Helpful Score: 1
Like her first novel, this book wouldn't let me go. I just had to keep reading. The characters are so real and believable, and the story line the same. I look forward to reading the next one.
Kathy N. (addicated-to-reading) reviewed Force of Nature (Aaron Falk, Bk 2) on + 150 more book reviews
She does a good job continuing developing the character of Aaron Falk. The story was interesting and you wanted to see what was going to happen next. A good series - I would recommend.
A good and fast read but not as good as Ms. Harper's first, The Dry.
Loved the back and forth, kept my interest!
Very interesting.
I read Harper's THE DRY a few months ago and thought it was a really great thriller. This is her follow-up to that novel and it again features Aaron Falk, a Federal police agent who specializes in financial crimes in Australia. In this one, a group of five women go on a required corporate retreat in the wilderness of Australia's outback. The retreat is part of a team-building exercise run by a corporation owned by the Bailey family. Early one morning, Falk receives a very short cell phone call from Alice Russell who is part of the wilderness retreat and is also Falk's whistleblower for his investigation into money laundering by the Baileys. It turns out that Alice has gone missing after the women's group gets lost during their retreat. The other four women make it back to safety after they assumed that Alice walked out on her own. So what happened to Alice? Harper throws in a lot of different possibilities and false leads. The wilderness area they were in was also the site of some serial killings several years earlier and the son of the killer may still be in the area. Or could Alice have been killed by someone in the corporation who knew about her working as a whistleblower for Falk? There is also a lot of animosity among the group of women and nobody seemed to like Alice who was somewhat of a bully.
I enjoyed this novel but not quite as much as THE DRY. It seemed like the focus of FORCE OF NATURE was more on the group of women and problems in their families rather than on Falk. Falk just seemed to be along for the ride and didn't really play much of a role in determining the fate of Alice. I will, however, probably be reading more of Harper's novels in the future.
I enjoyed this novel but not quite as much as THE DRY. It seemed like the focus of FORCE OF NATURE was more on the group of women and problems in their families rather than on Falk. Falk just seemed to be along for the ride and didn't really play much of a role in determining the fate of Alice. I will, however, probably be reading more of Harper's novels in the future.
Second in a series. There are references to THE DRY, and while I read it a couple years ago I don't remember the characters. Didn't seem to affect the story though. I liked the alternating chapters, one timeline focusing on Falk and Cooper investigating the disappearance, and the other spotlighting the women's journey. Good sense of place, good dialogue, the author gives us plenty of suspects at first and a couple red herrings. At first I was incredulous that the adventure company could be that incompetent, but hey, it could happen. While it's nicely creepy in places, and I did enjoy the mystery, I thought Harper was very stereotypical with her gender roles. Men are referred to by their entire name "Daniel Bailey", or by last name "Bailey", but the women are referred to by first names. Jill Bailey can't see a map because she won't admit she needs glasses, c'mon, who does that. Harper does a great job driving the characters (and me the reader) nuts with the cell phone plotline. In the end, only Falk and Cooper are likeable, and I felt the rest deserved to stay lost, although I did feel bad about the two daughters.
I liked the story well enough, and the main character is one I would want to read about again. But one thing I wasn't happy about was when the author mentions an injury that the main character sustained at some point in the past (she does this several times throughout the book, and it even becomes more important at the end). You just know there's a backstory, but she doesn't give any form of an explanation. It doesn't bother me when I read a book series out of order (as in this case), and the author often will mention an event or character from the previous book. But they usually include another sentence or two to put it into context. I felt as though this book was not so much a standalone story because of the missing context of how he was injured.
I really enjoyed this book and the premise of the story. It was supposed to be a "Employees Retreat" and no one really wanted to go.
Five women went out together in the rain, got lost, encountered hazardous trails, lost their campsite pole, no food or water left, constant arguing and literally fighting amongst themselves.
Four out of the five women were found and the hunt for the fifth one was underway.
Very exciting book, the second in a row by this author and I look forward to his next.
Five women went out together in the rain, got lost, encountered hazardous trails, lost their campsite pole, no food or water left, constant arguing and literally fighting amongst themselves.
Four out of the five women were found and the hunt for the fifth one was underway.
Very exciting book, the second in a row by this author and I look forward to his next.
After "The Dry", this one should have been called "The Cold and Wet." Jane Harper does atmosphere really well. "The Dry" was my favorite mystery book of last year, so perhaps my expectations for the sequel were unrealistically high. This was a good enough read, but a bit of a letdown. 4 stars as a concession to my unattainable expectations.
The only incentive any of the participants have in this retreat is their fear that-- if they don't toe the line-- they'll lose their jobs. None of them have either the desire or the aptitude for hiking and camping in bad weather and treacherous terrain, and I enjoyed watching them go into withdrawal when they discovered that this remote area had no cell phone reception.
Falk and Cooper make a good team, and I hope I see them together in another book. Falk is enjoying his move to white collar crime because he never forgets the people that are devastated by what the criminals think of as insignificant crime that doesn't hurt anyone.
The premise of Force of Nature isn't anything shiny and new, but I certainly enjoyed how Jane Harper put it all together. The missing woman is disliked by everyone, everyone has something to hide, and even two teenage daughters figure into the plot in interesting ways. While not quite as intense as her first book, The Dry, this second book featuring Aaron Falk kept my attention from first page to last, and I'm looking forward to book number three.
Falk and Cooper make a good team, and I hope I see them together in another book. Falk is enjoying his move to white collar crime because he never forgets the people that are devastated by what the criminals think of as insignificant crime that doesn't hurt anyone.
The premise of Force of Nature isn't anything shiny and new, but I certainly enjoyed how Jane Harper put it all together. The missing woman is disliked by everyone, everyone has something to hide, and even two teenage daughters figure into the plot in interesting ways. While not quite as intense as her first book, The Dry, this second book featuring Aaron Falk kept my attention from first page to last, and I'm looking forward to book number three.
SUSAN S. (susieqmillsacoustics) -
Harper is becoming a favorite for me. This second book is well written and compelling. Perhaps not quite as great as The Dry but really good in it's own way.
On a 4 day corporate retreat into isolated mountain wilderness 5 men and 5 women each team up. But only 4 of the women return. The missing woman, Alice, was right in the middle of a case Falk and his partner, Carmen are investigating. Is her disappearance connected to their case or not? The story plays out in the present search for the missing woman and it takes us though that 4 day weekend to lead us to what really happened.
Harper's characters are so real. And we get more insight into Falk's character. I will be rushing to read the next book in the Aaron Falk series (or whatever Harper comes up with next)!
On a 4 day corporate retreat into isolated mountain wilderness 5 men and 5 women each team up. But only 4 of the women return. The missing woman, Alice, was right in the middle of a case Falk and his partner, Carmen are investigating. Is her disappearance connected to their case or not? The story plays out in the present search for the missing woman and it takes us though that 4 day weekend to lead us to what really happened.
Harper's characters are so real. And we get more insight into Falk's character. I will be rushing to read the next book in the Aaron Falk series (or whatever Harper comes up with next)!
This is the 2nd book in the Aaron Falk series. Aaron Falk is a Financial Crimes Federal Police Officer who is investigating the Bailey Family Corporation for fraud. Carmen Cooper is his cohort in this book as his partner, Greg Raco, is convalescing from Harper's last book, The Dry. The corporation is holding a weekend corporate retreat for team building which consists of a hike in the wilderness in Australia. Five men and five woman are in two separate teams. The story focuses mainly on the five women whose personalities clash during the whole hiking experience. Only four women return in the end and the question remains, "What happened to Alice?" I found Jane Harper to be a very talented storyteller and she uses two different timelines in order to set down her well-paced plot. I found all the characters to be very interesting and well-developed. I was happy to find out more background information on Falk and look forward to reading more about him in the future books. I would highly recommend this book to those who love intriguing, mystery thrillers.
