an unexpected argument for the power of restorative justice. That makes him the kind of hero it’s all too easy to find somewhere else. Cal comes away from his investigation with his sense of himself more or less intact. what’s been most spellbinding in French’s novels is the quest to obtain truth through the imperfect vehicle of the human psyche and the way that her detectives stare so long into the mystery that they find the mystery staring back into them.
(The other, The Secret Place, is, after The Searcher, her least effective book.) This reflects Cal’s relative lack of a complex, conflicted inner life. The Searcher is one of only two French novels that isn’t narrated in the first person.
More importantly, how can Cal have a crisis of faith in the morality of his old job when that faith and the purpose it once brought to his life have already been lost before he arrives in Ardnakelty? Yet French’s hero could not be the decent, dependable man of action that she clearly intends him to be if he weren’t deeply skeptical about the ethics of urban policing after his years in Chicago. The bits of The Searcher that address race and the cops back in the U.S. Surely that’s because history has caught up with French this time around, instead of vice versa. But as Cal says in the folksy western voice he often affects here, 'All’s you can do is your best.' Read Full Review >Ĭal’s experiences investigating Brendan’s disappearance will challenge him, but in ways that don’t shift him fundamentally, as French’s plots usually do. It’s also slower than some of her other books. And it’s her foray into the natural world, which is so welcome right now. It steps back to examine the policing powers she has traditionally taken for granted. It’s unusually contemplative and visual, as if she literally needed this breath of fresh air.
Where does The Searcher” stand in the lineup of French’s books? It’s an outlier: not her most accessible but not to be missed. As you read this scene, the sidelong glances and daggers in the small talk come flying off the page. This is why you read Tana French: for the nuances that go into an ambush like this, and for her ability to immerse you in the moment completely. Nobody beats French when it comes to writing pub scenes fraught with tension. They’re also ominous, given what we know about the close-knit, gossipy nature of the town. These scenes are keenly observed, with a strong sense of place, and unfailingly entertaining. One of this book’s many pleasures is French’s way of building Cal and Trey’s bond. there’s a lot at work in The Searcher, even if its story sounds simple. an audacious departure for this immensely talented author.
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