Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Searcher

  • By: Tana French
  • Narrated by: Roger Clark
  • Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (535 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Searcher cover art

The Searcher

By: Tana French
Narrated by: Roger Clark
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Full Whack cover art
A Long Time Dead cover art
Dead Man’s Prayer cover art
The Last to Disappear cover art
A Lesson in Malice cover art
King of the Ants cover art
Trust Me, I'm Dead cover art
Lonesome Dove cover art
The Boy cover art
The Man on the Street cover art
The Deep, Deep Snow cover art
Iron Lake cover art
Home on Folly Farm cover art
Atlas Shrugged cover art
The Sisters cover art
A Poison Tree cover art

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 

A disappearance. A small town. A question that needs answering...

Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a remote Irish village would be the perfect escape. After 25 years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens.

But then a local kid comes looking for his help. His brother has gone missing and no one, least of all the police, seems to care. Cal wants nothing to do with any kind of investigation, but somehow he can't make himself walk away.

Soon Cal will discover that even in the most idyllic small town, secrets lie hidden, people aren't always what they seem and trouble can come calling at his door.

Our greatest living mystery writer weaves a masterful tale of breath-taking beauty and suspense, asking how we decide what's right and wrong in a world where neither is simple, and what we risk if we fail. 

©2020 Tana French (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"One of the most compulsive psychological mysteries since Donna Tartt's The Secret History." (The Times)

"To say Tana French is one of the great thriller writers is really too limiting. Rather she's simply this: a truly great writer." (Gillian Flynn)

"I'm a big fan of Tana French." (Ian Rankin)

What listeners say about The Searcher

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    297
  • 4 Stars
    151
  • 3 Stars
    63
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    359
  • 4 Stars
    84
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    254
  • 4 Stars
    129
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    8

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Sorry, only three stars from me

This was the first time I’d “read” a book by Tana French and I was hooked by the blurb on Audible. Along with a healthy number of positive reviews, it did a good job and had me reaching for the buy button.

The story is told in the third person from Cal Hooper’s point of view. Having served 25 years in the Chicago police service and enduring a rough divorce, all Cal wants is a quiet life. A small village in rural Ireland offers him the tranquillity he desires and a run-down cottage gives him something to take his mind off what he’s left behind. In spite of being referred to as a “blow in” Cal is welcomed by a cast of characters including Mart, his nearest neighbour and Noreen the village shopkeeper, matchmaker and gossip. Befriended by a local teenager, Cal learns that life in rural Ireland isn’t quite as tranquil as he’d imagined. The kid’s older brother has gone missing under suspicious circumstances and while Cal doesn’t want to get involved, it intrigues him. Being careful not to ruffle any feathers, he makes discrete enquiries amongst the neighbours, villagers and pub-goers. It’s clear to Cal that he ought to leave it alone; easier said than done for someone who spent his career dealing with missing persons.

I love thrillers and I’ve penned a couple myself, although not to the same acclaim as Ms French. The ever helpful Audible suggested this book based on my search history and buying habits, so far so good. I subsequently note that it is listed on Amazon as number 4 in Gothic Romance, number 23 in Action and Adventure Literary Fiction and 26 in Historical Mystery, Thrillers and Suspense Fiction. Gothic Romance? I’m not sure what category it best fits into, but Thriller is stretching it a little. This book is slow to get going – very slow. It’s like a boot-sucking ramble across the Irish peat bogs that it depicts. The descriptions of the environment, flora and fauna are very very rich and if you’ve never visited rural Ireland you certainly get a great sense of the place in which the story is set. The characters arcs are more like flat lines. They don’t die but they don’t change much either. The kid’s journey is probably the better one. There’s something distinctly dodgy about Cal’s neighbour, Mart. I felt nothing for Cal himself. He seems like a nice guy but that’s about it.

I wouldn’t recommend this book, but that’s just my opinion. When it comes to social proof there are lots of readers who loved it – check out the reviews. I did wonder if it was just me, but having read some of the reviews after finishing the book, I found a couple who agreed that the book was slow to get going. From and audio perspective there is nothing wrong with the performance. Roger Clark does a great job, tackling the Irish accents with great skill. His performance as Cal is as gritty as I imagined the character to be. That said, a great performance can’t and doesn’t rescue a mediocre script.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great performance of a great story

amazing narrator brought a great new book to life. highly recommended but enough to put anyone off moving to the west of Ireland!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Haunting

A wonderfully rich tale, filled with the compassion of a stranger of and a love story of the land.
The actors voice is calm and soulful and carries you through the story.

In my opinion the best Tana French novel so far.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

At best a mediocre story

There isn’t a real enticing mystery and the protagonist is just an old American man with a savior/hero complex and he is as dramatic as they come and also very irritating in his way of middling with everything and feeling the need to protect the “fragile women”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A delight: True turf smoking rural Irish magic

A departure from Tana’s usual setting but the rich descriptive language provided welcome escapism during Covid lockdown times. The characters were wholesome and loveable despite the chilly storyline and the narration was absolutely superb.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating !

An audible is only as good as the reader makes it. This reader was very good. His deep voice made the central character come alive instantly. I am familiar with Tana French's other books, but this storyline is quite different. Set in Western Ireland, her descriptions of the mountains capture the imagination. It gets off to a slow start but swiftly gains momentum and is so worth persevering .I had anticipated a far different ending though and was disappointed when it ended abruptly!I would thoroughly recommend this audible and you do not have to be acquainted with the author's previous stories to enjoy this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved every minute of it, from start to finish ,

wow such a beautiful story, well recommend, from start to finish .beautiful told story ,

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The narrator was excellent!

I enjoyed this book but not as much of any of her others. I loved the characters and felt a genuine affection for them as you do when you read one of Tanas books.
I just feel like the story ended with nothing really happening, It felt as though the end confirmed things we already knew from fairly early on and then abruptly ended. However, it’s the authors story to tell and it was told perfectly. Narrator was ace!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Get this book on audible.

loved it, narrator fantastic, story engrossing, I so enjoyed it. The narrator's reading increased its brilliance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this

This was definitely a slow burner, but I ended up appreciating the slower pace. The characters developed well and the narrator was excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful