The Hunter - Tana French - [PDF download] - Books Focus
The Hunter - Tana French

The Hunter

By Tana French

  • Release Date: 2024-03-05
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 1,544 Ratings
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Description

A New York Times Bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book of 2024 • A New York Times Best Crime and Best Thriller Novel of 2024 • A Washington Post Best Thriller of 2024 • An NPR, New York Post, Chicago Sun-Times, and Globe and Mail Best Book of 2024 • A Wall Street Journal, Parade, and AirMail Best Mystery Book of 2024 • An Elle Best Mystery and Thriller Book of 2024

“Extraordinary.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

“Hailed as the queen of Irish crime fiction, French spins a taut tale of retribution, sacrifice, and family.” —TIME

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Searcher and “one of the greatest crime novelists writing today” (Vox), a spellbinding new novel set in the Irish countryside.

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.

From the writer who is “in a class by herself,” (The New York Times), a nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.

Reviews

  • Love this author.

    5
    By Third amigo
    Her writing took me a bit but when it grabbed it became an obsession. Sleep became unimportant. Cal is character so rich with a self imposed code of right and wrong. His legacy maybe what makes you want to read more to see where this goes.

  • Beautiful Description and a compelling story

    5
    By Gary Manko
    Tana French’s The Hunter is a slow-burning, atmospheric sequel to The Searcher, set in the fictional Irish village of Ardnakelty. The novel follows retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper, his young protégé Trey Reddy, and his partner Lena as they navigate a tense situation sparked by the return of Trey’s estranged father, Johnny, and a dubious gold-mining scheme. The story delves into themes of revenge, loyalty, and the murky morality of small-town justice. French’s writing features lyrical prose, rich character development, and vivid depiction of the Irish countryside. The novel focuses more on relationships and the rhythms of rural life than on traditional mystery elements, with Trey emerging as the emotional core of the story. I appreciated the layered storytelling and careful character development as well as how this story seamlessly picks up from where The Seeker left off. Overall, The Hunter offers a contemplative exploration of human nature and community dynamics and is a wonderful depiction of how the population of a small agrarian Irish town ebbs and flows together. I loved this book!

  • Fairly good read

    3
    By Overt Reader
    This is a nice follow up book to the Searcher and fairly entertaining but didn’t pull my interest in completely. Some sections of the book weren’t realistic and I found myself skipping paragraphs. I’m glad I read this book but wanted to be entertained more.

  • Good story

    5
    By JudeTheArtist
    Read the two Cal Hooper books in order. Everything in the first book really sets the stage for the second.

  • Cozy, murder mystery

    5
    By njmobile
    I love this series set in a small Irish village. The characters come alive.

  • Transported

    5
    By ccicatidid
    I read books to escape and this one takes me to a small place. Well it is a big place to those who live there and navigate the interesting and complex dynamics. I loved this book . The language of the area is beautiful.

  • The Hunter

    4
    By Readingbythesea
    I have read all her books, I tell everyone if your looking for a look mystery interesting characters read her books. I like the story and the characters. I’m giving it only 4 stars, the reason for this, her other stories had great twist, the twist on this one was no big surprise.

  • A Gem

    4
    By Lucylww
    This is the sequel to The Searcher, and it’s a gem. The problems I had with The Searcher (see my review) are nowhere in evidence. We again meet Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago cop who has moved to a tiny village in Ireland. The girl, Trey, who he took under his wing previously is now 15; her father, a wastrel, has returned to town to run a scam. When his accomplice is murdered, Trey plans to use the murder to exact a revenge for crimes against her family. The Hunter has a taut and focused plot that proceeds at a slow burn, only to erupt into an extraordinary sequence of events that leads to a climax and denouement I didn’t see coming. Who committed the murder? We find out, but this is no run-of-the-mill murder mystery; its focus on the mysteries and secrets within Cal, Trey and the entire Irish community (village, farms, mountain people) open out the story and give it psychological and philosophical dimensions. The community itself is like a living organism, whose needs must be met. The Hunter lacks the thrills associated with the big brash doings of French’s Dublin Murder Squad, and I confess to missing that larger canvas of French’s earlier works, but The Hunter is an excellent read.

  • The Hunter

    1
    By reader100017
    Dull as ditchwater.

  • Fantastic

    4
    By Auggie's Man
    The writing was incredible, especially bringing in the Irish ways of speaking and vocabulary. The characters were exceptional and the plot held many surprises. Great book!

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