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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Easy to read Aussie crime drama. A few twists and turns, with interesting characters. Depth of the story could have been better. I haven’t read The Dry (Jane Harpers first book) so hoping that the characters are further developed in the first novel. Can definitely read the second book in this series without having read the first. Some nods to the first book, but nothing major. An easy light crime novel.
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
2nd Aaron Falk novel sees him returned to the financial crimes department of Melbourne police after the fires (literally and metaphorically) of his home town. He becomes involved in the search for a woman who has gone missing from a team building survival exercise in the woods with hints that there is connection to a past serial killer.
An enjoyable fast paced read with short chapters that alternate from police and victim's perspective and as each end on a cliff-hanger make for a good bank holiday read.
An enjoyable fast paced read with short chapters that alternate from police and victim's perspective and as each end on a cliff-hanger make for a good bank holiday read.
I honestly thought that I had already read this book! Imagine my surprise... bad book blogger!!
Absolutely loved it as with all of Jane's books. An addictive story and I do love Aaron Falk and learning more about him this time.
Absolutely loved it as with all of Jane's books. An addictive story and I do love Aaron Falk and learning more about him this time.
Another great novel by Jane Harper!
Bits of information are slowly revealed and you just want to keep on reading to find out the truth behind the mystery.
If there's one thing I would nitpick about, it's the fact that the author likes to repeat sentences for emphasis. In this novel it was "Get the contracts" and it bothered me since it was stated too many times.
That's minor though and overall I found this novel to be well written and quite enjoyable.
Bits of information are slowly revealed and you just want to keep on reading to find out the truth behind the mystery.
If there's one thing I would nitpick about, it's the fact that the author likes to repeat sentences for emphasis. In this novel it was "Get the contracts" and it bothered me since it was stated too many times.
That's minor though and overall I found this novel to be well written and quite enjoyable.
Bravo for Jane Harper and her second extremely readable mystery with an extremely likable detective. Similar to The Dry, Force of Nature has a palpable sense of place which moves the action along with suspense and dread. The claustrophobic setting in the Australian Bush takes on a personality of its own and is as much a character as the five women who get lost in it.
The structure issues that bothered me in The Dry were non-existent in Force of Nature, which I was pleased to see (not see?), but there was significantly less characterization of Aaron in this novel, and I found myself missing him, even as I was reading the book. I also didn't enjoy this wrap up as much as I did in The Dry.
If you haven't read Jane Harper yet, give her a shot. She's kind of a less gritty Tana French, mixed with Liane Moriarty.
The structure issues that bothered me in The Dry were non-existent in Force of Nature, which I was pleased to see (not see?), but there was significantly less characterization of Aaron in this novel, and I found myself missing him, even as I was reading the book. I also didn't enjoy this wrap up as much as I did in The Dry.
If you haven't read Jane Harper yet, give her a shot. She's kind of a less gritty Tana French, mixed with Liane Moriarty.
Finished reading: December 19th 2020
“It’s the panic that gets you. Makes it hard to trust what you’re seeing.”
I LOVED The Dry when I read it last year and I had a physical copy of the sequel ready to read straight after finishing it, but somehow I never actually did pick it up until now... Don't ask me why, as I still don't understand it myself. I'm glad I finally did now, because while Force Of Nature has a completely different feel than the first book, it still has Aaron Falk and it still gives us that harsh and unforgiving Australian bushland setting. In fact, the Giralang Ranges setting is probably the main reason this story stood out for me, as this remote bushland setting plays a key role in the plot and really sets the right atmosphere for this story. The idea of the corporate retreat and the 'people against nature' element might not be new, but it is excellently done and I had a great time seeing the different characters react to the increasingly dire situation. I liked the structure of the plot too, where we switch between the present with Aaron Falk and Amanda and the past where we slowly learn more about what happened during those days before Alice disappeared during the retreat. Lots of little twists and secrets are being introduced, designed to add suspense and send you on the wrong track... Another bonus: I definitely didn't see those final reveals coming at all! And her writing style is just so damn easy to read and highly addictive too. I definitely can't wait to read her other two pending titles now.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes