It is interesting how The Searcher grabbed me. I really didn't think I was liking it much, but I kept going back and soon couldn't put it down.
Cal is an ex-cop who moved from the United States to a remote Irish village after his career and his marriage ended. It isn't clear what happened, but details are slowly revealed throughout the story. He's purchased a fixer-upper, and the locals are taking bets on how long before Cal gives up and leaves. It isn't easy to build relationships in this tight-knit community, but Cal is working on it.
A local kid starts hanging around, and Cal very gently begins to let this very quiet and seemingly poor kid help him work on his projects. It turns out, the kid, Trey, is very good at this work. But Trey also has an ulterior motive, knowing that Cal is a cop. Trey's brother has disappeared, and Trey is convinced he is a victim of foul play. Because Trey's family has a reputation, the local authorities just assume Trey's brother has just left the family for other pursuits.
Cal begins to look into the disappearance and meets with resistance from his local pals. He's puzzled by this but slowly begins to uncover what he thinks happened. And it's dangerous. He tries to get Trey off the path by telling some made-up story. But that only makes things worse.
I don't want to say too much more. The small-town Irish moors atmosphere is intriguing. Cal's character is what kept me turning pages -- he's deep and reflective. The Searcher is a slow-burn, but compelling story.
Published by Viking, 2020
Copy obtained from my MIL
464 pages
Rating: 4/5
This sounds really good. I find books set in Ireland to be dark, but so well done.
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