Reviews

A really fast paced detective novel set in the Australian outback. Beautiful and accurate descriptions of life in small town rural Australia with its constant threat of bushfires. Good character development and twists and turns in plot. Very readable.

jessicamason362's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

In between a 3.75 and a 4 for me because it was one of the better thrillers I’ve read where I did not guess who the killer was (the school teacher). Although I came up with a better plot myself for it to be Gretchen because it would make more sense - although the book did allude to that at one point so maybe it’s a good thing that it was a different ending. I liked the fact it related to struggling communities and was set in Australia as I have not read a book set there before. I admired Falk to still stay there and I liked the flashbacks from Falk’s childhood to now. The ending seemed slightly ambiguous and I am guessing Falk goes to stand up to Deacon but I would have liked to have read about that. I was about to say it seemed a bit slow and repetitive in places but I don’t think it was actually that repitive as new information was always revealed which I liked. I just want completely stunned by anything. But I also liked the plot point that Whitlam tried to set light to the dry fields.

laurenweather's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 stars!!!

I enjoyed this book! With any good crime/mystery book I spent a majority of the story thinking I knew who did it ... however I was pleasantly surprised with the twist on who actually committed the crime.

The descriptions of the drought stricken town radiated off of the pages and it was something I just couldn't put down! It has been on my to read list for a while and only when I heard that there was a movie coming out I decided to pick it up. The end third of the book really picked up pace and left you with an ending that was satisfying but left you to question what Falk would do :D

heidikundin's review against another edition

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4.0

The Dry was an excellent debut novel, and I flew through it in just a couple of days while I was on vacation. I loved the intermingling of the past and present stories, and though I had my suspicions, the modern day whodunnit was definitely a surprise that I hadn't expected. I felt that the character development was nicely done, and I quite enjoyed Jane Harper's style of writing. I am looking forward to the next one!

ajpratt's review against another edition

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5.0

Another great read by Jane Harper. This was the second Aaron Falk book I've read (accidentally read book 3 first) I loved how fast paced it was and managed to read this in 2 days.
Loved the twist at the end, I almost picked up on it but dismissed my suspicion initially.

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