I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: February 6, 2018
Summary:
Five women go on a hike. Only four return. Force of Nature begs the question: How well do you really know the people you work with?
When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.
But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.
Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?
My thoughts:
I absolutely loved Jane Harper’s first book in this series, The Dry, and with the third book set to come out later this month, I realized I needed to pick up this second book. I’m not quite sure why I hadn’t read it yet as I’ve had it sitting on my shelf for quite some time other than the fact that I’ve just had too many other books to read.
Once again, we have an incredibly atmospheric, compelling mystery that pulls you in right from the start. I found myself completely engaged with what was going on but we soon find out that all is not what it seems with these characters. I loved how the story moves back and forth in time to slowly give us a full picture of who is who and what might be at play here. And, just like in The Dry, the weather and setting are used so effectively – it is almost as if they are characters themselves. It adds a sense of claustrophobia and a sense of danger that just adds to the overall tension of the story.
Even though this is a slow-burn of a mystery, I was unable to put it down. The story really captivated me and I was equally invested in both timelines, totally fooled by all the red herrings Jane Harper threw at me. While this story does stand on it’s own, I do highly recommend reading The Dry first as you will have a better appreciation for who Aaron Falk is, plus it’s just a fantastic story!
I cannot wait to pick up the next story in this series, Exiles, which comes out at the end of this month.
Audio thoughts:
As I did with The Dry, I listened to this one and it was fantastic on audio. I was happy to see that Stephen Shanahan was the narrator, as he did the narration for The Dry, and I am always a fan of consistency with series, if at all possible. He did a great job with the voices and the pacing. His accent – to me what seemed an authentic Australian accent – was just perfect for this book!
Books in this series:
- The Dry
- Force of Nature
- Exiles – due out January 31, 2023 (in the US)
