‘The Hunter’ is an intricate portrayal of small-town Irish life tangled up within a slow-burning suspense novel. Tana French is brilliant at writing believable dialogue and conveying tension.

I remember reading The Searcher by Tana French in 2020 and have been waiting to read another book by this author. My patience was rewarded when the second in this series was announced. The Hunter takes us back to Cal's world in the west of Ireland and shows what's been happening since we left him and Trey.

In this book, Trey's father, Johnny, returns home and soon becomes the talk of the town with tales of unfound gold in the fields owned by the locals. Hot on his heels is the English man who wants to get in touch with his ancestors and discover the gold with Johnny's local help. It's not hard to guess that this isn't going to go well and I won't spoil the plot by telling you more.

The first book had the feel of a Western and this does too. Cal is the guy who rides into town, wanting to mind his own business but can't help but get dragged into local goings-on. He is the outsider and despite having lived in the area for several years, and being accepted in his own way, even though he's an ex-copper, if things get tough and the community need a scapegoat, he's your man. Surely, he could just move and leave town and settle somewhere else? But this book focuses on what becomes important to you and how you'd do anything to protect that, even if it means a personal sacrifice.

Outside of the crimes that take place, there's so much going on in the background. Trey wanting revenge, Mart with his easy-going yet confrontational threats, Lena having to make decisions and being pulled back into a community she's been avoiding for years and everyone congregating at the local shop to get the low down from Noreen.

This is a slow-burn crime novel with a satisfying ending and worth the wait for the final reveal. Let's just say, I didn't see that coming....

Tana French’s latest offering, The Hunter, is a masterful blend of psychological suspense and intricate storytelling that showcases her unparalleled ability to weave a deeply immersive narrative.

From the very first page, French plunges us into the heart of a chilling mystery. The story follows the enigmatic protagonist, Cal Hooper, a former Chicago cop who relocates to a remote village in Ireland, seeking peace and solitude. However, his plans for a quiet life are quickly shattered when a local boy, Trey, seeks his help to find his missing brother. What begins as a reluctant investigation spirals into a labyrinthine quest that unearths dark secrets buried deep within the seemingly idyllic community.

French’s prose is as lush and atmospheric as ever, painting a vivid picture of the Irish countryside while simultaneously crafting an intense, claustrophobic atmosphere that keeps the reader on edge. Her characters are richly developed and complex, with Cal Hooper standing out as a particularly compelling figure, grappling with his own past while trying to navigate the murky waters of the present mystery.

The plot twists and turns with expert precision, maintaining a steady build-up of tension that culminates in a breathtaking finale. French’s knack for psychological depth and her ability to explore the human psyche is on full display here, making The Hunter not just a thriller, but a profound exploration of trust, guilt, and redemption.

However, the pacing can be slow at times, and readers seeking a fast-paced, action-packed thriller might find the deliberate unfolding of the plot a bit challenging. Nonetheless, the meticulous attention to detail and the rich, textured narrative more than compensate for the gradual pace.

The Hunter is a testament to Tana French’s storytelling prowess, offering a gripping and thought-provoking read that lingers long after the final page is turned. Fans of her previous works will not be disappointed, and new readers will find themselves enthralled by her unique brand of psychological suspense. Highly recommended for those who appreciate a well-crafted mystery with depth and nuance.

This book has everything you’d want in a thriller that also has a focus on families and relationships. It’s an excellent and thoroughly satisfying read. I can’t recommend it more highly.

My thanks to the author, to the publisher and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent book.

I was so grateful to read an advance copy of this book as I loved the prequel so much. It was wonderful to be back with Cal and Trey and the other characters, this time with the mysterious return of Trey's dad and a scheme that sounds all well and good - until it isn't. The mystery and the plot grow ever darker, until a highly tense peak towards the end in which twisty things occur in a very satisfying way.

There's so much I love about these books, but the characters are the real stand-outs. Each of them is so unique, and the dialogue blows me away every time. The book might be longer than you think you have the patience for, especially in the summer, but you wouldn't regret picking this story up. For the time it takes to read it, you will truly be living inside of it.

While I loved the Dublin Murder Squad books, I haven't felt the same magic with these standalones. French's prose is still wonderful but I found the plot a bit circular with a lot of discussion over things that we had seen which felt wearysome as a reader.

This (I think) is the second in the series. I enjoyed the first book, and this was equally as good.

The author has the same characters: an ex-police officer, his friendship with Lena and Trey, whose father has left the family. Trey's father returns claiming there is gold in the fields. As Carl looks to protect Trey, all is not what it seems.

I really enjoy these series and would recommend them.

The same slow paced rural feel as the first Cal Hooper book. I really enjoyed it, although I preferred Tana French’s earlier books. Cal is a great character, I love his quiet steadfastness. Trey is brilliant and I do like the selection of the rural Irish village and characters.

Beautiful slow burn thriller. Tana French is a master of her craft. Stunning and compelling. Huge fan since she wrote the Dublin Murder Squad novels.

Nobody writes crime like Tana French, and The Hunter is another brilliant slow-burn, character driven book featuring characters who are quickly becoming my favourites; Cal and Trey.

Proof that crime books don't need to be action packed with car chases ago-go, this is a book that takes a simple premise, loyalty and examines it from every angle. French has created a believable world, filled with interesting and realistic characters, multi-layered storytelling and clever observations of humanity.

I've been a fan of Tana French ever since the Dublin Dectective squad novels, and highly hope she will return to them

The Hunter is once again well written with great characters and a bursting plot!

A slow burning and well written novel that kept hooked.
I think that Tana French is a master storyteller and I loved the setting and the great characters.
The plot is tightly knitted and found it highly entertaining.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm not normally keen on books written in America but this author makes it feel like you know the place.

Can't wait for more.

Thoughtful and detailed follow up to The Searcher, which benefits from having read the first book. The Hunter is strong on atmosphere and characterisation, but as a thriller is quite slow. Knowledge of the characters from the previous book certainly helps and if you like your crime slightly enigmatic, then this is a book for you.

I loved this book, I loved the irish words and expressions. The characters were great, Cal and Trey were brilliant and supported each other so very well. Their friendship and companionship was wonderful The character of her father was not so wonderful, you really did not feel any sympathy for him.
I liked the slow build of the story, although as other reviews have mentioned it was a slow slow build. A little too much conversation perhaps.
A very enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Tara French has elevated the crime novel to a complex observation of people, their connections and the power of dialogue over action.
The Hunter, her sequel to 2020’s The Searcher, picks up two years later with the continuation of the story of retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper, who moved to a tiny and insular farming village called Ardnakelty in Ireland. He’s taken troubled teenager Trey Reddy from the first book fully under his wing, and the pair gain a reputation for their carpentry.
When Trey’s good-for-nothing father Johnny comes home, he upends his family’s settled life. Johnny, with an Englishman in tow, has a dangerous get-rich scheme involving forgotten gold and promises of wealth for the farmers hit hard by drought.
You need not have read The Searcher to enjoy the sequel, but the second book is far more enjoyable if you know the characters and events that brought Cal and Trey together. Like the first book, this also reads like a Western set in Ireland, and once again Cal is the retired lawman pulled into the town’s drama, as he’s now (sort of) one of them, and fiercely protective of Trey.
It’s a wonderful slow-burn of a read - emphasis on slow - filled with rich characters and dialogue in an increasingly sinister atmosphere. It’s a definite favourite of 2024 (but do read The Searcher first if you have not).
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

I loved The Searcher, the book that first introduced Cal Hooper, a retired detective from Chicago who relocated to rural Ireland to find peace and quiet. He’d been a serving officer for twenty five years, had been through an emotional divorce and just wanted to build a new life in a spot where nothing much happened. He has developed a deepening relationship with local lady, Lena and thought he was doing a reasonable job providing motivation and support for Trey Reddy, the wild youngster he met soon after he moved to his cottage.

Trey found she had a knack for carpentry and she and Cal work well together, repairing and making furniture. That is until Trey’s good-for-nothing father reappears after a long absence. He wasn’t alone. Accompanied by a friend from London, the two of them are set on a course that will cause trouble in the small community of Ardnakelty and when the underlying and escalating tensions eventually erupt, not helped by the unseasonably hot and humid weather, death, danger and a detective from Dublin will follow.

Like The Searcher, The Hunter is a compelling multi layered, slow burn, character driven mystery, full of atmosphere, intrigue and well devised, developing characters who are brought to life sympathetically, with subtlety, depth and authentic dialogue. The area is easily visualised by the descriptions of the farmland, the village and the mountain with its trails, pathways and dangers for the unwary.

I’m really enjoying the setting and characters in this series. Trey, now fifteen and smart, she more or less has the measure of her father. But she is blinkered when it comes to her brother’s death and despite the promise she made to Cal, she has her own agenda and believes she can manipulate her father’s scam to her own advantage, and bring about the retribution she feels is deserved. In doing so she avoids Cal and that worries him, given everything that’s going on. Cal is a strong character, anything but stereotypical, he doesn’t take things or people at face value and forms his own opinions. The characters, their developing relationships, the dialogue and scene setting make this book. The plot is almost, but not quite, secondary and I enjoyed the banter between the locals. I love Roger Clark’s narration. It’s spot on and I can just picture him as Cal. I really hope there’ll be another one…or even several more.

This a slow paced mystery (not really a thriller) set in a small town in the west of Ireland. The main character Cal Hooper is a retired Chicago policeman who moved to Ireland a couple of years ago. (This is the second Cal Hooper book, I haven’t read the first The Searcher. There are references to earlier events which I presume were covered in the previous book.) The slow pacing makes it a detailed and character driven read and I found myself drawn into the story. It’s a hot summer and the rural setting adds to the atmosphere.

When Cal Hooper retired from the Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland, he was looking for a peaceful life. And in the two years he’s been here, he’s mostly found it. But when a local blows back into town with trouble close behind, Cal’s peace might not last much longer…

First and foremost, Tana French is an absolute master of suspense. Her ability to gradually build and build in such a way that you almost don’t even notice it until she tips you over the edge, heart racing, nerves screaming. The last 100 or so pages of a Tana French novel are guaranteed to be a wild ride.

I really enjoyed the expansion into Trey and Lena’s POVs in this instalment. Although it was frustrating at times as it seemed to hold you in the POV that would keep you in the dark while action was happening elsewhere. It was presumably intentional, but felt a little overdone as the narrative progressed. That said, having spend the first novel entirely in Cal’s head, it was really interesting to see him from Trey and Lena’s perspectives, and to see his relationship with Trey from Lena’s perspective, and how it had grown since the last time we saw them.

The push and pull of her relationship with Cal as her father inserted himself back into her life was the perfect way to really heighten the tension of the overall narrative, as it put Cal and Trey uncharacteristically on edge with one another, neither wanting to hurt the other, and trying to protect each other in their own roundabout ways.

I enjoy this series as Cal as a character makes for the perfect vehicle to explore the dynamics of rural Ireland. As an outsider (and a retired police officer, at that), it feels natural for him to make observations of the people, the landscape, the weather, in ways that might feel forced if he was a local. But as someone making a home there, it also doesn’t feel like spectacle, or judgement.

This book sees Cal embedded deeper into the community, and through him and Trey and Lena’s perspectives we get a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the town, which add layers to the mystery.

A slow and brooding mystery that builds beautifully into a crescendo.

Thank you NetGalley and Viking for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.

I hate when books don't live up to expectations, and this one really didn't. The story was boring to me and very, very slow. Like other people are saying, it took a long time before something interesting happened and what happened was involving someone I didn't care about. I noticed myself skipping through the conversations, because most didn't have anything to do with the suspense part of the book. Unfortunately I just couldn't get into it and was happy I finished it.