The New York Times - Janet Maslin
[Ms. Harper] has jampacked her swift debut thriller with sneaky moves that the reader has to track with care…[She] throws out so many teasing possibilities that it's hard to believe this is her first novel. And even harder to believe that she learned to write fiction via a literary agency's online writing course. (She had already been a print journalist for more than a decade.) One trick the course clearly taught her was a basic of the crime genre: Make sure that nothing is what it looks like at first sight…The Dry is a breathless page-turner…
Publishers Weekly
★ 07/11/2016
At the start of Australian author Harper’s devastating debut, Melbourne-based federal agent Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown, Kiewarra, for three funerals—those of popular school aid Karen Hadler; her six-year-old son, Billy; and her husband, Luke, Aaron’s childhood best friend. Luke apparently murdered Karen and Billy before turning the shotgun on himself. Falk knows better than anyone that his charismatic mate may have had a darker side—two decades earlier as teens they gave each other bogus alibis for the afternoon of high school crush Ellie Deacon’s suspicious death by drowning. When Luke’s brokenhearted parents beg Falk to investigate, he can’t refuse. But as Falk begins digging with the help of recently arrived Sgt. Greg Raco, including looking into a possible connection to the earlier tragedy, he swiftly discovers that a badge may not protect him from a town driven to the brink. From the ominous opening paragraphs, all the more chilling for their matter-of-factness, Harper, a journalist who writes for Melbourne’s Herald Sun, spins a suspenseful tale of sound and fury as riveting as it is horrific. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
"Debut author Jane Harper's fine prose and narrator Steven Shanahan's expert delivery combine for a transcendent Australian noir experience."
-AudioFile Magazine
"The setting is so extraordinarily vivid that the overwhelming heat and dusty dryness are almost palpable. This, along with the skillful turns of the plot, make the novel outstanding... the choice of a distinctly Australian reader to tell the story adds to its reality. His semi-voiced, crisp. deliberate speech reflects the mood and authenticity of this audio experience." -SoundCommentary.com
"...narrator Stephan Shanahan’s Australian accent is making me consider jumping ship to audio for the rest of the books!" -BookRiot
“Harper’s devastating debut…spins a suspenseful tale of sound and fury as riveting as it is horrific.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred and boxed review
"One of the most stunning debuts I've ever read. I could feel the searing heat of the Australia setting. Every word is near perfect. The story builds like a wave seeking the purchase of earth before it crashes down and wipes out everything you might have thought about this enthralling tale. Read it!"
—David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guilty
“A stunner…It’s a small-town, big-secrets page-turner with a shocker of an ending…Recommend this one to fans of James Lee Burke and Robert Crais, who mix elements of “bromance” into their hard-boiled tales.”
—Booklist, starred review
"With The Dry, Jane Harper immediately takes her place among the elites in the mystery world. If this book doesn't garner an Edgar (Best First Novel) or two (Best Novel), there is no justice. Terrific characters, unique and evocative setting, knockout plot construction. This book has it all."
—John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of The Fall
"It’s extremely rare and exciting to read a debut that enthralls from the very first page and then absolutely sticks the landing. Told with heart and guts and an authentic sense of place that simply cannot be faked, The Dry is the debut of the year.”
—C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Off The Grid
"Every so often a debut novel arrives that is so tightly woven and compelling it seems the work of a novelist in her prime. That's what Jane Harper has given us with The Dry, a story so true to setting and tone it seemed I fell asleep in Virginia only to wake in Australian heat. It's rare, that sense of transportation, and I loved every minute of it. Thank you, Jane Harper."
—John Hart, New York Times bestselling author of Redemption Road
“From the first paragraph onward, Jane Harper creates a menacing landscape out of which long-held secrets emerge.The Dry is a marvelous novel that once begun is hard to put down, once finished even harder to forget.”
—Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena
“You will feel the heat, taste the dust and blink into the glare. The Dry is a wonderful crime novel that shines a light into the darkest corner of a sunburnt country.”
—Michael Robotham, New York Times bestselling author of Life or Death
“Every now and then an Australian crime novel comes along to stop your breath and haunt your dreams…There is about The Dry something mythic and valiant. This a story about heroism, the sins of the past, and the struggle to atone.”
—Sydney Morning Herald
“A razor-sharp crime yarn dripping in the sights, sounds and smells of the Australian bush…The storytelling is accomplished, with a bald sparseness to the writing that draws you in and characterization that rings resoundingly true…as the action twists and turns, the pace build[s] to a fantastic finale that will leave you breathless.”
—Australian Women’s Weekly
“A tightly plotted page-turner that kept me reading well into the night…Harper shines a light on the highs and lows of rural life – the loyalty born of collective endurance in adversity, as well as the loneliness and isolation, and the havoc wrought by small-town gossip. She also explores the nature of guilt and regret, and the impact of the past on the present. In this cracker of a book Harper maintains the suspense, with the momentum picking up as it draws to its nerve-wracking conclusion.”
—Australian Financial Review
“The Dry is a page-turner written with a maturity of style rarely seen in a first-time novelist and it’s here the writer excels. Harper’s exploration of the pressures of a small town where people are not able to escape the past is thoughtful and mature. Her plot twists and layering are intricate and subtle and keep you guessing to the end while the townspeople grow on you despite their dirty secrets.”
—The West Australian
Library Journal
11/15/2016
When Luke Hader and his family are found shot to death at their farm near the small town of Kiewarra, the locals presume it to be a murder-suicide, the desperate act of a man pushed to the brink by financial woes caused by the area's two-year drought. Luke's father is not convinced, though, and asks Aaron Falk, once Luke's best friend and now a police officer in Melbourne, to investigate. But as Aaron probes the case, he faces hostility from the townspeople who remember that 20 years ago he had been a teenage suspect in the drowning death of a young girl; what saved him from being charged were the alibis Luke and Aaron had given each other—alibis that some residents know were lies. Winner of the 2015 Victorian Premier Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, this first novel by a former journalist was an Australian best seller, but despite the critical acclaim it has received, this work fails on many fronts as a mystery: slow, tedious pacing; poor character development; lack of suspense or surprise (readers can spot the culprit and plot twist a mile away). VERDICT Because of the advance hype, crime fiction fans will want this, but steer disappointed readers to Peter Temple's superior The Broken Shore, which offers a more authentic portrait of small-town Australia. [See Prepub Alert, 7/25/16; library marketing.]—Wilda Williams, Library Journal
JANUARY 2017 - AudioFile
Debut author Jane Harper’s fine prose and narrator Stephen Shanahan’s expert delivery combine for a transcendent Australian noir experience. Against the backdrop of a devastating two-year drought, federal agent Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for the funeral of his childhood friend, Luke Hadler. Luke has apparently killed his family and then himself, but Falk’s own investigation starts to unravel the murder-suicide theory. From the opening sentence of this compelling mystery, Shanahan’s accent and speech patterns immerse listeners in the Australian countryside. He also consistently sprinkles in little touches—a stifled yawn, a burp after a swig of beer, a nasally voice for a man with a broken nose—that breathe vivid life into the story and characters. A.T.N. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-09-26
A mystery that starts with a sad homecoming quickly turns into a nail-biting thriller about family, friends, and forensic accounting.Federal agent Aaron Falk is called back to his rural Australian hometown for the funeral of his best friend, Luke, who apparently committed suicide after killing his wife and 6-year-old son; he’s also called to reckon with his own past. Falk and his father were run out of town when he was accused of killing his girlfriend. Luke gave him an alibi, but more than one person in town knows he was lying. When Luke’s parents ask Falk to find the truth, long-buried secrets begin to surface. Debut author Harper plots this novel with laser precision, keeping suspects in play while dropping in flashbacks that offer readers a full understanding of what really happened. The setting adds layers of meaning. Kiewarra is suffering an epic drought, and Luke’s suicide could easily be explained by the failure of his farm. The risk of wildfire, especially in a broken community rife with poverty and alcoholism, keeps nerves strung taut. Falk's focus as an investigator is on following the money; nobody in town really understands his job, but his phone number turns up on a scrap of paper belonging to Luke’s late wife, a woman he’d never met. The question throughout is whether Luke’s death is something a CSI of spreadsheets can unravel or if it’s a matter of bad blood from times past finally having reached the boiling point. Falk struggles to separate the two and let his own old grudges go. A fellow investigator chastises him: “You’re staring so hard at the past that it’s blinding you.” A chilling story set under a blistering sun, this fine debut will keep readers on edge and awake long past bedtime.
