Kieran Elliott arrives.back to Evelyn Bay, a seaside town in Tasmania, with his girlfriend Mia and baby Audrey. He is there to help his Mum Verity move is father Brian into a home due to his dementia.

While he is there a young art student's body is found on the.baeach.and it brinngs back memories for both Kieran and Mia of a tragic accident a few years ago in which Kíeran's brother had lost his life.

The drabness and greyness of an seaside town off-season and it's inhabtants are captured perfectly in this book. The characters and the mundane lives of the townspeople that centres around the summer tourist season are well written. Especially Kíeran's parents as they cope with his father's dementia.

For me, however, the slow plot led to an underwheming end after a struggle to get through it. A page turner it wasn't.

DNF at 25%- im not sure why i couldnt get on with this book,ive read all of Jane Harpers other books and really enjoyed them but with this one i really struggled to distinguish between the characters and it made following the story impossible from me, i didnt no the difference between Ciaran, Liam and Sean (sorry if those are spelt wrong i was listening to the audio) Maybe it just wasnt for it and thats ok, i dont want it to reflect badly on the author so i wont be rating this book on Goodreads

"...suddenly, something new snagged deep in Kieran's mind. No. Not ned. Different. A dogged feeling that he was missing something tugged at him. Kieran stared into the night and forced himself to think it was the same sensation he'd had earlier that day, down on the beach with Pendlebury. He closed his eyes and tried to focus, but the idea was like water, slipping through his fingers."

Kieran Elliot returns to his childhood home, a small Tasmanian coastal town, fictional Evelyn Bay, to help his mother pack to move, because his father has dementia. He brings girlfriend Mia and baby daughter Audrey. It's hard for Kieran, feeling responsible for the death of his brother, Finn and family friend Tony, at sea 12 years ago, when they came to rescue him. The town is still wounded by the loss of the men and 14 year old school girl Gabby, who was never found. Yet Kieran is still drawn to the dangerous caves and 'The Survivors' statues, which mark the site. When incomer, student and local waitress Bree is found murdered on the beach, it stirs up the past and secrets begin to surface. Who knows more than they are saying?

Suffused with the Tasmania coast, its communities and wildlife, Harper brings it all to life. The central characters leap from the page and the supporting cast are authentic, also well-drawn. It's hard not to feel for Kieran and the tremendous guilt he carries. A tight and well-planned plot kept me turning the digital pages, keen to know what happened all those years ago and how it was linked to the current murder investigation. I enjoyed the setting and the large number of potential suspects from the community. The dead woman trope, however sensitively handled is not new however well written. Read this for a murder mystery in a small community burdened by secrets and regrets.

Slow burn but utterly engrossing character driven mystery. As with all the best mystery novels, it’s the character’s internal struggles mirrored by the external reality which really sells the story and Harper has created something believable and poignant.

I struggled with this book a little, I think I misinterpreted the blurb and it wasn't really something I could get into. It was excellently written but did take me a while to read. I just couldn't seem to sit down and really get into the book and read it, I kept stopping and starting.

On saying that, I would recommend to someone who liked this genre.

Thank you Jane and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!

Having read The Dry by Jane Harper, I was excited to read this latest book. It certainly didn't disappoint. Set in Tasmania, the story is about a small seaside community which suffered a major storm 12 years ago. 2 men drowned and a teenage girl disappeared without trace. Kieran's brother was one of the dead men and he has never got over his part in the tragedy. Now, while he and his family are visiting his parents, a young woman is found murdered on the beach. This is a great page turner, full of interesting characters. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Jane’s books, but I think The Survivors is my favorite one so far. Excellent characterization, great sense of place, and a well thought out plot made this a gem of a book. I couldn’t tear myself away from it when I was reading, eager to find out about both present and past events. Thoroughly gripping, I thought The Survivors was brilliant.

A fascinating story focused around events that happened in a small, close knit community. I found it a convincing read as it showed the real power of the sea and what can happen if you are not observant. kieran, his partner and baby daughter returned to the area to help his parents, but were caught up in events both present and those that happened in the past.

This is a story about several tragic, premature deaths in a small town called Evelyn Bay, Tasmania. Harper masterfully recreates that claustrophobic 'small' town existence, when everyone seems to know everyone and their business, yet behind every curtain there are hidden secrets and lies being told. The story starts with the return of Keiran Elliott to his hometown, accompanied by his girlfriend, Mia and their baby, Audrey. We soon learn that Kieran's family have never really moved on from the unexpected death in mysterious circumstance of Kieran's beloved brother Finn.
Bronte, a visiting student, is found dead on the beach within hours of Kieran's return and as the investigation of her death begins, so many 'skeletons' in the town's closet are revealed. How is the death of this young girl connected to the unexplained disappearance of another young girl twenty years earlier? The novel introduces new characters to the town who seem to offer potential answers to this mystery, but just as quickly facts are revealed which thrown the light of suspicion on many others within the town.
This books kept me guessing right until the end with lots of twists and unexpected revelations. I thought the characters were wonderfully portrayed, all being unique and flawed and, well, human!

I loved that it is set on the coastline and the sea is used as an ever-brooding malicious presence hinting at hidden secrets and underlying deceptions. Wonderful writing - I was desperate to get to the end and watch the messy situation be revealed.

I very much enjoyed this intriguing, gentle thriller. The author managed to build interest throughout the book leading to a surprising conclusion.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having previously read Harper’s very enjoyable The Dry I was eager to read this new tale, and I was not disappointed. At all.

This time the author has swapped a scorched outback community as a backdrop for a coastal squally Tasmanian harbour town where old secrets, having festered for too many years, are about to be unearthed, whilst a modern mystery plays out.

Keiran returns with his partner Mia and baby Audrey to their hometown of Evelyn Bay. When he was 18, tragedy struck in the town during a violent storm and three young people perished. Keiran had long since accepted his guilt for his part in the events but coming home brings memories and feelings bubbling to the surface, as he encounters old friends and grieving family members.

Shortly after they arrive, the body of a young woman is found on the beach and during the investigation that follows, questions are asked not only about this current situation but also about the unfortunate incident 12 years previously.

This is a great story. Just as with The Dry, Jane Harper uses the descriptions of the area to great effect, with the stormy sea adding to the turbulent history of the town where necessary. I found this an easy book to get into and became quickly invested in what happened to Keiran years ago as much as wanting to solve the modern day murder.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown for an ARC in exchange for this review

My Thanks to Netgalley and publishers Little John for an ARC of this latest novel by one of my favourite authors, Jane Harper. Again set in the author’s native Australia, this time we are in a small seaside town, right on the beach on Tasmania.. Our core characters are a group of friends, now adults. Who grew up there. Kieran and Mia, now residents of Sydney, have returned with their baby daughter Audrey, to help his parents pack up the family home in readiness for a move. The young couple are reacquainted with their old friends who have not moved away. There is a great feel of a small Australian sea side town. I know that bar, The surf and Turf or one very like it. I’ve been fortunate to have stayed in a cabin attached to just such a place and I was taken straight back there in spirit.

The Survivors of the title has a double meaning. Most obviously it’s the large metal statue of a man, woman and child fixed to the rocks near the caves, put there to commemorate a terrible shipwreck. At high tide, the statue is submerged by the sea and at low tide it stands proud and clear for all to see.. On the secondary and most important level, the survivors are the group of friends and their families who all lost loved ones to the sea in a horrendous storm fifteen years previously. This is a story of that event and how they coped in the intervening years. It’s also about the present-day murder of a young student, working at the bar for the summer whilst developing her portfolio of artwork. The two tragedies are somehow linked. We are offered many red herrings and the clues are all there, but I’m afraid that I didn’t pick them up.

The story style is similar to that of “The Lost Man” but not as powerful. In previous books, Jane Harper has shown us what she is capable and we have come to expect that exceptionally high standard every time. That’s not fair. For any other author, this would be a five star novel on the atmosphere and sense of place alone even if the story is a bit slow and lacking in tension. But attempted passages of heightened drama just didn’t work for me, as in the diving on the wreck scene. We are given an emotional rather than a high tension, thrill ending. But that said, I enjoyed the book and look forward to Jane Harper’s next novel.

I'll be honest - as a reviewer should be - I'm finding this book a real slog, and I@m not sure I have the enthusiasm to finish it. I so enjoyed Harper's forst novel The Dry, but this is - well, dry. It's very slow, with past events hinted at, obviously to tese the reader into continuing if only to find out What Happened. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that I dont actually care what happened twelvev yeras ago, or who did what now, in the present. Maybe I'll go back to it - in twelve years...

With the publication of 'The Dry' in 2016, Australian writer Jane Harper established herself as one of the most masterful thriller writers I have read in recent decades. In Federal Agent Aaron Falk, Harper created an extremely memorable fictional protagonist and it was perhaps no surprise that he went on to feature in her subsequent novel, 'Force of Nature'. With this novel, Harper proves she is equally good at writing stand-alone novels. This one is set not in the Australian outback, but on the wild, untamed coast of Tasmania where protagonist Kieran Elliott and his brother Finn grew up and where is family suffered an unbelievable tragedy in the loss of Finn.
Years later, Kieran returns for a visit to the place where his parents still live, bringing with him his young family. It is during their stay that the coastal community is rocked by another crime, with a body discovered on the beach.
As in her earlier novels, Jane Harper expertly brings her vibrant Australian setting to life for her readers. Harper is equally skilled at creating a cast of memorable, idiosyncratic characters whose individual life stories, hopes and secrets are gradually revealed as the novel heads towards its climax that revolves around resolving the latest crime, and shedding light on the circumstances of Finn Elliott’s loss. As compelling a read as her earlier novels, this thriller, and its Tasmanian setting, will remain in your memory long after you have closed the book.
I was delighted to be provided a free e-book from NetGalley and the publishers of "The Survivors" in exchange for this honest, unbiased review.

Kieran returns to his home town in coastal Australia to help his elderly parents move house, and finds his past coming back to haunt him. As a teenager, his actions triggered a terrible accident at sea in which his brother and the brother of his close friend drowned. Now a young woman has been found dead, and both he and his childhood friends come under suspicion. Kieran must face his demons- and find some answers. An intriguing, intelligent mystery story that keeps the tension racked up, it is also a powerful exploration of guilt, blame and forgiveness. Another winner from Harper.

Another brilliant novel from one of my favorite Australian authors. Jane Harper has a deft touch when it comes to dramas wrapped tightly in personal struggles that, more often than not, involve a dead body or two. There's nothing like murder to dig up long buried secrets in a close-knit community, and here, in Evelyn Bay, Tasmania, that is the case. With the return of adult Kieran to his childhood home, he is reminded of the guilt he has carried for 12 years after an accident left scars on the town that have not healed.

What makes Jane Harper novels such tried and true gripping reads, for me, is the subtle baring of souls and the tender examination of the reasons behind fear, guilt, anger and the ill effects that often come as a result of such strong emotion. It is the gentle peeling of each layer, like an onion skin, that brings the story into the light. Rarely is it harsh and abrupt, like a punch to the face, but more a thoughtful examination of feelings, reactions and piecing together of the facts known at the time that eventually blend to expose the murderer and the dark reasoning behind the resultant death. It's a magical effect that makes the final reveal a touching one rather than one of, 'ah ha, gotcha'. Beautifully done here.

The past casts long shadows into the future

Jane Harper is always an absorbing read, and The Survivors is no exception, even though I didn’t find myself AS hooked by this as I have been by her other books. It isn’t that her writing is any less powerful, but this, set in a coastal Tasmanian resort, felt less alien a landscape than those set in the harsh Australian landscapes such as The Dry

Harper writes compellingly about landscape, indeed, geography and place almost become unique characters themselves, and of course shape the lives of the people living within their place and time. With her other books, it is the very alien quality of the environment which is so mesmeric and powerful.

As I read The Survivors, I couldn’t stop translating the setting to some of the wilder parts of the Cornish Coast, which attract die-hard surfers, so I missed that sense of strangeness.

As ever, Harper deals with themes which transcend the characters she is writing about. Here, guilt, misplaced or not, and how something which happened (or didn’t happen) to an adolescent might end up poisoning their whole lives, and the lives of others.

There is a very compelling ‘Prologue’ and a wonderful unspooling of its meaning, as the story later unfolds, quite different from what the reader assumes. Harper pulls the rugs of the readers’ expectations from under their feet, without this seeming a contrivance

Another great book from Jane Harper. This is the second book of hers that I have read. I really thought she brought the seaside town in Tasmania to life. It tells the story of Kieran and Mia and their daughter Audrey as they return to the town of Evelyn Bay to assist Kieran's parents in sorting out their house.

Kieran holds onto guilt as his brother Finn died along with his best friend. Then a girl is found dead on the beach and this draws parallels to what happened all those years ago as a girl went missing and was never found.

It seems that there is an easy guess on who might have killed the girl in the present day but all is not what it seems and I didn't predict the ending at all.

Set in Tasmania, this is a slow burning novel about loss,, grief and guilt. Kieran has retuned to his home town with his wife Mia and daughter Audrey. His parents are about to move - his dad into a care home and his mum to a nearby flat - and they are there to help with the move.. While they are there a young woman Bronte is found dead on the beach and this brings back memories of what happened ten years previously during the worst storm to ever hit the island when three young people died.

This took me a long time to read because I found it hard to engage with. Nothing happened for what seemed to be a long time, then the dead girl was found and it got moving. A little. But then we are immersed in lots of red herrings about who might be guilty and why and after a while I realised I didn't care. There were a few loose ends that weren't; tied up and that too is frustrating. And the ending was very abrupt.

Overall I didn't rate this book. The characters were one dimensional, I got no sense of the setting, we could have been anywhere. Nothing seemed to distinguish it as being Tasmanian. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Overall it is interesting book for those who loved mystery and drama. It can't be in thriller genre. No suspend feelings in there.

For me, it is a bit slow. You have to get through some dramas then you can related to the mystery happened surrounds them. It is a so-so to me in the end.