Jane Harper has done it again! She is a master at atmospheric crime fiction and truly draws readers into her beautifully described settings - so much so, that they feel like a character all on their own. The Survivors is set in a very small Tasmanian coastal town where a woman’s body washes up on the beach. It reminds everyone of twelve years ago when a terrible storm ravaged the coast leaving two dead and a young girl missing. This is definitely a thriller that will keep readers guessing. Highly recommended to anyone looking for an atmospheric crime thriller. This is the first hit of 2021!

Jane Harper’s intense crime novel, The Survivors is an exploration of the corrosive nature of guilt and the ways in which we cope with loss. The title refers both to a shipwreck memorial set on a rock formation on the inhospitable coastline of a dying Tasmanian community, and also to a destructive storm that claimed several lives from this small town. When the novel opens, physiotherapist Kieran Elliot returns home to Evelyn Bay 12 years after the drowning deaths of his brother Finn and his business partner, Toby. It’s a bitter return for Kieran, who, thanks to a foolish mistake, feels responsible for the deaths of Finn and Toby; he’s blamed and hated himself for years, but he’s back to help his aging parents, Brian & Verity, pack up and prepare for a move to a nursing home. Kieran’s father, once a vibrant, energetic man, now suffers from dementia. Kieran, who brings along his girlfriend Mia and their baby for the visit home, really had no idea just how much his father’s condition had progressed, and coming home has been painful.

Some residents still consider Kieran responsible for the drowning deaths of Finn and Toby, but Kieran has a few mates from his youth, including Olivia, Sean, and Ash to hang out with. Shortly after Kieran’s return, Bronte, a young art student from Canberra, who is working temporarily at Evelyn Bay, turns up dead on the beach, and her murder reawakens the disappearance of 13 year-old Gabby Birch, Olivia’s sister, 12-year before. Bronte’s murder brings all the poison from the past floating to the surface, and there are some in town who connect Kieran’s return to the crime. Other residents in this close-knit community would prefer to believe that the murderer is a tourist–not a resident. During the murder investigation, a detective begins to look into Gabby’s disappearance. Gabby vanished the day of the terrible storm which claimed the lives of Finn and Toby. Everyone, except Trish, Gabby’s mother, assumed that she had been drowned since her backpack was found washed up on the beach. In essence Gabby’s disappearance was incorporated into the storm and the drowning deaths. But the murder of Bronte causes some to question Gabby’s disappearance. Did she drown? Was she also murdered? Is Bronte’s murder somehow connected to Gabby’s disappearance?



There are not many characters in this brooding atmospheric novel. There’s a handful of Kieran’s friends, Kieran’s parents, Gabby and Olivia’s grief-stricken mother, a couple of people who work at the barely viable business, The Surf and Turf, a few policemen (the town’s police station is about to be closed,) and a writer who moves to Evelyn Bay only to encounter hostility when he trashes the landscaping of the home he bought.

Intense landscape descriptions have never been a thrill for me, but here in Jane Harper’s capable hands, the landscape is inseparable from the characters and the crimes. While the sea is beautiful, it’s also deadly, menacing and threatening. This is the essence of Nature, of course; it can be unpredictable, but what about human nature–the sense of imminent menace continues on land. This is a community where everyone knows everyone else; they’ve all grown up together, and in theory there are few secrets.

The mystery of Bronte’s murder and Gabby’s disappearance are seminal to this environment and its incubated simmering, brooding violence. Evelyn Bay is a stunningly beautiful yet miserable place-a place with a tourist attraction that commemorates death, and a diving business that lures tourists into revisiting death and tragedy. Kieran and Mia escaped, and the friends who remained behind are permanently stunted by the area’s oppressive, limited economy. The descriptions of the ocean are the most powerful I’ve ever read and they are matched by the descriptions of relentless grief–grief which ravages lives and snatches away any hope of peace. We all accept that grief is a normal, natural process, and yet here we see various versions of grief. Grief is a personal personal journey. Why are some aspects of grief socially acceptable while others are not? Gabby’s mother, Trish, never believed that Gabby drowned during the storm–she believed that her daughter’s body would have washed up somewhere is that had happened. But her theories and persistence have marginalized her and she’s labeled as a broken record, a sad nut case. She identifies with Bronte’s mother and argues that, once the anger has passed, she’ll end up “doing her own secret crazy things like the rest of us.”

“It never changes, you know. Even when they’re older. You’d take a bullet for someone who won’t even wave to you at the school gate. Then suddenly they’re ripped away and..” Trish shrugged.

The drownings, the murder and the disappearance–they have impacted all the town’s residents in various ways. The ravages of grief and the ravages of Time: Police Sgt Renn, who 12 years ago had been “fresh-faced and overeager to please” is permanently damaged by the unsolved mystery of Gabby Birch. The plot plays with the notion of various suspects and the ending was impossible to guess.

I listened to the audio version which was read, marvelously, by Stephen Shanahan.

The beach below was a thin strip, small enough that Kieran immediately felt uneasy. Out to sea, the waves lapped high at The Survivors. All around him, the birds bristled and flapped.

(And if you read this highly recommended book, IMO the crimes were ‘motive-sanitized’ by the perp.)

Review copy

Kieran Elliott returns home to Evelyn Bay, Tasmania with his partner Mia and their baby girl to help his parents move, due to his father’s decline with dementia.
Returning home is a difficult thing because he carries guilt about his older brother Finn’s death 12 yrs ago ...Kieran had been out in the caves during a terrible storm at high tide and Finn took the boat out to try and save him! Finn didn’t make it out.
While back at home now, another tragedy happens.. the death of a young woman happens sometime during the night and her body is found on the shore which gets the residents suspicious of each other and old stories from the past tragedy are brought back to the surface.

This was good, I’ve read all four of this author’s books... The Dry and The Lost Man being my favorites.

I must say that the setting is one of the most beautiful described places I’ve read of in a novel. I’d love to see this area!

Thank you to Flatiron and Netgalley for this ARC!

The build-up is on the slow side - until perhaps the mid-point it was interesting, but I really didn't mind setting this one down when other tasks beckoned. Thereafter, though, it turned into a real zinger. At the very least, it's a study in excellent character development; at best, it'll keep you turning pages right to the end.

Kieran, his partner Mia and their infant daughter, Audrey, have returned to Tasmania to help his parents move. His father has worsening dementia, and his mother - who really doesn't want to leave - is barely able to care for him. The return home, though, doesn't give Kieran or Mia much pleasure; their good memories are overshadowed by events that happened during a monster storm not far from three life-size iron female figures that have come to memorialize the nearby wreck of the "Mary Minerva" many years ago (known locally as The Survivors). The wreck is a popular diving site, and a couple of Kieran and Mia's old friends still run a diving business there as well as tours through the caves when the tide is out.

The bad memories include a couple of accidental deaths and a still-missing person that have haunted Kieran (and others) ever since, though perhaps for different reasons. Then, a new body turns up on the beach - this one a murder - putting a new spin on those old memories. No one gets a pass as they're forced to revisit what happened years ago until the truth finally emerges. Well done, and thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read it in exchange for an honest review.

A complex story where the secrets of a long ago tragedy resurface as the protagonist returns to the small town where he grew up. Kieran's father's cognitive abilities are in decline and he comes back to visit his parents and help his mother. Both he and his wife had fled the coastal community after a stormy night resulted in death for beloved family members.

Kieran feels guilty for the events that transpired long ago and it soon becomes clear that other characters have also assigned some of the blame on his shoulders. When a murder rocks the quiet seaside hamlet, the investigation brings events from both past and present to new light.

I particularly enjoyed the big role the setting played in this one. Harper is a master at using landscapes to help set the mood and this book is no exception.

The audiobook was narrated by Stephen Shanahan, a familiar voice for those of us who have listened to Harper's previous novels.

The Survivors did a great job of building suspense and giving you the feeling of a claustrophobic community, with lots of secrets.

The Survivors - out on February 2, 2021

Jane Harper is a master of weaving current day drama with buried secrets and small town gossip. Twelve years ago, there was a horrific storm in Evelyn Bay that left two guys dead and a young girl missing. Just when it seems that the town is getting past this event, there is another disappearance that brings old memories back up to the surface.

Maintaining Harper’s trademark atmospheric writing (she is able to transport readers to the setting of each novel like no one else), The Survivors also packs an emotional punch through exploring the bonds of family and friendship through grief, illness and uncertainty.

I throughly enjoyed The Survivors and thank NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the e-ARC of the novel.


Content Warnings:
Death & Grief; Dementia; Suicide

Coming home, it should be a happy time, seeing family, reminiscing with old friends, going to old hangouts....... But what if going home is a reminder of what you have lost, what you can never forget, what has haunted you, when others do not want you to forget.

Kieran Elliott, his girlfriend, Mia and their infant daughter, Audrey have returned to his hometown to help his mother pack up her home. His father is being moved to a home where he will receive proper treatment for his dementia and his mother, Verity will be able to live nearby. It should have been a nice weekend. But a young woman's body is found on the beach, and long held secrets want to be released.

The death of the young woman reminds every one of the worst storms to ever hit their small coastal town. A storm during which Kieran made a lapse of judgement, his brother Finn and his friends died, and a young teen, Gabby went missing and only her backpack was found.

The title of this book is incredibly significant, not only does it refer to statues in the book, but it can also apply to those who survived that horrible storm, those who had to move on after loss, those who have lived with grief, guilt and heartache.

This was another solid book by Harper. I enjoyed how she built her story and as the current investigation unfolded, the past came knocking and secrets demanded to see the light of day. I have to say I did not see that ending coming. I had a theory and was wrong. I love when this happens because I enjoy being surprised by a book.

This book was not only a whodunit, it is also a study on loss, pain, guilt and grief. It shows how small towns/villages have memories, how they view outsiders, and how they ban together both in good and bad ways. The characters in this town are flawed. Their reactions feel authentic and believable.

This is not a fast-paced book, but it was not slow either. I enjoyed how everything came together at the pace it did. I enjoyed how she took us back to Kieran's teenage years and we get a glimpse of some of the characters in the present and in the past. I enjoyed learning how things unfolded at the same time our narrator did. Speaking of our narrator, Kieran, he comes off as a little guarded but knowing what he has been living with, I can understand that. He, along with other characters, have been living with a burden. Of course, there were times I was hoping for a strong reaction from him.

I cannot wait to see what Harper comes up with next!

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Jane Harper does it again! I've been shouting her name from rooftops ever since THE DRY arrived in 2017. Her books, whether they're part of the Aaron Falk series or standalones, are pitch perfect small-town mysteries with a strong sense of place (a different Australian locale for each so far) and chock full of interesting characters and family secrets. Harper's lean and precise prose delivers such vivid and memorable images directly into the reader's mind. Her books are somehow both cinematic and literary. She's simply a gem. THE SURVIVORS is the first mystery I'll be recommending for 2021 and I'll be singing its praises all year.

I wrote about this on GoodReads and on my blog ... I'll provide all the details directly to the publisher in the next round of this review process.

Kieran Elliott returns to his home town, with his new family. After being back only one day a body washes up on the beach. This happening brings back memories of a tragic and awful mistake that Kieran made twelve years ago when his brother Finn and his friend Toby died. Their boat flipped over during a storm drowning both men. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and secrets and questions begin to surface again.

The dark atmospheric story with it's brooding and violent landscape only add to the tension of this thriller that is set on the Tasmanian Coast. This thriller, like Jane Harper's other mysteries, keeps you guessing, so you want to read on.

I will forever and always read everything Jane Harper writes. This is as good as her previous books, which is saying a lot!

5★
“The waves were monstrous. He was tossed upward, then pulled so deep he couldn’t tell which way to fight for the surface. He didn’t know how long he was under. Long enough that his lungs were empty in a way he had never felt before. And then, suddenly, where there had been nothing but water, there was rock. Hard and brutal, it hurtled toward him with enough force to make his teeth rattle. When the water pulled back, Kieran was still chest down, his face slick against the solid surface.”

Tasmanian sea caves, the day of ‘the storm’. Harper has taken us to the cold Tassie coast from the outback for which she’s known from The Dry and The Lost Man (not counting Force of Nature, which I think of as The Wet and didn’t like quite as much). Her sense of place in this excellent mystery is as strong as ever.

Kieran has returned to Evelyn Bay with Mia and their baby daughter, Audrey, to help his mother move. His father, Brian, has dementia, but Kieran didn’t realise how bad it had become until he saw Brian’s attempt to help with the packing.

“A browning banana peel was tucked into the pocket of a pair of trousers.”

Harper has captured the dynamics of how relationships have been changing and the subtle ways people start to realise that their childhood memories are not necessarily accurate nor reflective of what other people remember. She’s as good with the very old as she is with the very young. Tenderness, exasperation, tolerance, frustration, respect, love. The fluctuations are so quick.

One interesting relationship is between Kieran and his partner, Mia. They both grew up in Evelyn Bay and were there during the time of the original storm tragedy. But Kieran was an 18-year-old then, who caroused around with his mates and his older brother Finn, 26, who loved the booze and the girls, while Mia was a 14-year-old schoolgirl, barely worth noticing.

Twelve years later, the age gap is nothing, but going back home takes you back in time. When a body is found on the beach while they are there, everyone remembers the tragic disappearance during “the storm”. Now Kieran is a new father himself, and tiny Audrey is in almost every scene, in a sling or in her pram, so he is suddenly really aware of how parents suffer loss.

“Haunted” is the best word for so many of these characters.

“There was something different around the eyes too. Kieran hadn’t known Trish well before the storm, but he was willing to bet the heaviness he saw there now hadn’t been there then. It looked to him a lot like grief, specifically old grief. The kind that left a permanent mark, like rings in a tree trunk. Brian and Verity had it as well.”

In some ways, the people remind me of those who waited at home on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean for their seafarers to return from the dangers of life at sea. This Tasmanian coast is a rugged part of the world, such that the big (almost only) business in town is diving to see the wreck of the SS Mary Minerva, some 35m below the surface. “The Survivors” is an art installation representing three people standing on the rocks, looking out to sea, to commemorate that tragedy where 54 people died a hundred years earlier.

Harper shows how people pull together, pull apart, become suspicious and then feel guilty if they suspect an old friend, try to protect each other but try to find the truth. A community meeting gets a bit unruly as people point fingers.

But it’s the place. The caves, the tides, the surging surf. Absolutely haunting.

“. . . all he could think of was Finn’s warning.

'If you’re in here at high tide, you are not coming out.'

. . . they’d waded through the oily blackness. The relief as they hit open air had vanished immediately when they splashed out of the cave and into daylight that was more like night. The beach had disappeared. The peak of each wave reached his chest. His skin stung in the driving rain and the sea slapped high against the rock.

The dark twin mouths of the caves inhaled huge lungfuls of water before spewing them out again, and the currents clawed at Kieran’s legs. . . Everything seemed different.”

It’s a terrific read. Thanks to Flatiron Books for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.

A complex mystery about loss, trauma, and small town dynamics, THE SURVIVORS has some good twists, a heart wrenching backstory, and a seaside setting that comes to life on the page. If you've enjoyed Jane Harper's previous books, this one won't disappoint!

Atmospheric, moody, and gripping!

THE SURVIVORS by JANE HARPER is a dark, mysterious, and suspenseful novel that is centered around a present day murder and a mystery from the past. I was immediately hooked and it totally grabbed my attention but then, unfortunately, the grasp that the storyline had on me fizzled a little bit when we neared the ending.

What I love about JANE HARPER is that she has quite the knack for delivering extremely vivid portrayals of place and time. Her atmospheric and descriptive settings is what she does best. She slowly builds this foreboding tension that envelopes you right into the storyline that I absolutely love.

The mystery here when it all came together was totally unexpected and blindsided me which definitely left me with a different reaction that I would have normally expected of me. Instead of it being an explosive ending it was lacklustre and disappointing. Maybe if I was able to fully connect with the characters I might have been able to "feel" the ending.

Expected Publication Date: February 2, 2021

To sum it all up it was an entertaining, captivating, tense, steady-paced, and a quick read with an ending that left me feeling a little disappointed. I love JANE HARPER’S writing and will continue to read everything that she writes. This was still a very good and worthwhile read for me, it just wasn’t one of my favourites. Would recommend it!

Thank you so much to Flat Iron Books for the opportunity to read an ARC!

3.5 stars.

Chilling. Engrossing. Mysterious. Atmospheric.

Jane Harper knows how to write intensely atmospheric stories. She builds foreboding tension and suspense from the very start that keeps you captivated and hanging on until the very end. This book was no exception in that regard and it finished with a twisty, intense and unexpected ending which left me a satisfied reader.

The part that was lacking for me in this novel was the characters. I didn’t particularly like any of them which negatively affected my overall investment in the story. I was curious to see how things would come together but I didn’t truly care what happened and wasn’t rooting for anyone. It also took me a bit to understand “who was who” for the first portion of the book.

I’ve read and loved every one of this authors books. While this was a good read that I would recommend, it’s my least favourite of hers.

Thank you to Flat Iron books for the ARC! Expected publication date is Feb 2nd.

*3.5 stars

I love Jane Harper and I'm always excited when a new book of hers is published. Her past books have all received 5 stars from me. So imagine my surprise that this book did not meet my expectations. This book is different in that its not set in the Australian outback, but in a small coastal town in Australia. What Harper is so great at is her settings. I did feel the atmosphere in this book, but not as strong as her other books. Kieran has gone back home to deal with his parents move and while there a murder has happened on the beach, practically by their front door. During the investigation, memories from 12 years ago begin to surface. What really happened all those years ago when his life changed? And what happened to this young woman who seemed to be well liked? I love Harper's writing but this one seemed to be lacking for me. I didn't really like the mystery. Both storylines (past & present) were kind of lame. By the end, I felt really let down. She's still a go to author for me but this one is definitely not a favorite.

I've enjoyed all of Jane Harper's books, and this was no exception. If I'm remembering her others correctly, this fit in the same general pattern - an old crime in a small community that somehow resurfaces in current conversation because of a new crime. I like the storytelling structure here, and I liked Kieran as a protagonist. He and his partner, Mia, who have recently had a baby, go back to their hometown to help Kieran's parents pack up to leave their beach home so that his father (who is suffering from increasingly serious dementia) can move into a care facility. Twelve years earlier, a major storm hit their beach town and Kieran's older brother and his business partner were both killed while sailing out to rescue Kieran. Kieran has been carrying that guilt, and his parents and some others in town have been carrying resentment, for twelve years. The first night that Kieran and Mia are back in town, a young women living in town for the summer is found on the beach, clearly having been drowned by another person. As this crime is investigated, more comes out about the day of the storm twelve years prior, including what happened to a teenaged girl who has been missing and presumed dead since. I liked the character development here, and I was genuinely surprised by the ending, which is always a plus for me.

It always seems that guilt is a war within in which you are the only one carrying a weapon.

The Survivors brings Kieran Elliott and his wife and daughter back to Tasmania. Kieran, Mia, and baby Audrey have been currently living in Sydney for some time. Kieran and Mia grew up on Evelyn Bay. They have come to help close up Kieran's parents' home. His father, Brian, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Verity, his mother, wishes to live nearer to the facility where Brian will reside.

But there's always been a heaviness where Kieran's parents are concerned. .Kieran's brother, Finn, had drowned in an accident on the bay in which Kieran was involved. Kieran always felt that his parents blamed him for the loss of their older son. No words were spoken, but Kieran still carries the weight of that guilt for years. Returning to Evelyn Bay only brings it up to the surface where Kieran sees it front and center.

Kieran and Mia join up with old friends at a local restaurant. Upon walking home, they observe a white vehicle speeding past them and remark at the oddity of it. Later they come to find out that one of the wait staff of that restaurant was found dead on the beach. With tourist season over, the realization comes that the murderer has to be a local. And just who would that be?

I am a huge fan of Jane Harper and have read all of her books. She is an amazing author. But The Survivors did not have the usual rapid fire intensity that we've come to know from her. A change of pace? Possibly. But The Survivors seemed to tread water a bit too long in most places with much time spent in those caves. The characters were off-putting to say the least rating low on the likeability meter. They were numerous, in fact, and we just got nips and pieces here and there which didn't allow us a flashlight's view into the possible murderer. The plan? Possibly, again.

I kicked this one up from a 3.5 to 4 stars because it was at the hand of Jane Harper. Harper still stands far and above the multitude of writers out there. She just is........and will always be.

I received a copy of The Survivors through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Flat Iron Books and to the talented Jane Harper for the opportunity.

Jane Harper set such a high standard with her first three books that The Survivors, while still an excellent book, does not quite match them in quality. Harper excels at settings and The Survivors is no exception. The story is engaging and her use of weaving the past and present is highly effective. But it takes her a bit too long to draw the full measure of her characters. That is likely because they grow tremendously during the week of the story’s duration. Coming to grips with what happened twelve years previously spurs growth and self-understanding, and courage. Harper demonstrates the characteristics of a small town but, more importantly, shows her readers the strength of all types of love.