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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Two stars seems so low... but according to GR, two stars means "It was ok." This book was ok.
It's the second in a series starring Aaron Falk, who is some sort of financial detective. I always think books set in Australia will be as good as other books set in Australia. Or should I say, books by Australian authors? That is probably more appropriate.
At any rate, the premise of this one was thin and got thinner, right up until the weak ending. These days it seems like it's getting harder to make the answer to "whodunnit" interesting enough.
What was good: I really disliked characters I was meant to dislike. The first half dragged but picked up closer to the end.
What wasn't: I did not feel the cold or the wind, my spine did not tingle with the haunted darkness of the wildnerness at night, I was never afraid for any of these characters. Not even for a second.
The men got through the adventure and all but the boss, apparently left. Any one of them may have had something to do with the disappearance of one of the women. But for whatever reason this fact was not called into question.
That five remarkably unprepared and untrained women were sent into the bushland, aka wilderness, alone and without adequate provisions was insane. If they didn't find the camp, they had no food or water. Also no phones. No flares. Really???
And, why these women? It didn't make any sense, other than to throw the people together who needed to be together in order for the plot to fall into place.
The main character has, really, no character. The same for his partner.
I don't know. I'm just not into it.
It's the second in a series starring Aaron Falk, who is some sort of financial detective. I always think books set in Australia will be as good as other books set in Australia. Or should I say, books by Australian authors? That is probably more appropriate.
At any rate, the premise of this one was thin and got thinner, right up until the weak ending. These days it seems like it's getting harder to make the answer to "whodunnit" interesting enough.
What was good: I really disliked characters I was meant to dislike. The first half dragged but picked up closer to the end.
What wasn't: I did not feel the cold or the wind, my spine did not tingle with the haunted darkness of the wildnerness at night, I was never afraid for any of these characters. Not even for a second.
The men got through the adventure and all but the boss, apparently left. Any one of them may have had something to do with the disappearance of one of the women. But for whatever reason this fact was not called into question.
That five remarkably unprepared and untrained women were sent into the bushland, aka wilderness, alone and without adequate provisions was insane. If they didn't find the camp, they had no food or water. Also no phones. No flares. Really???
And, why these women? It didn't make any sense, other than to throw the people together who needed to be together in order for the plot to fall into place.
The main character has, really, no character. The same for his partner.
I don't know. I'm just not into it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Harper does it again!
Five women set out on a corporate wilderness retreat, but only four return. The tension and creepiness escalate on a hike through Australia's bushland as the women's personal issues and external factors come into play.
challenging
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Much better the The Dry. Falk didn't seem so bland this time. Fast moving mystery.
I liked the narration style, - The present search of Alice and the previous week's story of the women's trek. The Australian bushlands were described beautifully.
Alice and her daughter were both unlikeable. I was thinking why bother searching for her at all.
Detective Carmen was another irritating character. When she was grilling her fellow officer, Falk about his private life (which had nothing to do with the official investigation), I wanted Falk to tell her to keep her busy nose in her own business.
The repetition of the phrase "Get the contracts " was grating. We understand how important getting the contracts was, it did not have to be drilled through.
I had a problem with the corporate retreat setup. I am curious if Jane Harper knows how a corporate environment works. To start with, the team selected for the 'Team building' - the criteria was explained but that didn't explain why a data entry operator who worked in the basement was included. The top honchos never had any interaction with Beth, then why was she part of the 'Team building'.
The trek was not organized well and it was a in extreme weather conditions. No adventure club lets the participants on their own, without a properly marked track and without proper communication channels. Here they were not even given satellite phones. The mobile phones were not allowed. Though there was no signal, they could have at least taken pictures of the beautiful trek path.
They could have carried pre-cooked canned food instead of carrying gas stove, canister, raw materials like rice, ham and expecting them to start a fire a cook.
In these modern times how likely is it for someone to get lost with all grocery available and no phone?
As mentioned in the book, if the intention to see how they survive together as a team (to promote team building) they could have asked them to hunt for food instead of providing groceries and stove.
If I was not nit picking on finer details, I would have enjoyed the book. I might read her other book "Dry", as I liked the writing.
Alice and her daughter were both unlikeable. I was thinking why bother searching for her at all.
Detective Carmen was another irritating character. When she was grilling her fellow officer, Falk about his private life (which had nothing to do with the official investigation), I wanted Falk to tell her to keep her busy nose in her own business.
The repetition of the phrase "Get the contracts " was grating. We understand how important getting the contracts was, it did not have to be drilled through.
I had a problem with the corporate retreat setup. I am curious if Jane Harper knows how a corporate environment works. To start with, the team selected for the 'Team building' - the criteria was explained but that didn't explain why a data entry operator who worked in the basement was included. The top honchos never had any interaction with Beth, then why was she part of the 'Team building'.
The trek was not organized well and it was a in extreme weather conditions. No adventure club lets the participants on their own, without a properly marked track and without proper communication channels. Here they were not even given satellite phones. The mobile phones were not allowed. Though there was no signal, they could have at least taken pictures of the beautiful trek path.
They could have carried pre-cooked canned food instead of carrying gas stove, canister, raw materials like rice, ham and expecting them to start a fire a cook.
In these modern times how likely is it for someone to get lost with all grocery available and no phone?
As mentioned in the book, if the intention to see how they survive together as a team (to promote team building) they could have asked them to hunt for food instead of providing groceries and stove.
If I was not nit picking on finer details, I would have enjoyed the book. I might read her other book "Dry", as I liked the writing.