*****
The Searcher
by Tana French
2020 / Audible
read by Roger Clark
rating – B+ / crime
*******

Cal Hooper has moved to a piece of land he bought near a small Irish town to find peace and quiet after years in law enforcement in Chicago. He gets acquainted with the locals and a young boy starts watching him work around his place.  They become friendly and Tray comes out with his reason for hanging around – his brother is missing and he knows something of Cal’s background.  Cal is talked into giving it an investigation.   

The story starts slow,  but it picks up around 10% and I became engaged at some point there or a bit later.  I can’t say as this is a page-turner but I’ve been distracted by news.   (I try not to be but the unfolding, real life story of some fool group deciding it’s their patriotic duty to kidnap a governor and start a civil war kinda beats the story of a divorced and retired detective  hunting down a missing boy – and then I’ve been sick with some kind of cold – going through a box of tissues a day.)

The story starts slow,  but it picks up around 10% and I became engaged at some point there or a bit later.  I can’t say as this is a page-turner but I’ve been distracted by news.   (I try not to be but the unfolding, real life story of some fool group deciding it’s their patriotic duty to kidnap a governor and start a civil war kinda beats the story of a divorced and retired detective  hunting down a missing boy – and then I’ve been sick with some kind of cold – going through a box of tissues a day.)

There’s Cal and his friendly neighbor named Mark who spies on him for gossip.  There’s Lena, a very competent and animal loving neighbor, for a bit of possible romance if you’re looking for it.  And of course there’s Trey, age 13? whose brother is missing.   And for the most part the story follows genre form with a few very nice original twists.  

Cal is burdened with his own backstory of difficulties with his own angry wife and daughter back in the States.  Trey has a serious living condition at home.