The Cal Hooper series is a newer one by Tana French. Cal is an American, originally from North Carolina, but was a cop in Chicago for 25 years. He is divorced with one adult daughter. He comes to Ireland for a quiet place to live in retirement.
The Searcher by Tana French Narrator: Roger Clark
Series: Cal Hooper #1
Published by Penguin Audio on October 6, 2020
Genres: Mystery
Length: 14 hours, 32 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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Retired detective Cal Hooper moves to a remote village in rural Ireland. His plans are to fix up the dilapidated cottage he's bought, to walk the mountains, to put his old police instincts to bed forever.
Then a local boy appeals to him for help. His brother is missing, and no one in the village, least of all the police, seems to care. And once again, Cal feels that restless itch.
Something is wrong in this community, and he must find out what, even if it brings trouble to his door.
Cal has just moved into his cottage which is more of a shack. He spends his time fixing it up, gardening, fishing and taking in the wild life. He has a nosy neighbor who gets him to buy him things and doesn’t pay him back for them. The storekeeper is also trying to set him up with women, particularly her widowed sister Lena.
Then a youngster starts dropping in on him. He gets them working with him on woodworking and furniture repair and makes sure to feed them since the family has an absent father and plenty of children. Eventually, Trey tells him to look for her brother who is more recently missing. Cal reluctantly agrees with no promises.
Through looking for the missing Brendan, Cal gets to know the area, its politics and people. It’s not a pleasant discovery. The search is difficult because people don’t want to say what happened. If Brendan went after his father, that would be the way of criminal grifting most likely. But Brendan could have sent a postcard or called maybe. If Brendan was involved with drugs or some other get rich scheme, he could have faced severe consequences if things went badly.
Cal does the best he can despite the pushback to not look for Brendan. Being former police, he has a sense and does a smart investigation with no tools or backup. He knows Trey will probably not like the answers if he finds them.
Throughout he builds a good relationship with Trey, teaching woodworking skills, manners and feeding them even though Trey is dead set against any charity. He has to be careful not to look like their is any inappropriate behavior on his part. Cal also becomes friends with Lena starting with becoming interested in one of the puppies from a litter her dog had.
Cal gets answers but it will change him and Trey forever. They do both end up getting puppies!
Narration:
This was my first experience with Roger Clark as a narrator. It felt strange with some characters sounding more Irish and others not. Of course, Cal as an American and a key point of view in the story does not sound Irish; he isn’t. The others had some with accents and some without them. I was too engrossed in the story to pay too much attention though. I did notice some typical vocabulary from the area. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
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Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Hunter by Tana French Narrator: Roger Clark
Series: Cal Hooper #2
Published by Penguin Random House on March 5, 2024
Genres: Mystery
Length: 16 hours, 25 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
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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 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.
I followed up The Searcher immediately with The Hunter. I have been a little surprised how much I am enjoying the series. It is definitely a study of characters and small town politics. Two years have passed since the previous story. Trey is now fifteen. Being even more careful about any hint of their relationship being improper, he has developed a closer friendship with Lena. Sometimes Trey stays with him when Lena is there or stays at Lena’s house.
After four years, Trey’s father has shown up. He is into another scheme and likely bringing trouble with him. Cal feels it and so does Trey. They watch her father, Johnny Reddy, to figure out his plans. He’s ginning up interest in gold in the mountains. Cal ends up talking to his neighbor more than he’d like about the situation.
When Johnny associate comes to town, and Johnny gets people to invest, things get more emotional with the people in the area. Trey has decided to use the scheme to get revenge on her Dad and those responsible for Brendan.
Cal just tries to keep Trey safe and alive. He knows nothing good is going to come from Johnny Reddy. It only gets more tense when Johnny’s associate is murdered and Trey finds the body.
I enjoyed the setting and all the development of the characters. The situation is suspenseful with tensions running high around gold in their lands, a murder and grifters playing high stakes games.
Narration:
Listen to a clip: HERE
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About Tana French
Tana French is the New York Times bestselling author of In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, The Secret Place, The Trespasser and The Witch Elm. Her books have won awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Dublin with her family.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Glad you’re enjoying the series, Anne💜
I am enjoying it. It is NOT a police procedural, very odd small town shenanigans.
Puppies!!!! That is the ending I like 😉
Puppies is a nice comfort to the bad things they had to get over.
Great review Anne. I like the setting for this series.
Thanks. It is a really interesting setting and characters. It seems original and not like other things I have read.
Tana French is an author I’ve been meaning to try. These are long-ish audios. Glad to see you enjoyed them!
yes I would say they are longish and a bit complex psychologically. I think her other series is more police and I want to read it too, but this came out and I jumped into it.
Glad you enjoyed this series! I do like when the story is so good that the audiobook issues possible with the narrator don’t bother you as much. I’ve heard of this author, but haven’t read, and don’t know that they would be my cup of tea. Great reviews!
Thank you Lisa. I like the setting and the complexity of the moral issues / society issues, as well as the mystery aspects.
I’ve only read the first book in the Dublin Murder Squad which I liked but didn’t love the ending. I do like the sound of both of these and love the idea of an American in Ireland. I’ll have to give these two a try.
These are different. They are not police procedurals although the American is a retired cop. It’s a view of morality and things are often gray; there are not perfect solutions.