Force of Nature: A Novel

A generally satisfying crime story, with two narrative strands. The first one centres on a group of five women setting out on a teamwork three day experience in dense bushland, also the site of serial murders some time in the past. Five set out, but only four return. The second strand follows the search for the missing woman and two federal police are involved because they are investigating possible money laundering in the company the women work for.
The truth is revealed in flashbacks about the women in the bush.These alternate with chapters on the search and investigation as it unfolds.
I enjoyed the story for the competent writing and characterisation, although there felt like too many issues being faced by the characters. These included a dysfunctional father-son relationship, drug abuse and court problems, sibling rivalry and teenagers, one beset by bullying and now anorexic and the other at the centre of sexting images gone public.
Apart from feeling there were too many issues-everyone seemed to have a problem or two-I enjoyed the book as a well-organised, very readable crime story.

The story did have some unexpected twists, but, I had trouble with the group being lost and untraceable. Surely a commercial hiking “adventure” company would send a guide with the groups, or, make the groups carry emergency beacons or other safety equipment for emergencies.

Loved the plot, not the writing. There were many eye roll/predictable moments and a few twists. I found character descriptions to be lacking/selective as well as the description for surroundings. I could not connect but did finish the book.

After reading Harper’s first novel, In The Dry, I was excited to read her second book. However, it was not up to the same level as her first book. It took a long ways into the book before anything even remotely exciting happened. I was so bored I barely made it past halfway but I kept going. The ending is a good one but she could’ve done ALOT more to make this book exciting. I feel like it was a half done job to quickly release a second book after her first. Quite disappointed. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. There are a lot better books you could spend your money on.

It was a good read, had suspense guessing who killed Alice. Detective Falk gained a new and better perspective on life. All of them learned from the experience, but why would a business send them on such a trip when they were not quite all beginners.

This psychological thriller/ police procedural is part two in the critically acclaimed best seller, "The Dry."

SUMMARY
Aaron Faulk, detective with the Melbourne Police financial crimes division receives a cryptic late night call from an informant. He is unable to answer the call and unable to understand the cryptic voicemail left on his phone. Then when he realizes that she is missing, she did not return from a company retreat in a very rough mountain range, he and his partner become involved in the search and try to piece together what went wrong.

Remember the fun stuff you did at summer camp? When you were a boy scout or a campfire girl? Bass fishing at the lake? Sightseeing in the national park? What can be more enjoyable than sitting around a bonfire toasting marshmallows, roasting hot dogs, and telling ghost stories on a warm, moon-lit summer night? Singing "Home on the Range," "Good-bye Old Paint," and other traditional favorites. Hiking the trail, canoeing, spying wild animals in their natural habitats through your binoculars. How peaceful and serene it all seemed!
Or, perhaps, you went out to a scenic secluded spot in a remote recreational area just so you and your best buddies could drink beer and listen to the music on a newly installed AM FM stereo radio-CD player played really loud, without disturbing anyone outside a radius of about two city blocks, while you listened to "Dark Side of the Moon." You thought about installing a C.B. radio underneath the dashboard as well, but you were twenty-one, on a limited budget, didn't really need one, and couldn't afford one anyway.
Now someone is thinking how the world has changed so very rapidly and dramatically, how nothing can ever really be the same as it once was. He probably thinks how he has more survival skills in his little pinky finger than all of the corporate executives combined gone fishing, hiking, bird-watching, or relaxing in their easy chairs, seated in friendly, comfortable surroundings, drinking aperitifs and telling jokes at the lodge for the duration of their long lost week-end in the national forest have in their whole bodies.
He wanted to re-live the wonder years of his youth, so he volunteered as an active participant in the next corporate retreat to the great outdoors. The destination is none other than the incredible Outback of "Crocodile Dundee's" Australian wilderness. This is the gist of the novel, Force of Nature, written by Jane Harper, published in 2017. The story becomes very interesting quite quickly. As suspense-filled and intriguing as the question I just made up is loaded: "Being strictly vegetarians, what were you able to survive on besides bush-meat?"
An avid book reader, one has a great tendency to look for the moral in the story--even if there doesn't appear to be one at first glance. For this particular book, although "laughter is not necessarily the best medicine," having slightly modified the title of the "Readers Digest" periodical column, one might offer the aphorism, "He who laughs last, laughs best" as an alternative. But that's not right either. What transpires on their trip is no laughing matter.
All right. So I ask myself a simple rhetorical question, "What is the story about then?" The answer which immediately comes to mind is obviously too vague, and more of a riddle than an answer, but here goes anyway: "Close to, but not exactly the last desperate act of a dying man, going off the deep end in the secretarial pool, drowning in massive corporate debt." Indeed, such a blanket statement could be grossly misleading and quite plainly wrong.
Upon further reflection, perhaps wanting to revise my interpretation of the book altogether, I'm reminded of two basic bits of advice that any dedicated careerist may have heard repeated over the years: "Don't take your work home with you." and "Don't bring your personal problems to work."
Okay. That was another tangential point of departure for the rational thought process of an eccentric individual who obviously enjoys analyzing a promising work of fiction.
Trying again. The story is actually about a couple of federal investigators who endeavor to solve a stunningly serious, heinous, vexing and perplexing crime. This fact alone makes reading the book worthwhile. You can often tell from the first few pages that it's going to be a good novel from the rhythm and pace of the writing by an experienced investigative reporter and competent police detective.
R. Royce was deeply concerned that his ten-year-old niece might have become overly shy, withdrawn, and introverted spending so much of her time in front of a computer. He thought she needed a healthy and beneficial opportunity to break out of her shell, so to speak. Just before the upcoming Fourth of July week-end, he drove his brother Lehman and his daughter Lou Ellen to the lake one day to see if anyone was catching any fish. On the way, Lehman noticed that a fireworks stand was open for business and Royce stopped to let him buy some sparklers and firecrackers to liven up the outing a bit. All well and good. The two of them enjoyed the flashy, flaming noisemakers immensely, but Royce was not overly enthusiastic or satisfied by these less than impressive results. After they had their fun with the fireworks, the trio drove through the camp ground at the second spillway from the dam at the posted speed limit of 5 mph. Royce had an inspiration, then, wondering if the people they saw were sufficiently enjoying their vacations. He rolled down his window and got the attention of the first group of people they met, seated around a picnic table next to a smoking barbecuer. He began chatting with him for a moment. He discovered that the family lived in Tulsa and were camping at the lake for the holiday week-end. When they drove on further, he asked Lehman and Lou Ellen if they could tell whether the other people they saw along the way, were also on vacation, or not. His brother played along and said, "I can't really tell at all. I think that you have to stop and ask them in person if you want to be absolutely certain whether they are on vacation or just out swimming for the afternoon."
"Let's see if we can find any happy campers," Royce said. He braked to a complete stop beside the very next campsite and suggested to Lou Ellen, "Why don't you roll down your window and ask?"
Bravely, fearlessly, she rapidly rolled down the car window. She leaned out of the window and inquired of the first person she met who was standing nearby, "Are you a happy camper?"
"I am definitely a happy camper," the dashing young fellow replied, cheerfully and enthusiastically, a boy of her age and temperament, in his high-altitude jeans. "My family and friends are going to be here for the long week-end. We've already been fishing and swimming. Later on, we're going water skiing. Our boat and trailer is over there by the picnic table. Mom is grilling frankfurters for lunch. Want a soda?" The flood-gates had opened with his reply.
"No, thanks. Are you going to see the fireworks show tonight?" she asked, hopefully. She had come out of her shell in no time at all. They had no need of great concern. The two of them were after all, cousins. She would meet several more at the family reunion, planned well in advance, especially for this auspicious occasion. Distant relatives would be arriving soon from Wichita.

"Force of Nature" (FN) is Jane Harper's second book following her very successful debut with "The Dry", also featuring Australian Federal Police officer Aaron Falk. This time Falk is assisted by fellow investigator Carmen, also 38 and single. They are assigned to a financial crimes unit and have been pursuing a money laundering case. Suddenly, a spanner is tossed into the works - their secret source is one of five women gone missing while on their company's executive training course in a nature reserve outside Melbourne. Hours later, four of the women arrive at their ultimate destination. Guess who is missing.

From this point, Harper tells her story in a very interesting fashion - flashback chapters of critical moments throughout the women's journey interspersed with the rescue efforts to find all of them. I hesitate to use the word "flashback" because it is such an overused device but clearly the story of FN could not be told any other way and still achieve the ever-increasing levels of tension this excellent book delivers.

And the financial investigation slowly and deliciously morphs into something entirely different. The story is loaded with sub-plots, all very interesting, all hopping back and forth. But not so difficult nor so twisted as to be impossible to follow. The characters are all well developed, the dialog flows very naturally and the prose is excellent. I particularly enjoyed a bit of a respite from all the tension when Aaron extends a last minute invitation to grab a bite at his nearby apartment. As she enters his rather spartan digs, she quickly deducts the salient points of his entire life history, and soon is given an opportunity to share her analysis. A great scene.

I have no major criticisms of FN - only tiny ones here and there. For example, I thought that the five women, once on their own in the woods and somewhat insecure rather quickly and frequently got very aggressive with each other, including punching, scratching, hair pulling. And this executive training course was very different from anything I had been exposed to in the USA; I didn't quite see how it would result in enhancing team building skills. But maybe that's the way things are done down under.

I recommend "Force of Nature" highly and look forward to Aaron #3.