Book Review: ‘The Hunter’ is a dark and lyrical tale of revenge, friendship and loyalty in collision

Cal Hooper fled a failing marriage, quit his exhausting job with the Chicago Police Department, and settled down in Ardnakelty, a fictional village nestled in the mountains of western Ireland, hoping to find some peace. Cal knows he will never be one of them, but now, in “The Hunter,” we find that he’s at least tolerated, made a couple of friends, and even found love with a local woman. Johnny, who’d abandoned his family years ago, is a con man whose gifts, the author tells us, includes “taking every word out of his own mouth as gospel.”