about or how they wanted to solve it. As always, the best scenes are between Cal, Trey, and Lena.

I have been an avid Tana French fan ever since I read In The Woods years ago. These last few books have been a big departure from some of the hallmarks of her earlier work. It reminds me a little of when the movie The Village by M Knight Shyamalan came out and everyone expected a thriller like The Sixth Sense and instead got a slower examination of grief and how we try to shelter younger generations from it. This book is the sequel to The Searcher, which I will admit I had forgotten a lot of details about. It is similarly paced slowly, mimicking the main character's decision to retire from detective work and move to the Irish countryside. There are very interesting commentaries about group dynamics in insular communities. It makes you interrogate your own thoughts about truth, justice, loyalty, and the greater good. There is still a murder (and I'll admit that I never would have guessed who did it) but it is not the main driver of the plot. If you're interested in the lengths people might go to, to protect their own, and how people determine who their own people are, you should check this out.

Another amazing title from Tana French. THE HUNTER is definitely a departure from the Dublin Murder Squad series, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. After a bit of a slow, scenic start, the story really picked up with some really engrossing characters. The dynamics between Cal and Trey were absolutely my favorite thing about this. I can’t wait to see if French expands this universe. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc.

Tana French does not disappoint. The Searcher and The Hunter are less dark than her earlier work, but not to any detriment. The relationship between Cal and Trey is wonderful. Trey is (grudgingly) a joy, and I love echoes of True Grit and Manon of the Spring.

Another fantastic mystery from French. Her characterization of Trey is so excellent, I find I am committed to everything Trey feels she needs to do.

I need to start by saying I have loved many of Tana French’s books. The Searcher (to which this book is a sequel) was a little slow for me. I did like the characters a lot, and Tana French’s writing is always beautiful. However, this book took a LONG time to get into for me, and when I finally did, the payoff was not enough to make me forget how the beginning dragged. If you are more of a scenery person, you may feel differently. I was hoping for both a little more action, and a little more resolution to the conflict. And some characters really need to get what’s coming to them. Lol. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc.

When I read and reviewed Tana French’s standalone novel The Witch Elm in 2018, I noted that I would have enjoyed seeing more of the Dublin Murder Squad characters (Antoinette Conway, Stephen Moran, and others), but that I had enjoyed getting to know a “whole new cast of characters.” When I reviewed her next book, The Searcher, it was another standalone, with a whole new cast of characters. Now, thanks to Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley, I received a copy of The Hunter, the sequel to The Searcher (which can be read and enjoyed as a standalone).

The Searcher was the story of a retired police detective from Chicago named Cal Hooper, who bought a fixer-upper in a remote coastal Irish village as an escape from his prior life. After a grueling divorce, he kept in touch with his daughter, but was otherwise free of entanglements, so picking up and moving across the world to a small town where he didn’t know anyone wasn’t as impossible as it sounds. Once there, he bonded with Trey Reddy, a local teenager with whom Cal bonded in a fatherly/friendly way. Both these characters appear somewhat damaged and perhaps lonely, but they bonded in a way that was touching, surprising, and ultimately rewarding.

As The Hunter opens, it seems that the majority of Trey’s waking time is now spent at Cal’s house. Together, “they mend furniture for people, and they buy old wrecked furniture and fix it up to sell…” Cal is now involved with Lena, a local woman. Lena “decided right from the beginning that she wasn’t going to make Cal’s moods her responsibility…When her husband died, five years back, she learned the skill of taking every scrap of happiness where she could find it.”

The relationship between Cal and Trey is seriously tested as Trey’s dad returns to the village and sets about trying to be a successful con man (after having not been successful at much his entire life). He arrives in the village with another man and, as described in the publisher’s blurb, “One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die.”

One thing I love about Ms. French’s writing is the character development, and Trey is deeply affected by her relationship with Cal, in a way that allows the reader to deeply appreciate them as REAL people. “Cal told her a long time back that everyone needs a code to live by. Trey only partly understood…her code has always been a rudimentary. inchoate thing, but since her dad came back, it’s been coalescing and sharpening.”

The setting is beautifully written — definitely a character on its own. The plotting is complex and well-drawn, and there are twists and turns as the story develops. It’s challenging to discuss the book without revealing spoilers (which I never do), but it is SO good and definitely worth five stars. I actually reread The Searcher before reading The Hunter, and I recommend that — but as I said, this one can be read as a standalone. Enjoy!!

Tana French is such a gifted writer. She literally paints a scene with words and dialogue like no other author I’ve encountered. This is a very nuanced novel, full of sensation of belonging or not belonging, the perpetual new man in an Irish village from America, trying to live a good life while knowing he will never be considered one of the village locals. Have you ever felt not disliked, but never fully accepted when you move to a new place and spend years there. Ardnakelty is a tight knit village where its men tend to support each other because they are part of the way it has always been. Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago cop, bought a piece of land here a few years back and has made huis home, but always knows that he’s from outside. He has helped teach woodworking to Trey, an older teen girl whose father simply took off five years ago. She finds Cal one of the few people she can really trust, and yet, this trust thing doesn’t come easy for her., Life gets turned on it’s ear when her father returns and begins to spin a wild tale about gold to be found on the local farms and a man he’s bringing to the village to seek that gold and bring a windfall to all those willing to buy into his scheme. Tensions rise until central figure in this scheme turns up dead and the village is looking for someone to focus blame it on to get the Garda off their backs. The story is so carefully crafted, with each line of dialogue revealing so much about the characters and their motivations and relationships. This is far more than a mystery and so deserving of being the very next book you open your mind to.

I loved Tana French's The Searcher and I was so glad to see that she was following up with another featuring Cal Hooper, his teen apprentice Trey and all of the sundry citizens of the rural Irish town of Ardnakelty. This time we meet Trey's good-for-nothing father returned to town with a too good to be true scheme to get the whole town rich. Like with The Searcher, this one is a bit of a slow start, but French's ear for dialogue and the rich (often hilarious) details really carry the book.

I would absolutely recommend this book to fans of The Searcher looking for more Ardnakelty or anyone who loves a murder in a small town!

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was provided an ARC of this book by Viking/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another evocative tale from crime author Tana French about life in today’s Ireland.

Like her last three novels, this one is about a lot more than unraveling a knotty mystery. In The Hunter, which takes up the story of Cal Hooper, the retired American cop we first met in The Searcher (2020). Hooper continues to live alone in the Irish countryside, where he’s become informal mentor/surrogate dad to a local fifteen-year-old girl.

Theresa (Trey) Reddy, brilliant but left to her own devices for years, seems to be falling under the influence of her natural father, just returned to town after years away. He’s come back with an illegal scam in mind, and is recruiting local men to further the scheme.

Cal determines to put a stop to Trey’s increasing involvement in the planned caper, and takes action.
The Hunter is wondrously engaging, touching and evocative, a tale about love and loyalty, courage and compassion from one of the best thriller writers around.

Tana French does not disappoint. I would recommend this title to readers who enjoy complex plots, well-drawn characters, masterful dialogue, and setting.

Wonderful! I didn't think I could enjoy a sequeal as much as the first book in this series, but this was perfectly different and really great. 5 stars for sure. Tana French is a master.

Tana French is the literary mystery queen! I always enter French’s new novels with the highest expectations, as she’s one of my all-time favorite authors, and I’m never disappointed. The Hunter was no exception. A follow up to Cal, Trey, and Lena’s story in The Searcher, The Hunter picks up a couple years later and finds our trio in a nice rhythm of chosen family life — until Trey’s absentee father and his friend return to town to stir things up. The real magic of this one is seeing the town’s politics unfold. Who is accepted, rejected, redeemed or beyond redemption? I have just enough lingering questions that I feel assured that there might be a third installment and that I’ll really enjoy that as well.

A note: I went into this book without reading the blurb, which I highly recommend, as the blurb spoils something that doesn’t happen until ~60% of the way into the book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this highly anticipated novel early.

Tana French has done it again! The Hunter is another great addition to Tana’s lineup. Cal Hooper is a retired police officer from Chicago. He’s retired to the Irish countryside where he also has a relationship with a local woman, Lena. The story takes a turn when the father of the teen Cal is working on taming returns. He also brings with him an Englishman and that’s when things go awry.

I love Tana’s writing and she keeps it up in this book as well. Not only did I love Cal but I loved the secondary characters as they added to the richness to the story.

The Hunter, by bestselling and multi-award winning author Tana French is set in a very rural part of Ireland, where the residents are mostly hardworking farmers. Cal Hooper (a retired policeman from Chicago) is a carpenter who specializes in fixing his neighbors’ broken furniture, and has taught a 15-year old girl, Trey Reddy, the skills. Trey’s father left her mother and her siblings four years prior, and suddenly returns with a millionaire insisting that there is gold in their community and proposes a project to dig it up. Several of the residents are ready to turn over their savings to invest in the project when a murder occurs and Trey is set on revenge after her brother’s disappearance. The plot and sub-plots are dark and complicated, and readers will need to pay attention to follow the numerous scenarios.

French is an excellent storyteller, and weaves a tale that is made unique because she captures the culture and ambience of rural Ireland so that readers will feel like they are right in the rural town. French also does an excellent job of developing the characters. Cal and Trey seem to be co-protagonists and have their own problems to deal with. French’s characters use profanity in the form of the F-word to show that her characters are low class people, “trailer trash” if you will. They are also smokers which emphasizes the scummy state of these people. The problem is that the profanity is used way too much, and most respectable readers won’t be comfortable with it; the profanity is really unnecessary. This also reduces the number of readers who should read the book, eliminating young adult and teen readers where it’s not appropriate for them to read.

All told, this is a good novel with a good story made unreadable because of profanity. It could be a good novel for readers who aren’t made uncomfortable with the overuse of the unnecessary profanity.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Fans of The Searcher will get another dose of Cal Hooper. This time, he’s a few years settled into the Irish Village of Ardnakelty and keeping neighboring teen Trey under his wing, both as a father figure and a carpentry apprentice. When Trey’s no-good dad shows up back with a get-rich-quick plan, trouble follows. Heavy scheming fills most of the plot and everyone is trying to outsmart their neighbor. For those looking for a thriller, I suggest they seek out French’s In The Woods instead.