Read This Book…

When Kieran was a teenager, a horrific storm hit his small coastal town in Tasmania and as a result of a mistake he made, they lost his older brother Finn and Finn’s business partner. Another life was lost that day as well, but no one really knows what happened to the teenage girl who was presumably swept out to sea. Now an adult with a new baby of his own, Kieran and his partner head back for a visit for the first time in years. It’s clear that some wounds run deep, but Kieran is unprepared for how the past gets stirred up when the body of a young woman is found on the beach.

I think one of the things that Jane Harper does really well (aside from really vivid settings!) is balancing dramatic or impactful moments in her characters’ pasts with a contemporary mystery. We’ve seen her pull it off in The Dry and The Lost Man (both excellent books and worth checking out, too) and here in The Survivors she really makes you feel the tension in this small town as a result of the painful past and the storm years earlier. It’s something that touched everyone’s lives, and all of the characters are living with the consequences of it still, albeit to varying extents. The details she drops are expertly planted and everything comes together in a really smart, surprising way, interspersed with memories and flashbacks that really give you a lot of insight to the characters and their motivations.

I also really enjoyed the Tasmanian setting! I’ve read a fair number of books set in Australia but I’d never really explored Tasmania through fiction, and I appreciate that the small town, the beach, and the rugged wilderness of the area really leapt off the page and added to the unsettling vibe of the book. The depictions of the storm were also really chilling. What’s scarier than being at the mercy of Mother Nature when she’s in a rage?

Overall, if you like a moody mystery that doesn’t get too dark or graphic, you can’t go wrong with Jane Harper’s work and her newest book is certainly a winner!