BOOK REVIEW FORCE OF NATURE BY JANE HARPER

JANE HARPER’s, SECOND BOOK ‘FORCE OF NATURE’ FOLLOWS ON FROM ‘THE DRY’.
An additional character for any story, is location. A different place can be a captivating change for the reader. I loved, Jane Harper’s ‘The Dry’ when I read it a year ago. It is set in Australia and when her second book, ‘Force of Nature’, was published it had to be read.

I never give clues away. I like to concentrate on what the book can give to the reader. It is easy for me to say that stories within it are about families. We are blessed or cursed with 24/7’ news that reveals nasty stuff that a writer can pick out and incorporate into a book. Without giving anything away Jane Harper gives her characters anxieties, issues and lets them get into a mess.

The family-run firm of BaileyTennants decides to take their staff into the wilderness. It seemed a good idea and one that the ‘corporates’ do. Girls against the boys is a minor distraction only, with the note on the front cover, ‘Five went out. Four come back….’ giving a strong hint as to what this could be about. Believe me it's not a short stroll out with a short one to get back. The descriptions of the trees, paths, rivers and mountain ranges are characters that show how rough it was out there without the participants making it tougher.

Federal Agent Aaron Falk and his partner, Carmen Cooper, are already investigating BaileyTennants as the main players of the company are tramping through the bush. Then one gets lost! And so, the agents, put on their walking boots to tramp out to assist the rangers and state police. If you were to think that Cooper is playing a subservient roll to Falk then you can forget it. She plays her part.

It would be easy to say that these Fed Agents are the two main characters, but they are not.
They are equally matched by others. The strong writing and equally characters along with the extra dimension of a wilderness make this a terrific read.

I enjoyed it. In reader parlance, it's a ‘page turner’.

There are more details on the back cover. If you don't want to know anymore - don't read it for this will enable you to enjoy the story better, in my opinion.