quippe | Entries tagged with jane harper

The Blurb On The Back:

He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him, and his skin was cracked. Whatever had been going through Cameron’s mind when he was alive, he didn’t look peaceful in death.

Two brothers meet at the remote border of their vast cattle properties under the relenting sun of the outback. In an isolated part of Australia, they are each other’s nearest neighbours, their homes hours apart.

They are at the stockman’s grave, a landmark so old that no one can remember who is buried there. But today, the scant shadow it casts was the last hope for their middle brother, Cameron. The family’s quiet existence is thrown into grief and anguish.

Something had been troubling Cameron. Did he choose to walk to his death? Because if he didn’t, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jane Harper’s standalone crime novel makes the most of both the oppressive nature of the Australian Outback and the loneliness of life out there to create a slow burn reveal of bad behaviour and family secrets. I particularly liked the slow reveal of Nathan and Cameron’s backstory and characters, which worked very well and although the ending has a bit of a pat feel to it, I would definitely check out Harper’s other books.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

You know, I look at Luke Hadler and on the surface he had it all – great wife, two kids, decent enough farm, respect in his community. Why would a man like that turn around one day and destroy his family? It makes no sense. I just can’t understand how someone like him could do something like that.”

Falk rubbed a hand over his mouth and chin. It felt gritty. He needed a shave.

Luke lied. You lied.

“Raco,” he said. “There’s something about Luke you need to know.”

Australia is in the grip of its worst drought in a century; it hasn’t rained in the small country town of Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.

Policeman Aaron Falk returns to his home town for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke’s death threatens to unearth. And when Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past begin to bubble to the surface.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jane Harper’s debut crime novel is a well constructed story split between two time periods that shows the fractures in small town life made worse by a horrendous drought. I liked the novelty of a detective whose speciality isn’t murder and I thought Harper did a good job of taking a character weighed down by guilt and frustration who’s taken outside his comfort zone while Raco is a sturdy sidekick (a good copper in his own right rather than a lazy hick). Harper also makes the most of her small town setting – I believed in the dying businesses and dying farms caused by the devastating drought and the effects that it has on the local population as crops fail, animals die and desperation starts to set in. I particularly enjoyed the way Harper unspools the Ellie storyline, showing the tensions and passions at play in the set of friends and the ripples it continues to cause years later but wish the ending had given more of a hint as to whether justice would actually be served. I very much hope that Harper produces a series following Falk as I would definitely read on but failing that I’d also read her next work.

THE DRY will be released in the United Kingdom on 12th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.