The Dry was a book that changed my life, so it’s no surprise I immediately picked up Jane Harper’s latest novel, The Survivors, when I saw it on the shelf at my local library.
In a way, The Survivors had a lot of parallels to The Dry. A man comes back to his very small Australian town where some tragedies happened in the past, and some new ones are happening now. This time though, the setting is a lot closer to the coast. Also, the main character, Kieran, comes back to town with his own young family in tow. He’s back to help his mother pack up, as his dementia riddled father is headed for a care facility, while she moves close by. Kieran has been admittedly absent from his hometown for several years, so his dad’s current state is rather shocking.
While he’d rather not deal with that, he does get to spend some time catching up with his oldest friend Sean, his best friend Ash and his girlfriend, Olivia. It’s revealed a little bit later that Kieran and Olivia have a past, one that is bookended in tragedy. Some 10 years earlier, Kieran and Sean’s brothers were killed in a storm as they were trying to rescue Kieran from the ocean. Kieran’s never forgiven himself, and as if that black cloud isn’t enough, his next night in town results in Olivia’s roommate, Bronte, being killed.
The thing about a small town where you can literally walk anywhere, is that everyone pretty much knows everyone’s business. That’s why Sean’s nephew, Liam, is the prime suspect. He had a major crush on Bronte and had giver her a ride home after their shift at the local restaurant that night. Unfortunately, Kieran’s dad gets thrown in the mix because he was out wandering the beach. While that could be admissible given his dementia, it’s uncovered that he was the last person to see young teenager, Gabby Birch, before she went missing the same day as the storm. That’s another black cloud that hangs over this small town
I don’t want to say anything more other than that this book was pretty awesome! Everyone feels like they could be a suspect both now and back then, and even as things start slowly being revealed, the ending really did manage to surprise me! I love how Harper is able to make the ocean at the edge of this small town seem both beautiful and ominous. Definitely add this to your read list for 2022!