Sarah Lyall

My reading in 2024 was chaotic.

Hi, I'm Sarah Lyle, and among other things, I'm the thrillers columnist for the New York Times Book Review. And a book I loved in 2024 was The Hunter by Tana French. It's a mystery set in rural Ireland, and it's a book that I love. a previous resident of this small community suddenly returns with a get-rich-quick scheme that upends everything and leads to calamities both small and large.

A lot of thrillers really rise and fall on plot. You read them really to kind of find out what happened next. But what makes this book stand out to me is it's just exquisitely written. Every turn of phrase has had care put into it. It heightens your senses, I think, to the nuances of people's behavior and appearance.

It's a great book for when you have a little bit of extra time and really want to enjoy what you're reading rather than race through it.