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The Survivors is another slow burn from Jane Harper that quickly morphs into a gripping, unputdownable story.

After many years away, Kieran has returned to the small Australian waterfront town where he grew up. The town holds a tragic memory for him, one that has haunted him in all the years since then. Now that he's back, with his wife and infant daughter in tow, the long buried secrets of what happened all those years ago start to surface. And a new tragedy strikes, threatening to tear the town apart again.

Jane Harper's stories are always centered around its characters, and this book is no different. They jump off the pages fully formed, each with their complexities and their burdens of secrets and guilt. And it's not just about each individual person, but also how they relate to each other, in all that is said and unsaid. Harper's insightfulness and shrewdness at capturing the nuances and the landscape of small town relationships makes this character study a real highlight of the story.

The mystery itself is interesting and compelling. It drives the overall narrative, and infuses it with the prevailing atmosphere that something isn't quite right. The subtle malice flows through the undercurrents of this story, sweeping me away with its quiet intensity. Not much is happening on the surface, but underneath, it relentlessly builds the story into its inevitable and surprising conclusion.

I did find the beginning of the story to be a little slow, but that's pretty typical for me when it comes to Harper's writing. But I hold on for the initial few chapters, and pretty soon, I'm having trouble putting the book down. Now for all the buildup, I did find the ending to be a bit abrupt, as if I blinked and it was over. It sufficiently explained everything, but after following the characters and their storyline for so many pages, I just wanted a little more to fully wrap everything up and satisfy my curiosity.

Still, I wholeheartedly enjoyed this story. It has everything I've come to love about Harper's storytelling, with its focus on its characters in the setting of a small Australian town. I've read all of her books so far, and I just can't seem to get enough. Alas, now begins the long and tortuous wait for her next book.

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See also, my thoughts on:
The Lost Man

Aaron Falk:
#1. The Dry
#2. Force of Nature
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