Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Searcher by Tana French

8 reviews

annniina98's review against another edition

2.0

Long, dragging, boring start, quite good middle, a huge let down as the revelation. I can see that some people would love to have this much set up, even in a thriller. But the ending was rushed, there is no way around it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, and Grief

Minor: Rape

mirandap442's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Addiction, Drug abuse, Gore, Blood, Death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol and Cursing

Minor: Suicide

placebogirl's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief

readerette's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've never read anything else by Tana French, but based on this book, I would read more of her work. This book was slow, which I usually don't enjoy as much, but it felt an appropriate pace given the pace of life in the little town. I'm not sure how believable it is that someone who was a law enforcement officer, even a disenchanted one, would allow what he found out to go unreported or would stay in a community where that had occurred, but I can forgive that stretch by the author. Bit too much in the weeds about the sanding and shopping for me, but otherwise I liked how the characters fit together even when they seemed they shouldn't, and I could definitely feel the setting come alive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Medical content

mheitkamp's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Police brutality, Drug abuse, and Murder

Minor: Racism

aliceofbattenberg's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse

bringmybooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley, Viking, & Penguin Group for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

When people ask me for mystery recommendations, my go to author has been and always will be Tana French. (It's not necessary for them to know she's the only mystery author I read, because it's irrelevant - I'd still recommend Tana!)

As much as I loved the Dublin Murder Squad series, I'm thoroughly enjoying Tana French's foray into standalone mystery novels. I found both The Witch Elm and The Searcher compulsively readable, and honestly think she's just getting better with every book.

This one feels different than her previous novels - for one, it's not written in first person; for two, the pacing is almost glacial compared to prior books. The pacing won't work for everyone, but it sets the entire scene so well I personally couldn't help but be absolutely entranced by it - Tana French set out to write an Irish Western and dangit, she went and did it. The plot could be described as meandering to the boiling point, but my goodness, when it gets there you feel the intensity of the water bubbling over on every page.

The relationships and interactions were a standout portion of this book for me. Cal was such a great protagonist in The Searcher - he was an antihero for sure, but I had no contrition in rooting for him. Trey, the kid that Cal begrudgingly befriends, was just as much of a mess. The two of them together? It worked. All the history binding the townspeople together - while also pulling them apart at the seams - was gritty, and thick, and almost tangible in its complexity. (OH, and, um, THAT TWIST THOUGH.) (The aftermath of said twist was handled exceptionally well.)

There was also a lot of talk about right vs wrong, about morals, about ethics, and about being a good person. I loved the nuanced look at these topics, especially from the viewpoint of an ex-cop that left his 25yr police career due to his own misgivings about himself and those around him. When does the end justify the means? Is getting the bad guy the only way to bring justice or peace to those around you? What does a community and a family need from those tasked to protect us?

If you can't tell, I have feelings. Lots of 'em. This one would make such a great book club book - and if it's your introduction to Tana French I highly recommend reading her backlist as well!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Violence

haleyapratt's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, and Xenophobia