The Dry (Aaron Falk, #1) in Audiobook Junkies

Feb 19, 2017 Eadie Burke rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2017

This book was set in rural Australia during a drought. Jane Harper has created a novel with great sense of place as I could actually feel the heat and dust in my throat while reading The Dry. The characters were believable and I especially loved the interaction between Falk and Raco, the two police investigators. The excellent plot moved very well with great use of flashbacks for telling the back story from 20 years ago. There were many twists and turns that kept me changing my mind about who th ...more

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Jul 31, 2019 Kathy Martin rated it it was amazing

Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his rural small town for the first time in twenty years for the funeral of his childhood friend Luke. He probably wouldn't have come if not for the pressure and threat from Luke's father.

Luke and his father left town for Melbourne after the drowning death of Ellie Deacon. He, Luke, Ellie, and Gretchen Schoner were good friends but the relationships between them all were changing as they reached their teen years. Luke was the charismatic but also thoughtless l Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his rural small town for the first time in twenty years for the funeral of his childhood friend Luke. He probably wouldn't have come if not for the pressure and threat from Luke's father.

Luke and his father left town for Melbourne after the drowning death of Ellie Deacon. He, Luke, Ellie, and Gretchen Schoner were good friends but the relationships between them all were changing as they reached their teen years. Luke was the charismatic but also thoughtless leader, Luke the more thoughtful follower, Ellie the troubled teen who might have been abused by her family, and Gretchen was the new member of the group.

When Ellie's body was found, suspicions were that she was murdered rather than dying by suicide. And a cryptic note with the word Falk on it pointed the finger at Aaron or his father. Luke and Aaron agree to say that they were together when Ellie died despite the fact that they were not. Aaron has never been able to get Luke to tell him where he really was. Ellie's father was a powerful man in the area who wasn't above playing mean tricks to get advantage over his neighbors. He and his nephew were instrumental in building suspicions toward the Falks.

Aaron wonders if Luke's death - another apparent suicide - after he murdered his wife and six-year-old son didn't have some roots in the past. Of course, there are plenty of current reasons for the deaths too. His farm is failing after years of the worst drought in Australia's history.

Aaron coming back resurrects all the old issues from the time when Ellie died. Her father is suffering from dementia but hasn't lost any of his meanness. And Ellie's cousin Grant Dow is more than willing to point suspicion at Aaron too.

Aaron teams up with the new cop in town to look into the deaths even though he would much rather leave the town and the events of the past as soon as he can. Their investigation digs up lots of secrets about a number of the residents.

I really enjoyed this thriller. The writing was excellent and the descriptions of an area unknown to me made me feel like I was there. The story had multiple twists and turns. I liked the flashbacks to the time of Ellie's death which helped build the story and fill in some of the details. ...more

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Dec 17, 2022 Anne - Books of My Heart rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, coyer, library, 2022, library22

I loved the setting of Australia. We have a murder mystery with a Federal financial agent going back to his home town for a funeral of an old friend. There's the current mystery of his friend & family and then the 20 year old death of Ellie.

COYER buddy read with Berls who rated it 3.5 ...more

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