Book Review: Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Force of Nature by Jane Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

‘Force of Nature’ is one of the best new fiction books I’ve read in ages. I’m definitely a fan of Jane Harper now! Force of Nature is Jane Harper’s second book featuring protagonist Aaron Falk, a Federal Police Agent.

Having rushed through her first novel ‘The Dry’, (enjoyed it but it didn’t leave me dazzled) I slowed down for Force of Nature and loved it so much I even went back and re-read some of The Dry.

Why 5 stars?

1. The suspense was excellent and I loved the way she delivered the story in two parts. One in real time of the investigators and the other a time-lapse moving through the events of the women. Both parts intersecting at critical moments, finally meeting at the end for the climax. It really kept me turning the pages.
2. Sometimes you read thrillers that have really frightening endings and the whole books seems to have all this contrived violence just for the sake of it. However, the plot in Force of Nature was chilling, yet believable without being unnecessarily violent.
3. The author created so many logical possibilities for why Anna Russell disappeared, I was really guessing right to the end.
4. The book alludes to the Backpacker Murders which occurred in Australia in the late 80s and early 90s: I remember the cases well because I was (at the time) the same age as many of victims. Jane Harper does a good job of capturing the unsettling feeling the crimes created in Australia that lasts even to the present day.
5. Sometimes Australian books tend to over-do the ‘Australian-ness’ but I thought Force of Nature had a natural sound and Jane Harper an excellent conveyor of an authentic Australian voice.

Great for an Australian author to have established a credible crime-series. I’ll be back for more. How about you?

© 2018 Melinda J. Irvine

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