A tragic death stirs up painful memories in a small seaside town, in this author's latest mystery.

If you have read this author before, you already know the focus of her stories is more character driven than the mystery itself, and that is no different in this book. At the heart of this one is Kieran Elliott, who is visiting his hometown with his girlfriend and daughter, when a friend's roommate is found dead. Is Bronte's death an accident, or something more sinister?

Between detectives interviewing suspects and possible witnesses in the present, along with flashbacks to the past, we begin to learn more about the people that call this town home. Old romances and secrets are exposed, building hostility and doubts about one another.

More than half of this book is actually spent in the past, when Kieran was involved and later wrongly blamed (in my opinion) for a tragedy that took the lives of two community members, including his own brother. Once the details of what happened on that day are known, it pissed me off how people blamed Kieran. And it gets even worse when the whole truth comes out, but you'll have to be patient for that information.

On top of the tragedy that connected to Kieran, was the death of his friend's little sister, Gabby Birch. I had a hard time connecting this to the main plotline, but slowly the facts are revealed, and it is heartbreaking.

While the pace of the mystery was slow, I enjoyed the character dynamics. In particular, Kieran goes through an evolution of emotions that felt very honest, as the guilt from the past continues to haunt him, and he fights to bring resolution to the current tragedy. With Kieran’s persistence, the pieces from the past and present mysteries come together in a way I didn’t expect.

Additionally, I thought the narrator did a good job of performing the story, keeping me engaged throughout. If you are a fan of character driven mysteries, and/or a fan of this author, this is worth checking out.

4.5 stars! I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audio which needed some getting used to with the narrator's accent but once I did, it was smooth sailing. It was a very slow story but I thought that added to the mystery and suspense. The author was really able to capture the scenery and make you feel like you were actually on the beach and in the caves yourself. I also liked how the author took us back and forth from past to present to try and put all of the pieces together. I appreciated the fact that she included each of the characters struggles with what had happened in the town and how they coped with it all. I had a few ideas about how everything played out but I was wrong and I love when that happens.

Overall the writing was beautiful and made everything seem so much more real to me. It really made me want to visit that town despite everything that had happened. I loved how everything came together at the end and it gave the characters and myself some sort of closure. I will definitely be reaching for another one of Harpers books in the future.

It was interesting, well crafted twisted mystery. It occurs in a place where everyone knows everyone else and people never forget anything. The mystery of what happened years ago remains unsolved and what left open so many questions that it always bubbles right under the surface. There were so many possibilities as to who did it and yet the end will in fact surprise you (mostly). Ms. Harper paints a dark and gloomy setting to this story and with good reason. It is seriously creepy. When years later Kieran and Mia return to visit his parents the past becomes the present. It was a visit that no one will ever forget and both the past and present are brought to into the light. More death and finally resolution to what happened then and now. The ending definitely threw me for a loop. I was somewhat surprised, but more surprised at what happened after. I listened to the audio version. The narration was good, but very slow.

I didn’t love this. It reminded me a lot of the Guest List which I also didn’t love. I felt like the last 20% was good but other than that it felt way too dragged out and I found it hard to keep track of the characters which maybe be because I was listening but it was just meh.

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

Thank you #netgalley and #macmillianaudio for the opportunity to read this for my honest opinion.

This was a slow burn, and overall, it just did not do it for me. When I want a thriller or a mystery, I want something that is going to keep me on the edge of my seat and have me suspecting everyone in the story of being guilty. This one had a lot of characters and some of them were not needed to be brought into the story. It was hard at first to keep track of who was who and how they were relevant to the story. The ending didn’t really blow me away either, I thought ok maybe the end will be worth it but I really didn’t think it was. I have no read anything else by this author, but I still do plan to because I’ve heard other books are better. Overall, this story was just ok, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great for me either.

An atmospheric mystery set on a small coastal town in Tasmania written by a very talented author, Jane Harper. Although it is slow moving and slow building in the first part, there is a quicker pace in the second part. The ending was very satisfying.

This is a tough one for me to review. I am a huge Jane Harper fan and was beyond excited to get an advance copy of her latest, as I’ve voraciously read all her others. But this was a book that for me just did not work on audio. I had a lot of trouble understanding the narrator. It wasn’t the accent - I listen to and enjoy many audiobooks with narrators with all kinds of accents - but something about the narration style or enunciation that made listening to this book much harder than it needed to be. I just could not connect with the narrator and I often had to stop and replay a part because I didn’t fully follow what had been said.

The story itself was great, as Harper’s stories always are, but for me, I know it would be a much better reading experience on paper. I ordered it as my Book of the Month and plan to read it again without the narrator to see if I can get more out of it. I’ll update once I reread it that way.

After much deliberation I have decided to give it a 3.5 - rounded up because the story is definitely a 5, but I just couldn’t get past the narration issues. I see that I’m not the only one who felt this way so I’m hoping for a different narrator for her next one. Many thanks to Macmillan Audio, Jane Harper and NetGalley for one of my most anticipated books of the year — and on the plus side, looks like you guys hooked me enough to sell me another copy!

3.75*
A tiny coastal town struggles with the past, when twelve years ago two young lives were lost at sea. And a third simply disappeared. Mystery and questions still linger surrounding their deaths.

Now the waters have claimed a new victim. Is it possible all these deaths could be tied together? Or maybe just pure coincidence?
Once again, the community is forced to re-live and come to grips with yet another loss.

It’s during this time that Kieran and his wife Mia are making plans to return to their hometown to help his father, now suffering with dementia. He’s also about to come face to face with his past.

A slow moving, deliberate thriller that delves into the lives of those haunted by the past tragedies.
At times I felt either the pace could be picked up, or the length shortened somewhat. But that’s just me, an impatient thriller girl.💁🏻♀️

My second read by this extremely popular and talented author. And though I enjoyed The Lost Man a bit more, I still look forward to reading more from this author.

A buddy 🎧 with Susanne!

Posted to https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

Pro: Jane Harper is a dependable author—I know the reading experience I’ll have when I pick up her books, which are a slow burn and atmospheric.

Con: While I appreciate a dependable author, I feel like I have already read this book (specifically the plot point of the caves).

3 stars = I liked it. It was what I expected, but it didn’t add anything new to the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audio version of this book!

This is well-written and atmospheric, but I’m not the right reader for what the story has to offer. I had little interest in it and was unable to finish. Because of this, I will not be leaving reviews on my public Facebook page or Instagram. I know many love Jane Harper’s writing and I’m glad I finally got a taste of it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my audio review copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for sending me an ARC of The Survivors in exchange for an honest review.

The Survivors takes places in Evelyn Bay, a small coastal community in Tasmania. Twelve years ago, there was a sudden storm during which two men were killed and a girl disappeared. Those lives lost have haunted the residents of this town ever since, but none more so than Kieran Elliott, the younger brother of one of the dead. In the present, he returns home with his girlfriend, Mia, and their three-month-old daughter for a few days to visit his parents and childhood friends when a woman is found drowned on the beach. The investigation into this latest death reopens old wounds around Evelyn Bay and throws a new spotlight on the deaths twelve years ago.

Ms. Harper is a very talented writer, able to reveal character and advance the story slowly and steadily through subtle moments. She writes well-rounded characters, and in particular writes damaged but redeemable men very well. The main character here, Kieran, is well-developed, complex and believable, but so are his friends Mia, Ash, Sean, and Olivia, and his parents Bryan and Verity. Also, all of Ms. Harper’s books are inextricably linked to their rugged Australian setting. It would have been difficult to set this story elsewhere, as the coastline—with its beach, caves, and ocean, which contains both the remains of a shipwreck and a sculpture that give this book its title—is a character of its own, placing unique stresses on all of the characters.

Ms. Harper’s books may have a formula, but it’s a really effective one. All of her books explore a mystery in the present but one linked to unresolved events in the characters’ past. There are enough red herrings, and characters with potential questions or motives, that the ultimate explanation for the mysteries remained unclear until revealed. While I had guessed the who, I certainly hadn’t figured out the how or the why, and I was floored by the revelations within the book’s final pages.

Finally, a word about the narrator, Stephen Shanahan. He’s an Earphones Award Winner, and he was nominated for an Audie Award for his performance of Ms. Harper’s last book, The Lost Man. His reading of each of her books, including this one, is wonderful. He does an excellent job of varying his voice for the different characters, and has a great Australian accent that is just perfect for the material.

The Survivors is an excellent mystery with a memorable setting. It’s also an interesting examination of how one lives with the guilt and consequences of youthful mistakes. Highly recommended.

Category: Mystery & Thriller
THE SURVIVORS – By Jane Harper
Source: NetGalley/Audiobook Review
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Narration – By Stephen Shanahan
Scheduled To Release: February 02, 2021 (Subject To Change)

About:

Kieran Elliott’s haunted past and guilt resurface when he, his girlfriend, and their three-month-old daughter visit with his parents, who live in the small coastal town of Evelyn Bay, Tasmania.

‘When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away....’

Narration/Pacing/Flow:

THE SURVIVORS is narrated by Stephen Shanahan, who does an excellent job of capturing each character's essence, making each distinct. The flow and pacing are perfect, in my opinion.

My Thoughts:

As I listened to the story, it’s easy to see the title's connection as it relates to certain aspects of the narrative and the setting. But, it’s the tie into the present-day relations of Kieran’s parents that I found so heartbreakingly relatable.

THE SURVIVORS is the first book that I have read by Harper, and I look forward to reading more of her books. If you’re a fan of Mystery/Thrillers as I am, then I highly recommend reading this book.

Overall: 4.5/5.0 Stars
Performance: 5.0/5.0 Stars
Story: 4.0/5.0 Stars

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio Publishing, for loaning me an Audiobook of THE SURVIVORS in exchange for an honest review.

It was a New Year’s Eve miracle! The NetGalley app let me download THREE books as I was standing in the kitchen stuffing my face with snacks waiting for my entire town to stop with the fireworks so I could sleep. Anyway, thank you NetGalley!
.
I was really excited about this one and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a little creepy, moderately intense, and very entertaining. I thought for sure I had the ending figured out...and was wrong all ten times. This is a great vacation or airplane read. Not that anyone is going anywhere right now. So maybe a sitting in front of the fire read?
.
The main characters are Kieran, his partner Mia, and their infant daughter. They return to their hometown of Evelyn Bay, Tasmania. It’s not under the best of circumstances. Kieran’s father is suffering from advanced dementia. His mother is packing up the family home to move her husband into a facility and herself to an apartment near him. As the packing is underway Kieran and Mia meet up with some old friends. They meet a young woman named Bronté. That same night Bronté is found murdered on the beach. It’s a gruesome scene. As the police begin to investigate, the town’s haunted past makes a resurgence, leaving everyone wondering if the events are connected.
.
On a side note, I mentioned that Kieran and Mia have a baby. I think this is the first time I’ve ever read a book or encountered any media that notes the amount of nonstop labor that comes with an infant. Every move the parents made, the baby was accounted for. Usually the baby is casually mentioned and then the story proceeds as if there is a secret full-time nanny hiding in the wings.

4 stars

This is my first Jane Harper novel, and I will absolutely be returning to her back catalogue after reading - well, listening to - this one!

Though the stories are nothing alike, I thought of _Broadchurch_ repeatedly while listening because - like with the show - I came to this novel for the mystery/thriller part, but I absolutely stayed for the fantastic setting, which is a character of its own here. Evelyn Bay, a fictional Tasmanian coastal town, is like a little time capsule; everyone knows everything, and while you can leave the space for some period of time, when you come back, that stuff you tried to leave behind is all still waiting for you. These characters are bound to each other because they are bound to the place, and so the setting becomes magical and terrifying and alive, and the characters become more frightening and vulnerable as a result. Along with this sense of small town and the coastal atmosphere, the descriptions of the caves - and especially The Survivors - are haunting and absolutely add to the thrills and chills. I really cannot say enough about the amazing setting and how impressed I am by its impact on all aspects of the novel. Maybe it's the many months of lockdown, but if this place were real, I'd be dying to head there immediately. Murders and disappearances be damned!

Recommended, especially for fellow fans of an atmospheric thriller!

P.S. The narrator of the audiobook is fantastic if you're aiming for this option.

The Survivors by Jane Harper is an atmospheric, slow burning mystery about buried family secrets set on the dangerous shores of Evelyn Bay in Tasmania. Kieran and his wife Mia return to Evelyn Bay to help Kieran's mother take care of his aging father. After they arrive, a young girl's body is found on the beach. The resulting investigation leads to a host of suspects and brings up secrets that have been buried deep for 12 years.

I have enjoyed every book that I have read by Harper, and this one is no exception. I love the way she writes about places in Australia, and how the setting almost becomes its own character in the story. This one is set in Tasmania, and I don't think I have ever read a book set in Tasmania before! It was interesting to learn about the dangers of the sea, rocks, cliffs and caves of Evelyn Bay just as it was interesting to read about the dangers of the heat and isolation in the Australian outback in Harper's The Lost Man. She is a master at creating a vivid setting that plays an important role in shaping the whole story.

This is a slow burn mystery that is mostly character driven with not a lot of action. Sometimes those stories don't work for me, but in this case, I really enjoyed the slow pace and intrigue of this mystery. I wanted to keep reading not only to find out how the mystery would be solved but also because I wanted to keep reading about this place and these people.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available on February 2!

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Jane Harper , and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Jane Harper is back with yet another stunning Australian thriller, sure to grab the reader from the opening pages. A small Tasmanian community is pulled into the middle of new mysteries and a man who has come back home must relive the horrors of a past he hoped to compartmentalised. Harper does it all in The Survivors, while showing how versatile she can be with a slow reveal plot and all the elements for a wonderful book.

Kieran Elliott has come back to Tasmania to visit family. Alongside him is his girlfriend, Mia, and their infant daughter. What should be an exciting time with family quickly sours when a body turns up on the shore. This stirs up memories for Kieran of an accident twelve years before, one that saw his brother and a young woman die in a storm, with the latter’s body never recovered.

As Kieran processes it all and tries to help, he must revisit many of the secrets he kept about the events in his earlier life. Everyone remembers, but no one chooses to talk about it. If that were not enough, Kieran is trying to come to term’s with his father’s early onset dementia, which does not act as a decent distraction.

As with many small towns, everyone is involved the business of others. With the dawn of social media, online posts fuel fires and reopen old wounds that were best left to heal. Kieran cannot hide from it, though he has tried to protect Mia and their daughter from as much of the blowback as possible. Still, even as a survivor from a past tragedy, Kieran has not been able to escape the tar and feathering of some locals, only leading to new questions about the most recent victim.

Jane Harper has never shied away from controversy when she writes, though she is keen to provide her own spin on things. Be it discussions about social issues, criminal matters, or the flavour of a small community, Harper is always spot-on and provides the reader with her valuable insights. This was on offer again here with a fabulous tale that patches together two time periods under a single narrative.

Kieran Elliott is a wonderful protagonist, though he seems not to want to limelight shone too intensely on him. Having left Tasmania years before, Kieran hoped to return to help his parents and introduce his own family to where he came of age. There is some backstory that weaves its way into the piece, creating the angst that projects itself in the present. There’s also a little character development for Kieran, who is forced to utilise a past he tried to ignore in order to make sense of the present. While he seeks to fade into the background, Kieran’s force is felt throughout this piece.

Harper uses strong supporting characters to tell her story as well. Without the likes of the townsfolk, there would not be that sense of ‘chit-chat’ and gossiping that are essential parts of the process. Some complement Kieran well, while others seek to offer flavouring that creates strong clashes throughout the narrative. I was eager to see both, as I felt that it added depth to the story and jolted things at those moments when the narrative slowed to a crawl.

As many have already ready, the pace of the book is not swift, by any means. However, there are times when a slowly reveal permits the reader some time to develop a connection to the story, its characters, and the subtleties of the overall narrative. Jane Harper did well with this and kept the reader guessing until the final reveal. Tasmania may be a small part of Australia, but it comers to life in this piece, with wonderful depictions and narrative flourishes. Harper keeps the reader moving along in the slow pace of the story with a mix of chapter lengths and strong moments of self-reflection. I cannot wait to see what else Jane Harper has in the works, as there is never a let down when her name appears on the cover.

Kudos, Madam Harper, for another winner. I cannot wait to see what others feel about this piece as well, since it is sure to garner some great discussions.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I have read all of Harper's novels and they have all been excellent and THE SURVIVORS was no exception. Like THE LOST MAN, Harper focuses on family relationships that have curdled from secrets and lies. THE SURVIVORS takes place in a small seaside town and Harper creates such vivid imagery that I could smell the salt in the air. Shanahan is also a great narrator - his Aussie accent also creates a sense of place. Wonderful book!

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for the opportunity to listen to the ARC of Jane Harper’s newest mystery.

Stephen Shanahan expertly voices our protagonist, Kieran, as he visits his small Tasmanian hometown of Evelyn Bay where we find his mother struggling to juggle packing up the family home whilst dealing with his fathers downward spiral with dementia. Kieran returns with his wife and newborn daughter and the weight of a decade long bought of grief and guilt surrounding the death of his older brother, Finn.

The story slowly unwinds as we follow Kieran and his high school mates as the body of an out-of-town waitress is found on the beach bringing the events from ‘The Storm’ back to light. As always, Harper is a magician with her use of imagery bringing the scenery to life in such a way that I could almost feel the ocean breeze and smell the sea salt from my very landlocked home.

This book will have you trying to solve the current case and the mystery of The Storm - you both love and suspect each character as the events unravel.

I had a problem to listen to this audiobook, maybe it was an acent of the reader or maybe it was just the story line. I will try to read the phisical book later on.