This month Criminally Good Book Club voted to read The Dry, and what an excellent choice it was!
Book Description:
Luke Hadler turns a gun on his wife and child, then himself. The farming community of Kiewarra is facing life and death choices daily. If one of their own broke under the strain, well…
When Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to Kiewarra for the funerals, he is loath to confront the people who rejected him twenty years earlier. But when his investigative skills are called on, the facts of the Hadler case start to make him doubt this murder-suicide charge.
And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, old wounds start bleeding into fresh ones. For Falk and his childhood friend Luke shared a secret… A secret Falk thought long-buried… A secret which Luke’s death starts to bring to the surface…
My Thoughts:
Harper has plotted a great story in The Dry, a great mystery with a wonderful cast of characters. Particularly the main protagonist, Aaron Falk, who is extremely likeable. In contrast to this was an extremely unlikeable character. While both characters disliked each other, one was willing to be active in his dislike and convince the town to be active too and this made me like Falk even more as I wished the town would just leave him alone. It’s great when an author involves you in the plot in this way as you become more engaged in the read, rather than passively turning pages, you are invested in not only the mystery but the characters too.
The mystery is a good one, one that you’ll be hard pressed to figure out; with a mystery from 20 years ago still affecting the town, you wonder how it’s connected to the current mystery. The Dry opens with a short prologue that leaves you no choice but to read on, it’s so gripping and sets the tone for the entire novel. While the story is not particularly fast-paced or graphic, Harper creates such as intense atmosphere, you’re compelled to read on. What I really appreciated is usually it’s cold weather conditions that authors use to create a dark and suspenseful atmosphere but here Harper uses the sweltering heat – I don’t know about you but when I’m extremely hot, I get all flustered and annoyed really easily, it’s lovely to lie in the sun and relax but when you are trying to get on with the day’s tasks in extreme hot weather, it’s no fun. So, you can imagine how on edge a town would be in this sweltering heat Harper portrays; a murder/suicide has shocked the town and this stifling heat creates an intensity and unpredictably to the plot as you’re not sure how the town is going to react to Falk asking questions.
Narrated by Falk, and featuring flashbacks from 20 years ago, The Dry is a mystery novel that I have no reservations recommending, though it’s Harper’s debut novel, she writes with the flair of someone who has been writing best-selling books for years. It makes me really happy when I enjoy a book by a new author, only to realise it’s the first book in a series so this is not the last readers will see of Aaron Falk – I’m looking forward to reading book 2.
This book is available to buy now from: Amazon UK / Book Depository
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Reviews by other book club members:
Fantastic review Janel! I too enjoyed this one and still think of it from time to time. I thought she handled the disturbing content so gracefully and her writing was such high quality for a debut!
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I 100% agree with everything you just said! Book 2 is out next year, I feel like that’s too far away lol
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Great review Janel! I loved this one and we’ve both read this at the best possible time….book 1 of the
series😊
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Haha always start at book one lol, book two is out next year, I feel like that’s too far away though lol
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What a wonderful review! I enjoyed this book SO much and the characters of Falk and Raco! Very excited for book number 2!
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Thanks 😊 book 2 is out next year, so we’ll have to occupy ourselves with plenty of other books till it’s released, I’m sure that won’t be too hard lol
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No it’s definitely not going to be hard 🤣
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So you’ve got till 6 Feb 2018 to read all your priority books ready for the release of book 2 – Force of Nature 😂
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Great review Janel!
I’m was also really excited to see there’s going to be a book two. I love a good series!
Thank you for linking to my review. I’m looking forward to the discussion!
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Thanks 😊 Force of Nature – Feb 2018, not that I’m counting down till book twos release or anything haha
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Great review. This definitely sounds like something I’d be interested in. Although, I admit that the title didn’t really capture me. The cover is nice, though.
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Thank you 😊 It’s not the most creative title but the story is brilliant, definitely worth a read!
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Great review! I loved this one too – like you, I really liked Falk as a character and was delighted when I saw it listed on Amazon as Aaron Falk 1 – I’m waiting patiently for book 2!
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Thank you. February 2018 is the scheduled release date for book 2!
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Hurrah! 😀
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This sounds like my type of read. I love a good mystery and don’t want anything too graphic. Plus I’ve been enjoying books with a slower pace recently, realising I get more out of the story.
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Then you should definitely give this one a read, it’s received a lot of high praise 😊 I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
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I really liked this one too, especially the flashback parts. And the main character Aaron was so nice, you’re right!
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This book cannot become a film, I’ve built a visual image of Aaron in my head and it cannot be destroyed 😂 Roll on book two!
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Hahaha Handsome? 😛
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What an intense review! Like you, I like cold crimes 🙂 but the heat has the power to make every emotion more extreme and people so nervous. It acts on nerves, definitely! I love the sound of this book, fab review!
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Thanks, I like when an author does something a bit different to the norm and using a hot climate to create intensity was very clever. This one is definitely worth a read 😊
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I so enjoyed this book, in fact think it’s up there in my top 3 books this year – can’t wait until the next one and am very intrigued.
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This was a rare time when the book actually lived up to the extreme hype! Book 2 is schedule for Feb 2018 🙂
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