The Hunter by Tana French
My first repeat author on the 'stack
Close your eyes and cast your mind back to April 3, 20251. Ah, simpler times. We were naïve, wide-eyed with the untethered wonder of youth. Also, I had just written a 5 star review of The Searcher by Tana French.
Now, come back to the present. Namaste.
Today, we look at the sequel: The Hunter. Cal, Tre, Mort, Lena, and the rest are all back. Does it stack up to its predecessor? Can Tana French maintain her quality writing? Are Irish idioms and swears still the best?2
Read on!
Spoiler Free Summary
2 years after the events of The Searcher, Ardnakelty has finally hit some quiet peace. Cal and Tre have started a carpentry side business, Lena and Cal’s relationship is humming along, and the rest of the residents are back to their usual routines. This is all upturned when Tre’s largely-absent-but-that’s-probably-for-the-best father Johnny turns up in town with a grand plan to make everyone’s dreams come true…or drag them all down in the bog with him.
This is where I put the self-promotion buttons, which is admittedly boring so here’s a twist. One of these buttons will immediately put you on the mailing list for NAMBLA. The others go where they say they will. Click at your own risk!3
The Good
Good news, everyone! Tana French hasn’t forgotten how to write in the four years between her last two books!
If you liked any of Tana French’s other books, her writing is just as good as it was in any of those. I still think The Searcher was her best, but if you told me you preferred The Hunter I wouldn’t blame you. Her characters are fully realized, the setting is alive and vivid, the story beats are all resounding. All the praise I heaped on French in my review of The Searcher applies here - no need to repeat it. What follows is praise specific to this book.
I was very happy to see the cast in a logical, but new situation. A pet peeve of mine is when sequels just try to mad lib the original story. There’s some utility to that - if it ain’t broken why fix it - but it feels cheap and uninspired. In The Hunter, while the characters are recognizable and feel authentic to the personas we came to know in The Searcher, they are all in a new environment4 with new needs, wants, resources, and relationships. It’s what a sequel should be: expanding the story while keeping it true to the originally crafted universe.
The elements that made The Searcher drip with Irish-specific custom are even stronger in The Hunter. The language alone, my word! “Ach, now you’re sucking diesel!” “Stop acting the maggot ya feckin eejit” “She’s a bit away with the fairies”. The list goes on. I love it, particularly in scenes where its just a bunch of ancillary characters ribbing each other at the bar. I could listen to them banter all day.
A large theme in the novel is what it means to come of age, and how it both endears and strains those around you just as much as it does internally. French writes about this with such an understanding, tender pen. I’d love to know her process on things like this, as she really seems to be able to embody each character, even the most minor ones. She gives each the consideration of a beloved friend, and very rarely is there an interaction in the novel where you’ll strongly side with one person or the other. Almost always, you can see both sides just as clearly as the other, and it makes for a wonderful, tense read.
The Bad
There was one element that irked me about The Hunter. I’m going to say this isn’t much of a spoiler because I’ll keep it vague and it happens very early on in the novel and it isn’t like a “Oh my!” moment, but skip it if you’d like. Ready? Here goes.
Johnny Reddy’s plan for the town involves the potential discovery of gold buried in the fields of the residents. It’s more complicated than that, and involves a rich but hapless Englishman, but that’s the basic idea he has to sell the townsfolk. I just don’t buy it. Johnny Reddy, a known schemer, liar, and all-around nogoodnik waltzes back into town after several years away with a story about hidden gold and they all buy in? Sure, there’s skepticism amongst some and a few people admit to only being involved because Ardnakelty life is so boring otherwise, but Johnny isn’t an idiot. He could have come up with a better story. Even just swapping “gold” for something the residents wouldn’t have an good understanding of (“Our soil is rich in silicon, which all the tech companies are desperate to mine”) would give more credence. If there’s one thing the people of Ardnakelty know, it’s their land. I just don’t believe they’d buy that story on his say so.5
Compounding this, but the way this arc gets resolved (at least in part) is some common sense banality. I won’t spell it out here for fear of ruining it, but it’s something that could have/should have been done on day one, and could have been done by any number of characters.
Now, there is a counter-argument to be made here that this all is saying something about small-town life, and the human need for stories above logic and reason. That the residents of Ardnakelty are so desperate to be a part of something, that they’ll be a part of anything. You could convince me of that. Here’s the double-edged sword of being as good a writer as Tana French, however. If I tried to play trumpet, it would sound like someone trying to force a pig into a suitcase. You wouldn’t notice any wrong notes - they’re all wrong. If Miles Davis his a wrong note though, it stands out starkly against his otherwise virtuosic performance. Tana French is so good that anything that sounds even a bit off-key stands out immediately.
Audiobook
Remember this guy from my review of The Searcher?
That’s actor Roger Clark, who returns to narrate the audiobook of The Hunter, and once again does a phenomenal job. I think he might have made Cal sound just a touch too much like John Wayne this time around, but that’s a very minor nit to pick, and may in fact be a feature, not a bug. Once again, this is the kind of novel that I think really benefits from the audiobook treatment, because the Irish brogue and inflection, spoken by an Irish actor who gets it, is such an integral part of the story.
Final Thoughts
The more I think about it, the more I think the Miles Davis analogy holds true. If this book stood alone, it would be an easy 5/5, no notes. However, I have to compare it to The Searcher, as The Hunter is its sequel, and I don’t think it quite hits that benchmark, though it comes very, very close.
Rumor has it that Tana French is writing the 3rd book in what is to be a trilogy in this series, and you better believe I’ll be buying it on release day.
5 Star / 1 Star
Natliya gives 5 stars on Goodreads:
Let’s get it straight from the start — this book is not a crime novel or a murder mystery or a police procedural despite being penned by Tana French of the Dublin Murder Squad series fame. If you go into it expecting mystery and thriller vibes you’ll be sorely disappointed since what you get is a thoughtfully unhurried and measured exploration of a rural Irish community mistrustful of strangers and opaque to them, plus a story of shaking off vestiges of childhood for the often unpleasant task of being and acting like an adult.
Well said.
Peacejanz gives 1 star on Goodreads:
Others have given glowing remarks to this book - but I could find nothing to get excited about. I still do not know who died but the victim is easily narrowed down to two people.
Well, Peacejanz, a good way to figure out the answer to who died is to read the book, as it is plainly stated and not a mystery. It also happens halfway through so…you didn’t actually read this book, did you?
Who Should Read This?
Pretty simple chart this time:
Rating
For its atmospheric, richly drawn world and lovable, deep characters, The Hunter has been awarded…
4.5/5 pints of Guinness. Til next time, Ardnakelty!
Don’t really close your eyes or you won’t be able to read.
Yes
No, not really! They all go where they say they will. You sicko.
Well, same physical environment, different social environment.
There’s a lot of different ways Johnny shores up his claim - demonstrations, testimonials, etc - but it still doesn’t add up for me.
So many books, so little time! Terrificly written. Smart and funny.