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vlynch5 's review for:
Force of Nature
by Jane Harper
So how painful does the premise for Force of Nature sound? Going on a corporate retreat with four of your coworkers from all ranks of the company and having to survive out in a vast forest for three days with no phones and just the packs on your back? Not only a forest, but one where twenty years earlier, a serial killer was on the loose?
No thank you.
But as painful as the scenario sounds, it’s a fantastic set-up for Harper’s newest novel. And when only 4 of the 5 coworkers emerge from the woods, its’ almost like a game of Clue trying to figure out what happened. It’s genius because the reader is learning about the characters in the book as the characters in the book are learning about each other. Although, as the book progresses, there are definitely things that we are privy to that the characters are not.
It’s a page-turning, connect-the-dots, whodunit that I found to be a deeply satisfying read. We all wear masks in life, to cover up who we really are. But that is especially true at work when we are trying to appear as normal and professional as we can. Because we need to impress the people we work with. Harper peels back the mask on each and every character throughout the book. And everyone is hiding some kind of heartbreak, malice or scandal.
I also have to admit that after reading The Dry and Force of Nature, I feel a bit duped. See, I’m not a big fan of series books. I just find them to be a little formulaic. So I went into Force of Nature, not even realizing it is in the same series as The Dry. And guess what? I was super excited to see Aaron Falk again. He is a super normal, relatable and likeable guy. And besides his and his partner, Carmen’s presence, there wasn’t a single formulaic similarity between the books (that I could tell.)
I highly recommend Jane Harper’s books. She’s the real deal!
No thank you.
But as painful as the scenario sounds, it’s a fantastic set-up for Harper’s newest novel. And when only 4 of the 5 coworkers emerge from the woods, its’ almost like a game of Clue trying to figure out what happened. It’s genius because the reader is learning about the characters in the book as the characters in the book are learning about each other. Although, as the book progresses, there are definitely things that we are privy to that the characters are not.
It’s a page-turning, connect-the-dots, whodunit that I found to be a deeply satisfying read. We all wear masks in life, to cover up who we really are. But that is especially true at work when we are trying to appear as normal and professional as we can. Because we need to impress the people we work with. Harper peels back the mask on each and every character throughout the book. And everyone is hiding some kind of heartbreak, malice or scandal.
I also have to admit that after reading The Dry and Force of Nature, I feel a bit duped. See, I’m not a big fan of series books. I just find them to be a little formulaic. So I went into Force of Nature, not even realizing it is in the same series as The Dry. And guess what? I was super excited to see Aaron Falk again. He is a super normal, relatable and likeable guy. And besides his and his partner, Carmen’s presence, there wasn’t a single formulaic similarity between the books (that I could tell.)
I highly recommend Jane Harper’s books. She’s the real deal!