Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Searcher by Tana French

15 reviews

mstall_'s review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

The Searcher by Tana French was a book that I had picked up and put down at the bookstore about three times before I decided to finally buy it. I had heard great reviews of her other series Dublin Murder Squad and I figured since The Searcher was book one of a new series, I'd start here. Ultimately I was left wanting a bit more from the story, feeling a little bummed and a little duped.

Cal Hooper is a retired cop who, after a failed marriage and strained relationship with his daughter, decides to leave Chicago and move to remote Ireland to get some peace. Unfortunately for him peace has no interest in being got by Cal. As he acclimates to his new village, he befriends a young kid who seeks out Cal's help in finding his brother who has disappeared. Cal, the kid and the village itself set down a path that Cal isn't sure he can see the right ending to.

I can see why Tana French has authored so many books, her writing is top notch. The prose in The Searcher was the best part of this book - there was enough local language thrown in to remind me that I was in Ireland without it being unreadable. Tana was also able to write this book as if you were reading it from the lens of exhausted, tired cop without needing to write it in first person. Pretty genius if you ask me.

The story, however, was lacking the big BANG moment I know and love from mystery/crime books. The book meanders through the first half, building the setting, the relationships, and the narrative. While I was a little bored I figured it would pick up during the second half and unfortunately I was wrong. The climax of the story was more like an exhausted fart -- unimpressive in all ways. At the very start of the book I thought I knew what was going to happen/who did it but talked myself out of it because it couldn't be THAT obvious, right? Wrong. It was that obvious and a pretty substantial let down.

Now, to be fair, this is book one in a new series so maybe Tana was just really laying the backstory/foundation on thick in this book and future books will have better pacing/shock value. I am unlikely to finish out this series unless I read really stellar reviews of the next book first. I will also mention that I might have had a different experience if I read this book a few years down the line when I could have immediately jumped into book two. I will be giving her Dublin Murder Squad series a try since that series has phenomenal reviews.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Child abuse

kshy's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Cursing, Alcohol, Police brutality, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Stalking and Suicide

aseel_reads's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I only continued with this book because it was an easy audiobook to listen to, otherwise, it became copganda about halfway through and then it had some really off putting actions by certain characters who never got punished and I don't like that 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

seadeepy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Classism, and Animal death

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, and Domestic abuse

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

aileron's review

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Car accident

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

katiekaiser's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I liked this book enough. It was slower than I prefer and not as suspenseful as I expected. It seemed like a lot of build up for a somewhat anti-climactic  ending. The writing is very good. This is definitely not a fast-paced thriller. It’s almost more fiction than it is mystery. I don’t mind it, I was just expecting more suspense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide, Car accident, and Gun violence

linesiunderline's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

I hadn’t expected to like this one very much - in fact, quite a few meh / disappointed reviews almost had me passing it on to another reader. But it was a birthday gift, and so I felt I should give it a try. I’m so glad I did.

This is a quiet, character driven, literary style of mystery (otherwise known as my favourite kind of mystery). Yes, it’s slow paced. Yes, not a lot “happens,” and what does happen doesn’t come in any kind of rush. But somehow French creates a foreboding sense that kept me turning the pages, curious to know where things were going, and fine with the slow and steady telling.

A strong sense of place is one of the winning qualities of this read, and the relationship between Cal and Trey is quite wonderful. I was surprised to find this one really quite moving by the end. And the audiobook was excellent. Well worth the time - my review lands on the “read it” side of things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, and Transphobia

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