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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2018
I liked Jane Harper's first book, The Dry, a lot, and her second book didn't fail to meet my high expectations. It is refreshing that the protagonist is not your usual half-brilliant-half-loser outsider PI type, instead, he is very human, in good and bad. He reminds me a little bit of George Simenon's Maigret. I also liked how the book had this ominous atmosphere of very bad things that happened in the bush before, and how it was eventually resolved in an unusual way (unusual at least for modern crime mysteries that are full of serial killers.) I can't say more about it while avoiding spoilers.
There were many other aspects of the story that didn't go down the usual path, such as romantic possibilities that were real yet not consummated (except for one kiss.) How refreshing to not have to witness yet another roll in the hay with a miserable outcome -- the characters are actually adults rather than teenagers that never grew up. Also, what actually happened in the bush as far as the crime was concerned felt very true to life -- I could definitely imagine something like that happening to a group of perfectly normal people when they are pushed too far by dire circumstances. There is no need to bring some whacko killer into the mix to improve the story.
Jane Harper's fluid and confident writing allowed me to relax, sit back, and enjoy the ride. She is one of my favorite crime mystery writers today and I look forward to reading her next book, hopefully sooner than later!
There were many other aspects of the story that didn't go down the usual path, such as romantic possibilities that were real yet not consummated (except for one kiss.) How refreshing to not have to witness yet another roll in the hay with a miserable outcome -- the characters are actually adults rather than teenagers that never grew up. Also, what actually happened in the bush as far as the crime was concerned felt very true to life -- I could definitely imagine something like that happening to a group of perfectly normal people when they are pushed too far by dire circumstances. There is no need to bring some whacko killer into the mix to improve the story.
Jane Harper's fluid and confident writing allowed me to relax, sit back, and enjoy the ride. She is one of my favorite crime mystery writers today and I look forward to reading her next book, hopefully sooner than later!
