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Force of Nature

Audiobook
9 of 11 copies available
9 of 11 copies available

"Narrator Stephen Shanahan...makes it sizzle to the very end. Both story and narrator are not to be missed." — AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING ERIC BANA
"I love Jane Harper's Australia-based mysteries." —Stephen King

Goodreads Choice Award Finalist (Mystery & Thriller, 2018)
BookBrowse Best Books of 2018
Winner of the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel
BookRiot's 25 Best Suspense Books from 2018
Davitt Awards shortlist for Adult Crime Novel 2018
Dead Good Reads shortlist for Best Small Town Mystery 2018
Five women go on a hike. Only four return. Force of Nature begs the question: How well do you really know the people you work with?
When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.
But one of the women doesn't come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.
Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?
Praise for Force of Nature:

"All the novel's characters have been drawn with exceptional complexity, and none more so than Aaron Falk...So much more than a conventional detective, the reflective and compassionate Falk provides the book's moral compass." — New York Times Book Review

"Harper yet again delivers a very satisfying mystery from beginning to end, perfect to curl up with...Stephen Shanahan does an excellent narration with his calm, deep, Australian accented voice." — BookRiot
"Force of Nature bristles with wit; it crackles with suspense; it radiates atmosphere. An astonishing book from an astonishing writer." — A.J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window
"Set against the fascinating backdrop of a wild, rural location in south Australia, Harper's sequel to her acclaimed Ned Kelly Award-winning debut, The Dry, presents an intriguing crime that might not actually exist and potential suspects with realistically complex and possible motives." — Library Journal

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 23, 2017
      Australian author Harper follows her bestselling debut, The Dry, with a gripping tale of an elemental battle for survival. Federal agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper are investigating the role of a respected Melbourne accounting firm in an extensive money-laundering scheme with the help of insider source Alice Russell. Then she vanishes during a team-building wilderness expedition that includes the chief executives of the company she has been working to expose. Pressed by their bosses to get the remaining documents needed for the probe and worried that Alice may have met with foul play, Falk and Carmen head for the rugged Giralang Ranges to aid in the search. Once in the bushland, they discover that the beautiful, brainy, but unabashedly cruel Alice had no dearth of enemies, ranging from her bullied assistant to a fellow executive who’s been her frenemy since their years together at an exclusive private school. Although certain plot strands seem contrived, Harper once again shows herself to be a storytelling force to be reckoned with. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In this second powerhouse audiobook from Harper, five women go on a corporate retreat, and only four return. The setting is the Australian Outback, not a location where most people would expect a corporate retreat to take place. Narrator Stephen Shanahan puts his clear Australian accent to good advantage as he portrays Aaron Falk, the lead investigator in the search for the missing woman. He also creates the backstory for each of the other female participants. His voice doesn't change much, but his tone and inflection do, and that makes every one of the female characters an individual. Harper may have created this amazing whodunit, but Shanahan makes it sizzle to the very end. Both story and narrator are not to be missed. E.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Books+Publishing

      July 27, 2017
      Jane Harper’s follow-up to her 2016 bestseller The Dry is another well-written, pacey crime thriller. Force of Nature is set after the events of The Dry but can be read as a standalone novel. Federal police agent Aaron Falk is investigating the disappearance of Melbourne woman Alice Russell, who has gone missing during a corporate retreat in the Victorian bushlands. Alice is a whistleblower in Falk’s latest white-collar crime case, and Falk—along with his new police partner Carmen—is trying to figure out if the disappearance is connected. The chapters alternate between the search for Alice and the hiking trip leading up to her disappearance, where we meet Alice and four of her female colleagues, and discover their shifting loyalties. Fans of The Dry will enjoy this gripping page-turner, although it lacks some of the satisfying detective work of her debut. I would also have liked to see more development of Falk’s character and that of his partner, who remains lightly sketched; a scene between the two in Falk’s sparsely furnished apartment left me wanting more. However, the overall premise of the novel is intriguing and the bushland setting is well drawn (I imagined it taking place in Victoria’s Grampians, with a chilling Ivan Milat-style backstory). I look forward to more outings from Falk in the future. Andrea Hanke is editor-in-chief at Books+Publishing

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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