Book Review: Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Book Review: Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

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This time last year, I was lucky enough to be involved in the Little, Brown Book Group book tour for the highly acclaimed, highly anticipated book The Dry by Jane Harper. I absolutely loved the book, and was so excited to get on board and review it. When Little, Brown got in touch again to ask if I'd like to be a part of the book tour for Jane Harper's second book, the second in her series featuring Aaron Faulk, I practically bit off Kimberley, the lovely marketing and publicity intern's hand. With two copies of the book in hand - a lovely ARC copy that I sent on to a friend and a finished copy of the book, that I kept for myself- I was even more excited to get stuck into the book and find out just what happened to Alice...

Force of Nature is the perfect follow up to Harper's first novel The Dry, continuing the investigations of her protagonist Aaron Falk. Whilst it's really easy to compare follow up novels to their proceeding story, I do think it's a little unfair to do this as the two stories are so -different- in what they stand for. I loved The Dry and I loved Force of Nature, as well, but for entirely different reasons. The Dry, which narrowly missed out on being on my Top 10 of 2017 list, was always going to be a book that had a lot to live up to but I'm so happy (and slightly relieved, if I'm totally honest) to reveal that I loved Force of Nature just as much. 

Force of Nature focuses its attention on the disappearance of Alice, a hardworking, robust and often mean-spirited woman who is taking part on a corporate retreat in an Australian nature reserve. The whole concept definitely doesn't sound like my idea of a good time, but there you go. Alice, along with 4 other women who work for her company, find themselves camping and travelling through a reserve that is known for being a place where people have vanished in the past, either never to be seen again or revealed to be murdered by renowned serial killer. As we slowly learn the details that lead to her disappearance through the eyes of the women, we also join Falk and his colleague Carmen in discovering what happened to Alice. The dynamics and relationships between the different characters are clearly flawed from the start - what is supposed to be a retreat to form stronger relations and repair disputes quickly turns into a trip full of even more anger and resentment. You find yourself, as the reader, forming very strong opinions about each character and it's easy to see why things didn't go as smoothly as the organisers of the retreat had hoped. 

The novel came together oh-so-beautifully in the end. This is one of those novels that ended without any plot holes, and everything was resolved with seemingly no questions left lying. Each clue that led to the conclusion was dangled so subtly that it was impossible to see past and I have to admit that I finished the book having had no idea at all about what had happened to Alice until it slapped me in the face. I love being able to figure out what has happened before the denouement comes together, but having that air of mystery and leaving the reader completely perplexed is a quality that only becomes the most intricately clever of psychological thrillers. 

I am, once again, incredibly excited to see what Jane Harper comes up with next. I'll be awaiting her next novel with anticipation! 

4.5/5 stars. 

Force of Nature is now available to purchase from the usual places, in both hardback and in ebook form. I'd like to thank Grace Vincent for my advanced copy of the book, and Kimberley Nyamhondera for allowing me to take part in the blog tour this time around! 

Book Review: The Dry by Jane Harper

Book Review: The Dry by Jane Harper

Friday, 13 January 2017

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Sometimes you have the pleasure of reading a book that just absolutely knocks you sideways and I am pleased to reveal that The Dry by Jane Harper is definitely one of those books. We’re all well aware of my preference towards crime fiction so I’m not all that surprised that I loved this one, really. I was a little unsure about the book to begin with: the cover wasn’t one that I found particularly appealing, although it is rather pretty: I just didn’t associate it with being the amazing piece of crime fiction that it actually turned out to be. Just goes to show really: you definitely should NOT judge a book by it’s cover.

The book’s premise is pretty simple. A family is found murdered in their home, the father apparently guilty of killing them and then turning the gun on himself. I say apparently, because as is always the case in crime fiction, there really is more than meets the eye to the tale. We meet Aaron Falk, a federal agent based in Melbourne but native to the small farming town of Kiewarra as he returns for his former best friend’s funeral. The town is all up in arms about the crime, even more so upon his return: he and his father having been run out of town years previously for their supposed involvement in the death of a young girl (and Aaron’s best friend) Ellie. Tensions are high and then doubled with the risk of drought. He is asked by the Aaron’s parents to have a look into the finances of the family and see if there is anything else that could explain why a happy, family orientated man would suddenly turn and throw all of that away in the blink of an eye. There is significant doubt whether Luke would be capable of doing such a thing and it is up to Falk to ensure that justice is served. Falk is an incredibly interesting and captivating protagonist: I instantly found myself warming to him and egging him on in his search to find the out truth.

I absolutely love guessing my way through crime fiction and coming up with my own theories as to what happened, and how the perpetrator committed and got away with the crime. Try as I might, I just could not have guessed how this one ended. Harper has a fantastic way with words: the book was beautifully written, flittering between scenes from the past and present and incorporated together in a flawless, easy to read manner. Her work is exquisite and reads like an established piece as opposed to the debut that it is. I was absolutely hooked by the narrative and found myself devouring the book over the course of an incredibly short period of time. The ending was tidy and thought-provoking and left you feeling content: although slightly unresolved. I have questions, Harper!!!! I can’t wait to see what Jane brings to the table next, although I have no doubts that it’ll be as fantastic as this contribution.

Thanks to Grace Vincent at Little, Brown for sending me a review copy of the book. It was published on 11^th January and you can buy it now in all the usual places. I most definitely recommend that you do: everyone’s talking about it for a reason.