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.

I’m sorry but I found this book a slow burner, I appreciate a book that draws me in from the start something I felt this book lacked. I did preserve though and found it to be a ok read in the end.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having loved all of Tana French’s previous books and loved them (apart from The Wych Elm) I was excited to read this.

I found the book really really slow and although the writing was superb, I didn’t find it particularly thrilling or mysterious and found myself skimming large parts just to find out what happened and get to the end. Unfortunately I was really disappointed and this book didn’t do much for me at all.

I loved spending time with this book, perfect for reading on dark winter nights in front of a warm fire. It's calm novel about how the right thing to do is not chasing bad guys but staying home and deal with the trauma the bad guys left behind.

I thought this book was really well-written - the author drew me in with her description of the setting in Ireland and the characters! Wow - loved all the characters - I felt like I knew them personally by the end of the book. The main character was fantastic and I loved the premise. At times, the pace was a little slow but to be honest that's probably because I'm so used to reading fast-paced thrillers and it didn't take away from the enjoyment of the book for me - in fact, it was nice to revel in the language. Well done to the author.

Goodreads tells me I was reading this latest Tana French book for twelve days, though I'd say a good ten of those days was getting through just the first hundred pages. The Searcher was another slow-starter from French, in my opinion. Neither this book nor The Witch Elm have grabbed me as fully as her Dublin Murder Squad books always did.

That being said, once I did make it past those first hundred pages and finally settled into the rhythm of this story, I began to really enjoy it. Cal was far more interesting to me than Toby from her previous book. I also really liked the dynamic between the two main characters in The Searcher - Cal and Trey - and would liken it to a couple of other book relationships I've enjoyed, but it would be a bit of a spoiler to do so. (view spoiler)

French returns to what I feel she does best with this book: grit and grime. The Searcher takes place out in rural Ireland, an isolated place of farms and local folk who've known each other's nasty business for decades. Hands get dirty, animals get killed, skinned, and eaten, not necessarily in that order. Into this wilderness comes an American ex-cop looking to settle down for a peaceful life.

Instead, Cal gets caught up in the disappearance of a local boy. Soon he is finding out that the idyllic place he imagined, the place of "no handguns, no copperheads or cottonmouths or rattlesnakes, no bobcats or bears or coyotes, no black widows, not even a mosquito" actually might be hiding all kinds of untold dangers. The comradeship and camaraderie between locals, which he so admired initially, begins to take on a threatening hue.

French hits on a couple of current issues, too, weaving them in subtly. Police shootings feature, as does a critique of social media morality. In other words, the kind where people yell over one another to compete to be seen as the most moral, or "woke", but of course French doesn't use that word.

I think, in the end, French really wanted to experiment by placing a stranger in the Irish setting she's by now so familiar with. She takes this Chicago cop who's used to having guns, pals on the force, and a back-up team at his disposal, and she strips all his resources and defenses away. Puts him in a strange land and lets him feel it out for himself. It's got the crime-solving excitement of the DMS books, but with an additional obstacle to overcome.

I'm still waiting for another Dublin Murder Squad book, but this wasn't half-bad.

The very gentle nature of the writing for the majority of the story belies the plot line, making the creepy bits even creepier and the emotions even more heightened.
Cal is fixing up a house in the back end of nowhere, Ireland. the setting sounds idyllic, the locals are a range of characterful characters and the attitudes are those often attributed to small villages of the "we don't like strangers round here" type!
Whilst working on the house Cal befriends his neighbour and some of the pub goers but mostly keeps himself to himself. He is then reluctantly dragged into a mystery- the disappearance of a young man- by the missing teens sibling.
His investigation, with none of the usual police resources, is beautifully carried out and his thinking clearly explained, bringing the reader right alongside him every step of the way.
The resolution of the case is slow to be brought about, making it a different style of read from the usual faster paced psychological thrillers/mysteries but none the less enjoyable to read.

Beautiful and gently written book about loyalty, truth and how much of both we can demand, need or cope with. Not just a psychological thriller but also about the faltering yet burgeoning start of relationships at all levels. Despite its darker depictions, there is still finally a feeling of the possibility of a brighter future.