A winner, follow-up to French's The Searcher, in which we learn more about Trey's family situation when her long absent father returns to a lukewarm welcome, with a scheme that aims to involve the whole town in an enterprise Cal is certain will come to no good. Every conversation in it is full of subtext, sometimes to the detriment of the narrative flow when a character ruminates on what So-and-So was actually saying. Other than that technique being a bit overdone, I loved the way the Irish modes of expression worked here, especially in pub scenes. Grand. ( )

This is the second of the Cal Hooper series, though I think it could be named the Trey Reddy series. Trey is the teenage girl from the last novel who was hunting for her missing brother, Brendan. That novel ended in moral ambiguity in that it is suggested that Brendan died at the hands of the men from the village in an altercation over Brendan getting involved in narcotics.

Cal had taken Trey on as a carpentry apprentice and is committed to helping her overcome the rough circumstances of her childhood. He's also started a relationship with Lena, a widow who by choice lives on the periphery of the town's social hierarchy. Both Cal and Lena are committed to Trey's well being, when Johnny Redding, Trey's absent father waltzes back into town after a 4 year absence. He has a get rich scheme to sell the town in which they are to dupe a rich Londoner into gold speculation. In reality it's a sting operation with a lot of twists and turns.

Trey, seeking revenge for Brendan's death thinks she sees a way to get back at the townsmen responsible for Brendan's death and retaliation at her father as well. Cal and Lena try hard to protect Trey, but she resists their help until a critical juncture.

The long, dry, hot summer is critical to the atmosphere of the story and contributes to the twist at the end. This is another one that ends with moral ambiguity, which I suspect will be the hallmark of the Cal Hooper series. ( )

I waited for such a long time for her next novel. While I enjoyed revisiting Cal and Trey I deeply missed that intense psychological atmosphere that seemed to be missing from this one. A pity. ( )

After The Searcher, this was something of a disappointment. It felt like the writer had a nugget of an idea that would allow the original characters to continue, but about halfway through it felt forced. And it seemed the characters behaviors and thinking just served to get us to the end of the story. Sorry, I wanted to like it. ( )

THE HUNTER is Tana French's continuation of THE SEARCHER and its story of Cal, an American retired detective who has moved to a small town in Ireland; Trey, a teenaged girl in that town who is still set on righting the wrong that was the subject of THE SEARCHER; and the rest of Cal's neighbors, most of whom made me wonder at the end of the last book why he did not just leave and still make me wonder if he will. He should.

I've read all of French's books, and they normally rate five stars. But I don't rate THE HUNTER that way for two reasons: first, unlike most of French's books, this one has a slow beginning. Second, THE HUNTER assumes you have already read THE SEARCHER and remember all the particulars of the murder in that book. I did read it but did not remember everything. This was troublesome.

But (and this is a big but) French's writing, especially her dialogue, is as first rate as ever right from the start. You'll never want to give up on this book.

So you'll read about Cal and Trey and their neighbors again, including Lena, Cal's love interest who shares his concern for Trey, and Mart, the neighbor from hell, in my opinion, who pretends to be neighborly.

But there's not much action until another murder occurs almost halfway through the book. Anyone in the town could have done it, even someone from outside the town; the victim, Rushborough, was a despicable man.

Another man the town would like to get rid of is Johnny, Trey's father, who has come back after a 4-year absence, a man who loves no one but himself. He and Rushborough had come up with a scheme to sell these people on the idea that there was gold on their land. They were almost successful.

All in all, this town does not seem like a good place to live. I don't understand why Cal doesn't just get out of there. It's a beautiful piece of Ireland but full of trouble. If French continues this series, I think she's going to have to deal with that. ( )