Book Review: ‘The Searcher: A Novel’ By Tana French

Cal Hooper has retired from the police force in Chicago after 25 years. His marriage has broken up as well. He decides to start over in Ireland, in a small village, having bought a run down house. He is hard at work on the house, meeting his neighbors and the cast of characters in the village. He feels like he is being watched in his house. Then one day he catches the person, a 12 year old named Trey, who knows he was cop and wants his help in finding Trey’s brother Brendan (19 years old), who went missing six months ago. Cal isn’t interested as he’s not a copy anymore and has no authority here. But Trey wears him down and he starts looking for him. Cal is soon warned off by his neighbor and some in the village. They don’t like someone snooping around. Soon Cal starts learning the secrets of his new home and it brings him one step closer to the truth about Brendan and his new village.

I love Tana’s book The Witch Elm a couple of years ago. This book is okay but not nearly as good but still above some other thrillers I have read recently. I love the character of Cal and his relationship with Trey, as well as the setting of the novel in the small village.

You can pick up The Searcher in stores on Tuesday, October 6th from Viking.