I received a free copy of, The Hunter. by Tana French, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Cal is in Ireland after retiring as a cop in Chicago, he has a new relationship, everything is right with the world until Trey a teenager Cal has befriended, father comes to town. I did not like the swearing in this book, it made the story hard to follow.

I seem to have liked "The Searcher" by Tana French more than I liked "The Hunter". Unfortunately I didn't realise that this book was a sequel as I can't remember the plot of the first book. Having said that, characters are likeable and I really enjoyed the relationship between Cal and Trey. Tana French is still an author I will return to but this series is not my favourite of hers, it is a very slow burn... so much so that I was beginning to think it wasn't a crime book as up to 60% of the way through there wasn't a murder!

This sequel to The Searcher takes us back to Cal and Trey in rural Ireland for a slow-burning mystery. With fantastic character building and use of setting, Tana French’s writing is as exquisite as ever. Thank you Net Galley and the publishers for this ARC.

I was looking forward to reading this book having read Tana French's book The Searcher, which this book follows on from, and it did not disappoint. French has such an easy way of drawing the characters in these books that it feels like she's simply writing about real people. It feels effortless.

The book centres on Cal, a former US cop who has moved to a small village in Ireland in search of a more peaceful, sedate life. I love Cal's character because there is so much to identify with. He has found happiness in small things - firstly doing up his cottage in The Searcher, and now doing work as a carpenter with his young apprentice, Trey, while enjoying an easy going and uncomplicated relationship with his partner, Lena.

At one point in this book Cal is doing some mundane thing and reflects on how boring his life sounds - but immediately also acknowledges that this is exactly how he wants it to be, and I felt that I could not agree more. There is something comforting in reading about his day-to-day life.

French can be quite understated in how she writes aspects of this, but the book feels more powerful for that. For instance, we don't get a lot of detail about his and Lena's relationship, but the bits we do get speak volumes. Less is definitely more.

And Lena is a brilliant character too. French has created a very "strong" female character without ending up resorting to stereotypes or caricatures. Lena has forged her own way in life and basically does what she wants, despite living in a very small village where literally everyone has their opinions about how she should be living.

One other really positive thing to note is the character development of Trey's mother, Sheila. It turns out that there's a lot more to her than the surface appearance of exhausted mother constantly occupied by housework, cooking and childcare, and it's lovely to read Trey's gradual discovery of this in the book.

Anyway - onto the actual plot! Cal's desire for a quiet life is interrupted by the arrival back in the village of Trey's father, a slippery character who is clearly in trouble and is now bringing the trouble back home. Over the course of the book it becomes clear that Johnny needs cash, and has dreamed up an extravagant scheme in order to try and con the locals into giving it to him.

The plot is actually quite slow moving, but I didn't see this as a bad thing at all. It kind of fitted with the mood of the book, where time has somewhat slowed down. Some who like their plots more pacy might find this a bit frustrating, but I felt that it made things more realistic. It's not outlandish - but this is a good thing. The plot reads like something that could actually happen.

It honestly does feel like a very real description of real people's lives and the little details - such as Trey's trips to the shop or what her next meal is (as a hungry teenager food is often at the forefront of her mind) actually helps with that.

For people who haven't read The Searcher, I would recommend reading that and then following up with this, although it does work as a standalone novel. But the characters are so great that I think readers would benefit from reading about them from the start. If you're looking for novels to get lost in, these are the ones for you.

A proper character-led thriller that is a satisfying read. I really like Cal, Lena and Trey and wanted them all to comfort out ok at the end. A good yarn well told.

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.

This is a lovely book to read. It combines great characters, great story and captures the essence of a small Irish village that exists just far enough outside of the mainstream world to maintain its own rules and way of life. I particularly enjoyed the way Cal an ex Chicago detective learns to live within this very particular world. Excellent characters. A really good read.

As ever a cracking read form Ms Hunter set in rural Ireland.
The descriptive nature of Ms Hunter's writing actually transports me to the location.
Trey's father returns from London with a stranger in tow claiming their is gold on the local's land.
A story of misleading folk, conning them out of money and giving false hope.
With this background what could go wrong ?
A cracking tale with a twist I for one didn't see coming.
Solid four stars.

I wasn't aware there was a first part in the series, but I had an inkling with all the subtle references to Trey's older brother Brennan and Cal's history with Mart.

No matter, this book can be read as a stand-alone and I greatly enjoyed my time in Ardnakelty, a small Irish town that's about to be dragged into a cock-and-bull scheme, concocted by the newly returned Johnny Reddy, a known good-for-nothing - who also happens to be Theresa's/'Trey's father.

And although Cal, an American ex-detective, isn't that - he feels very protective of Trey, since he was there to pick up the pieces in the years Johnny Reddy was gone and he's trying to get the girl on the right path. The story is well-written, with a slow beginning which only adds to the feeling of being in a small Irish town.

Besides the main characters, I especially enjoyed getting to know Mart. He's very relatable and I liked his accessive use of the word eejit.

Thanks for the advance copy!

I was supposed to be reading my list in order of publication date but I couldn't resist making this one my read over the Christmas break. Tana French is a fantastic writer. I was absolutely delighted to be back with Cal and Trey again. While the plot keeps you guessing, it's best savoured slowly. There are so many layers to this story and the characters are all beautifully well done. So real and so identifiable but never caricatures. Mart stands out but they all have their own personalities and the pub scenes are brilliantly done. The relationship Cal has with everyone - with Trey, with Lena, with Mart, with the locals is central to the story, while Trey is the perfect mix of stubborn, emotional, mature and yet immature. Her family and home really come to life and we can understand why she does what she does, even when we don't agree or want to scream at her to think about what she's doing. The plot itself is clever and crazy and I really enjoyed watching it play out. It's such a great read that I was sorry to finish it.

Tana French has doubled down on the Searcher’s languid pace to really immerse us in the detail of rural life in Ardnakelty, with - even when the pace increases - tension built and delivered through the subtle and at times opaque interactions within the village, where what is said on the surface is rarely what is meant.

I hugely enjoyed getting back into Cal and Frey’s lives. The slow first half gives an opportunity to soak up the small village tensions, and enjoy the multilayered scam that’s been formed. When events escalate it’s still subtly handled and - in the world that’s been created - believable. Brilliant thriller based on relationship not necessarily just plot.

I really enjoy the mood of the Cal Hooper series, the rural setting is great and the characters are interesting with a touch of mountain mythology and less psychologically intense than the Dublin Murders series.

The ending of this book is very strong, so I'm not sure if there will be a third book in the series, but I hope there will be, because I sure would like to read it.

Tana French is one of my "must buy" authors and I was so excited to hear that she was publishing a sequel to 2020s, "The Searcher". And though "The Hunter" can be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading both novels, in order to understand the relationships between Cal, Trey, Lena and the local community.
Cal is a retired Chicago policeman, who moved to this rural, West of Ireland community a few years ago, and although very much an "outsider", he has settled in well into life in the village. His acceptance, has certainly been helped by his relationship with local woman Lena, herself a loner and the support that he provides to teenager Trey and her family.
French's depiction of life and the colloquialisms used in rural life is absolutely spot on and brings a sense of realism to the storyline.
The story is a slow-burn and there is little action, with dialogue proving to be important and not acting as a filler but rather essential to the plot. I enjoyed the time spent with the characters and their interactions, as the tension was slowly ramped up. And the number of twists in the plot increases dramatically. One of my favourite reads of the year (I read in 2023) and I would heartily recommend. 5 stars and if I could give more, then I would!!

Slow burn, more than even usual for Tana French but when it starts to come together, boy does it really get going. Perhaps worth a re-read or refresher on The Searcher, this is more than just the same characters in the same setting, it directly follows up on a large amount of the plot.

The Hunter by Tana French
This is a sequel to Tana French’s novel The Searcher. The action centres around Cal Hooper a retired Chicago policeman who has settled in the village of Ardnakelty. He has been there two years now and is beginning to be accepted as one of the village. He works on carpentry with 15 year oldTrey (Theresa) whose father has long been ‘working’ in London. Then Jonny, Trey’s father returns, and upsets the balance of life in the village.
The village become involved in one of Jonny’s schemes involving a rich Englishman come to Ireland in search of gold which his long dead relative had told him could be dug up easily in the fields around Ardnakelty. It is a long hot summer and the days are unusually dry and hot the book is permeated by the threat to the peace which Cal and Trey have built in the mountains of Ireland. Tana French creates a remarkably vivid sense of place and there is some fantastic dialogue which I could hear as I read it to myself. The characters who appeared first in The Searcher appear again and as they do we become more and more embroiled in the drama which is being played out. We get a wonderful sense of all the things which people are talking about without actually saying anything.
I really felt as if I had spent an evening at Sean Og’s supping Guinness and poteen with this interesting group of people. The book is quite long and I got the feeling that the author was enjoying lingering in the company of her characters once again.
I would recommend this book but would also suggest that you will derive greater pleasure from the novel is you read The Searcher first. I would like to thank Tana French, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A previous book by this author proved to be a unique experience. The Hunter, with the same characters but a stand alone book, does not disappoint, in fact to the contrary. This story excels in the development of the protagonists; their thoughts and actions giving insight towards the trajectory of an entertaining storyline.Trey, a child from a neglected background and abusive mercurial father has blossomed under the watchful eye of the now integrated if marginalised outsider Cal now a tenuously accepted member of this rural Irish village. The equilibrium of the inhabitants of this tight knit community is upended by the return of Treys father setting off a catastrophic chain of events that will result in corruption, violence and murder among this wily if naive community. Cal recognising the dangers as an ex policeman struggles to protect Trey despite the huge part she now plays in filling the emotional void in his life.. Meanwhile, the community begins to implode. Excellent three dimensional characters building up tension as the dangers to and for the community increases in particular the exposed strengths and weaknesses of Lena and Mart. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this hugely entertaining ARC.

This is a real slow burner but it’s worth persevering with the lengthy scene setting, as the story becomes completely addictive once it gets going. Centred on the small Irish village of Ardnakelty, this is the story of a closed community and the effect that both insiders and outsiders can have when there is trouble afoot. The characters are effectively drawn, the settings are so well described they become visible, and the story itself is mostly believable and told with both sensitivity and panache. A long book, but one you won’t regret sinking into!

Cal and Trey, from The Searcher, are back with another mystery! Treys father has reappeared in the village with a plot to get money for everyone. But what is he up to and what is he hiding? Cal and Lena are not impressed with him and are worried about Trey and her family.
Yet again this is another triumph from Tana French who knows how to tell a story. The characters of Cal, Lena and Trey are developed well but the other characters are excellent too. I especially love Mart and the dogs. It really portrays the people of a small village well. You become involved in the story with them and hope everyone stays safe.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for granting me and advance copy.

Yeah, it's perfect. Tana again just writing the living shit out of a book, with such beautiful character work and incredible writing that I don't even know where to begin.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin General UK and Tara French for my ARC of 'The Hunter' in return for an honest review.

Another cleverly plotted novel from this author who knows how to write with numerous twists and turns which always makes me continue reading. Excellent writing and a brilliant storyline.

This is the second on the Cal Hooper series. He is a retired Chicago Cop who moved to Ireland for a quiet life. No such luck.

Cal is building a business with the help of Trey, Theresa Reddy, when her father returns after a long absence with a story about gold.

Brilliant read. Highly recommended