Force of Nature (Pan Macmillan Australia 2017) is the follow-up crime novel to Jane Harper’s much acclaimed debut, The Dry. The detective, Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk (financial crimes division), is still recovering from his physical and mental injuries after the traumatic circumstances of his home town drew him into a murder / suicide case. This time, he is lured to the Giralong Ranges when a woman has gone missing – Alice Russell, the whistleblower in his current investigation. A group of five women, including Alice (and in tandem with a group of men), are participants in a corporate teambuilding exercise; each group was to undertake a three-day hike. But when the men arrive at the rendezvous, the women are nowhere to be seen. When they eventually show up, injured and disorientated, there are only four – Alice has gone.
Jane Harper once again uses an interesting structural device to guide the narrative: we switch between the Now (from the point at which the investigation begins), and the Before (when she details the string of events as they happened for the group of women, starting from when they set out on the hike, and ending when they finally return). This style succeeds in propelling the story forward at a fast pace, particularly towards the end when the chapters are short and punchy.
The link between Agent Falk and Alice Russell is compelling, and his involvement in the fate of the missing woman is justified by his ongoing investigation. But financial corruption is not the only aspect to this case. The family firm that is running the retreat – with owners Daniel and Jill (brother and sister) also participating – are shady, and then there are the twins, Bree and Beth, who both work for the company but have a murky past. The chap who operates the outdoor program seems suspect, too. And then there is the fact that the setting happens to be the old stomping ground for Martin Kovac (a thinly-veiled reference to Ivan Milat), who murdered a string of women some 20 years earlier, complicated by the unknown whereabouts of his son, Sam, an equally unsavoury character.
So there are many red herrings, false leads, suspects with motive, means or opportunity, as well as some other sub-plots that turn out to be quite important.
There are many things that this novel does well. Firstly, it has all the good markings of a good crime whodunnit, and keeps the reader guessing until the end. Secondly, once again Jane Harper shows her skill at depicting the harsh Australian landscape. In The Dry it was the tinder-dry bushland; in Force of Nature it is the wet, muddy, cold, isolated, suffocating closeness of the mountain ranges. Her descriptions of place are evocative and sensory. Thirdly, as with the first book, the dialogue and language is spot-on, painting portraits of characters with fine brushstrokes. And finally, once again she manages to immerse us in a psychological thriller that is taut with tension and fraught with mis-steps. The slowly disintegrating bonds of the women (aka ‘Lord of the Flies’), their mounting suspicions and erosion of trust are realistic and engaging.
However, the obvious references to real-life Australian murder scenarios were somewhat of a distraction; there were elements of Falk’s relationship with his offsider, Carmen, that I found unreliable; I thought the lack of safety procedures surrounding the group’s hike was unlikely in a corporate retreat setting (where standards normally err on the side of caution); and I found the ending to be almost an anti-climax (can’t say more without giving spoilers, but there is a sub-plot that almost comes out of nowhere). But perhaps my expectations were unreasonably high after reading The Dry and all the hype and publicity around this second book. These are small criticisms really for what is a classic page-turning thriller / mystery that will no doubt keep many readers up late into the night trying to guess what happens.