Library's review
Australian Federal Police officer Aaron Falk, the focus of Harper's first novel, The Dry, is back in Melbourne recuperating from his adventures in that book. He and his partner, Carmen, have been working hard on a money-laundering case, but their progress is stymied when a key witness goes missing
Harper is a master of scene-setting. Just as her descriptions of the rural drought-ravaged landscape in The Dry left me panting for water, here she skillfully conveys the remote impenetrability and the needle-in-a-haystack nature of the Australian bush. She uses a flashback device to slowly clue readers into what happened on the retreat that led to Alice's disappearance, while keeping us updated on the progress of the search in real time. Sometimes that sort of split focus leaves a reader disappointed when the focus shifts from the more compelling storyline to the lesser one, but in this case I was eager to follow both threads equally.
Force of Nature was just published in February, two years after The Dry. That does not bode well for how long I will be impatiently waiting for Aaron Falk's next adventure.
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during one of those dreadful "executive trust-building" weekends in a wilderness area. Is her disappearance related to the case she was helping Aaron and Carmen build against her bosses? And where on earth could she have gone?Harper is a master of scene-setting. Just as her descriptions of the rural drought-ravaged landscape in The Dry left me panting for water, here she skillfully conveys the remote impenetrability and the needle-in-a-haystack nature of the Australian bush. She uses a flashback device to slowly clue readers into what happened on the retreat that led to Alice's disappearance, while keeping us updated on the progress of the search in real time. Sometimes that sort of split focus leaves a reader disappointed when the focus shifts from the more compelling storyline to the lesser one, but in this case I was eager to follow both threads equally.
Force of Nature was just published in February, two years after The Dry. That does not bode well for how long I will be impatiently waiting for Aaron Falk's next adventure.
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Description
When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path. But one of the women doesn't come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened. Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?
Awards
Davitt Award (Longlist — 2018)
Australian Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — General Fiction — 2018)
The Indie Book Award (Longlist — Fiction — 2018)
BookPeople Booksellers' Choice Award (Shortlist — 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018-02-08