October 1, 2023

In the multi-award-winning Tara French's The Hunter, Chicago police officer Cal Hooper has retired to Ireland, where he's building a relationship with a local woman and helping troubled teenager Trey--until her estranged father arrives with a get-rich-quick scheme and an English millionaire in tow. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
A divorced American detective tries to blend into rural Ireland in this sequel to The Searcher (2020). In fictional Ardnakelty, on Ireland's west coast, lives retired American cop Cal Hooper, who busies himself repairing furniture with 15-year-old Theresa "Trey" Reddy and fervently wishes to be boring. Then into town pops Trey's long-gone, good-for-nothing dad, Johnny, all smiles and charm. Much to her distaste, he says he wants to reclaim his fatherly role. In fact, he's on the run from a criminal for a debt he can't repay, and he has a cockamamie scheme to persuade local townsfolk that there might be gold in the nearby mountain with a vein that might run through some of their properties. (What, no leprechauns?) "It's not sheep shite you'll be smelling in a few months' time, man," he tells a farmer. "It's champagne and caviar." Some people have fun fantasizing about sudden riches, but they know better. Johnny's pursuer, Cillian Rushborough, comes to town, and Johnny tries to convince him he could get rich by purchasing people's land. Alas, someone bashes Rushborough's brains in, and now there's a murder mystery. The plot is a bit of a stretch, but the characters and their relationships work well. Trey detests Johnny for not being in her life, and now that he's back, she neither wants nor needs him. She gets on much better with Cal. Still, she's a testy teenager when she thinks someone is not treating her like an adult. Cal is aware of this, and he's careful how he talks to her. Johnny, not so much: "I swear to fuck, women are only put on this earth to wreck our fuckin' heads," he whines about Trey's mother, briefly forgetting he's talking to Trey. The book abounds in local color and lively dialogue. An absorbing crime yarn.

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February 5, 2024
Edgar winner French’s slow-burn sequel to 2015’s The Searcher underlines her knack for setting and character development. Teenager Trey Reddy is less than pleased by her ne’er-do-well father Johnny’s unexpected return to the small Irish village of Ardnakelty to execute a get-rich-quick scheme he believes will finally enable him to provide for his family. On a recent visit to a London pub, Johnny claims to have spoken up when a stranger asked whether anyone present was from Ardnakelty; the man, Cillian Rushborough, then revealed to him that the village was home to a hidden trove of gold. Johnny’s account is met with skepticism from Cal Hooper, the ex-Chicago cop who retired to the village and became a surrogate father to Trey after the events of The Searcher. Cal’s suspicion proves warranted, and Rushborough’s subsequent arrival in Ardnakelty sets in motion a series of crimes, including a murder, that upend Cal’s and Trey’s once peaceful existence. While this isn’t quite up to French’s best—the gears of the plot take too long to start turning—it’s a pleasure to spend time with her finely drawn characters, and the murder investigation, when it finally gets underway, has impressive scope. This may be a step down from its predecessor, but it’s still a cut above similar fare. Agent: Darley Anderson, Darley Anderson Literary.

January 19, 2024

The talented French returns to the quaint-on-the-surface Irish village of Ardnakelty and the protagonists of The Searcher in this lively, character-driven, occasionally treacherous story. After two years in Ardnakelty, former Chicago cop Cal Hooper is finally feeling accepted by his neighbors, and he has built a found family with his widowed girlfriend Lena and teenager Theresa "Trey" Reddy. The fragile family unit is threatened when Trey's wayward father, gone for many years, returns to Ardnakelty. Johnny Reddy was always trouble, and nobody--but especially not Trey or her mother--is happy to see him again. But Johnny has a get-rich scheme for the locals, and his silver-tongued pitch to them begins to take hold. Cal is wary, but he keeps close to the action for reasons of his own. When a wealthy British businessman follows Johnny from London, a plan to find gold in the Ardnakelty hills begins. But a murder mars the scheme and sets everyone in the village, Cal included, against one another. VERDICT With quicksilver dialogue and deep characterizations, French portrays the Ardnakelty villagers' "gift of gab" and the roiling emotions beneath the banter splendidly. A few plot points strain credulity, but it's a treat for French's many fans and for readers who prefer realistic Irish characters and settings.--Liz French

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Starred review from January 1, 2024
It has been two years since Cal Hooper befriended Trey Reddy and helped the teen reconcile to the murder of her brother, Brendan. At least, she seemed reconciled. But when her absentee father, Johnny, comes back to town intent on perpetrating a swindle on the townsfolk whom she blames, Trey sees an opportunity to avenge Brendan's death. It has been a blazing hot and lazy summer, and the locals are excited to buy into a scheme to find a legendary vein of gold in the area. Johnny brings along a master con man to head up the operation, planning to turn the tables on him and run away with the money. When that man turns up dead, Johnny is the prime suspect, but when former Chicago detective Cal investigates, together with a man sent down from Dublin, things get very complicated, and everyone looks guilty. The entire complex cast of characters from The Searcher (2020) are back in all their eccentric glory, with Cal and Lena in a comfortable relationship. French's characterizations are brilliant, as always, and surprising strengths and vulnerabilities make for an often amusing, yet ominous and somber tale. The atmosphere is rich as the reader is reminded that this is the "real" Ireland and not the one idealized by the "plastic Paddies." Masterfully written.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: By picking up the story of her previous best-seller, much-lauded French guarantees peak interest.

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