This is another fantastic read by Jane Harper - I love her books! I get totally drawn into her characters and really care about them. This one, set in Tasmania, one of my favourite places rang so true with small town ways and secrets from the past. Things that happened are never forgotten - I will say no more because if you are a fan of Jane Harper then you will know how tightly woven her stories are - absolutely worth the read!

Jane Harper deserves to win awards when her books are as good as this. With Australia such a key character in all of her books this no exception with Evelyn Bay a small coastal town until the tourists arrive. When Kieran arrives home for the first time in a long time old memories resurface and then when the body of a waitress is found the day after he meets her he gets sucked into the investigations and we find out about his tragic past and which locals are slow to forget. Can solving this unearth old clues and is he in danger an absolutely gripping read that I couldn’t put down. I’m so grateful for books like this that can transport away from reality.

This is the first book I have read by this author.
I would describe the book as more if a story about a man who survived a tragedy and is attempting to come to terms with his past rather than a mystery.
It is an atmospheric story with its descriptions of the bay and the gloomy nature of the story. I found it enjoyable and would recommend it

There’s something about small town mysteries that gets my pulse racing just that little bit faster and past experience has taught me that Jane Harper is one of those authors who nails this particular setting seemingly without even trying.

In The Survivors, we find ourselves in Evelyn Bay, a small beachside community in Tasmania. Despite Evelyn Bay being near the ocean, with vast unimpeded views toward the horizon, it feels extremely claustrophobic. It’s a place I personally would want to escape from as quickly as possible and never return to. The kind of place where everyone knows what you’ve had for breakfast before you’ve even ordered it. The kind of place where everyone and their dog knows your business. So how is it that in a town where everyone knows everyone else, where everyone apparently knows everything, decade old questions remain unanswered?

These questions are centred around a day that ended with a sunken wreck and a missing girl. Events that have haunted Kieran since the day they happened. It is the reason why he doesn’t like returning to this community, even though his parents and friends are still here. Until now. His timing couldn’t have even worse. Everything starts with the discovery of a body on the beach. This suspicious death may just cause all those long-held secrets to rise to the surface.

The Survivors is very much an atmospheric character-driven slow-burner and Jane Harper does indeed once again bring this unhurried small town community to life as brilliantly as she always does. Yet, I’m struggling with this review because at times I also struggled with the book and I can’t quite explain why. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I also often felt the pace seemed to lag and I needed it to pick up. This was especially the case in the first half, even if that was necessary to introduce the characters to the reader. I was put off by the sheer miserableness of the Evelyn Bay residents, even though I kind of understood where they were coming from. A lot of the conversations felt somewhat clunky and unconvincing.

Now of course, all of that could obviously just be me and this horrible reading mood I’ve been in for the last few months and I’m just incredibly hard to please these days. But all in all, The Survivors didn’t quite grab me as much as Jane Harper’s previous novels have done. The writing is brilliant as always, the setting pulled me in effortlessly and the mystery of both events affecting Evelyn Bay had me guessing until the very end. But something was lacking for me this time around and I didn’t feel The Survivors was up to par with Jane Harper’s previous novels. This in no way puts me off reading her next novel when it publishes though. Overall then, slightly disappointed, I suppose. But also more than willing to put the blame with me and my fickle mood and not the author. 😂

I ended up DNF'ing this book about 10% in. I didn't care about the characters at all and was completely bored with the plot and not intrigued enough to carry on to find out who the killer was unfortunately. A shame, because I really loved The Dry by Jane Harper which I read last year. I will try something else from her though.

Kieran Elliott returns to Evelyn Bay, where he grew up, with his wife and young baby. His parents are getting ready to leave the Bay as Kieran's father has dementia and needs fulltime care. The town is still dealing with the fallout from the disappearance of a fourteen-year-old girl, Gabby twelve years ago, and the accidental deaths of Kieran's brother, Finn, and Finn's work colleague, Toby. Finn and Toby died trying to rescue Kieran from drowning, and Kieran has lived with the guilt ever since. When the body of a young woman is found on the beach, the investigation brings to light things which someone would rather remain buried.

I read one of the author's Aaron Falk series last year and I was looking forward to reading this standalone book. The author's writing style is very much to start off slow and gradually build up the atmosphere, so if you are looking for nonstop action, this is not the book for you. If you enjoy a book which sets the scene and slowly draws you in, then this is a very good read. I thought I knew whodunnit and why, but the author managed to surprise me.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Little, Brown Book Group UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

The Survivors by Jane Harper is, so far, my best read of 2021! Great storyline with distinctive, well-developed characters and insights into their real life struggles, relationships and responsibilities . The history of Kieran’s friendships and the local tragedy was well played out, with enough mystery and intrigue to keep me hooked. I entertained a few of the red herrings along the way (and even dreamt up a few of my own) before the final denouement. Done with sensitivity and just enough pathos, this was a book with likeable characters that I could root for yet also one with injustices and perceptions that made me mad and sad in equal measure. Another book that would make a brilliant TV mini-series for the BBC on a Sunday evening! Five stars from me

t is the fantastic writing that draws me to Jane Harper’s books and in this one the writing is exceptional. The Survivors is all about the characters; the lives they have led, the secrets they share, the guilt they feel and the need to bring old wounds to the surface to be healed.

The Survivors is a beautifully drawn, detailed study of four friends, Kieran, Olivia, Ash and Sean who once played and swam together until tragedy struck and Kieran lost his brother. Mia’s best friend Gabby disappeared that day and Sean’s brother, Toby also died. Time moved on and Kieran moved away. Now he his partner Mia and their baby daughter have come back to Evelyn Bay on the rugged Tasmanian Coast. Kieran’s father Brian has dementia and he has come home to help Verity, his mother, pack up the house and move him into a care home.

Coming home brings a welter of emotions for Kieran. Returning to Evelyn Bay brings back so many memories, not the least being the night his brother died – a night he has always blamed himself for. For Kieran had gone out 12 years ago to a cave he knew he should not be in and when the storm blew up two men, one of them Kieran’s brother, took the boat out and went looking for Kieran and perished in the sea while Kieran survived. Kieran knows that people still blame him for the lives lost that night.

Heading into the bar that has stood in Evelyn Bay since their youth, Kieran and Mia meet Olivia and find that she and Ash are now together. Sean’s nephew Liam is working there, along with Bronte Laidler, an art student who has taken temporary work to bring her close to the sea which is the focus of her artistic endeavours.

Liam especially bears a grudge against Kieran. He blames him for the loss of his father that night and his anger has been smouldering just under the surface every day of the last 12 years.

When the young waitress Bronte is found murdered on the beach, the memories of that unforgettable day resurface and all the emotions, too.

Harper does not so much write as paint her characters. The chiaroscuro gives a vivid impression of these characters, adding to the drama and imbuing them with strong emotional overtones. The suspicion hangs heavy in the air, the sly suggestions swirl around as Sean struggles to assert himself as an adult male and Kieran wrestles with his guilt so palpably.

Central to the success of this book is the seascape dominated by the tide, by rough waves and storms. Here the cruel sea reigns and the birds seemingly harbingers of doom as the cold deadly water lashes against the rocks and the caves gape their dark open mouths wide the better to swallow up travellers. No-one does atmosphere like Jane Harper.

Chilling then, in more ways than one, The Survivors is a brilliantly told story of complex characters struggling with truth, lies and guilt. Told mainly in Kieran’s voice, The Survivors starts slowly and draws you in, alternating present day with some flashbacks to give you a hint of what happened from Kieran’s perspective until he reveals everything from his memory. Tension suffuses this novel and as it builds to a crescendo, you wonder whether the waves will dash everything to dust or whether there will be survivors once again.

Verdict: Jane Harper’s best book yet. Atmospheric, intense, chilling and so beautifully and powerfully descriptive it’s like clinging adrift in a tiny boat as the seas buffet you around. So good.

Jane Harper writes in such a way that you feel the heat of the land or the dryness of your mouth as the characters get thirsty. The story races along but the landscape is the true star here.

I have enjoyed all Jane Harpers books so far and she has become one of my fav authors to date so I was so excited to read her newest book The Survivors.

The book is set it a small costal town full of secrets Mia and her partner go back to there home town where 12 years ago a personal tragedy happened, Flashbacks start to happen about that stormy night and then a new death and the story just becomes a page-turner of intrigue and mystery which I could not put down.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next book. Thanks once again for the honor of reviewing this great author.

I loved Harper’s debut ‘The Dry’ but this one left me cold. I couldn’t connect with the characters and often found myself getting confused between them.

i was unsure what to expect going into this book as i have not read anything by this author previously however i was pleasantly surprised. The Survivors follows a group of friends back together in their hometown when a visitor - on a trip for the summer is murdered, around the same time and the same place where a girl went missing 12 years earlier. The story follows these friends and the police as they attempt to piece everything together, This book took me a while to get into but once the story was on its way i was hooked and after a 6 hour sitting i had finished it, I definitely was not expecting the twists and turns and i had my suspicions but on all accounts my theories were wrong which is what i love about these kinds of books. if they keep you guessing and you are always wrong they must be good, A must read.

I have greatly enjoyed all Jane Harper’s books and The Survivors lived up to high expectations.

Set this time on the Tasmanian coast, Kieran and his partner Mia return to their home town, scene of family tragedy 12 years ago. Flashbacks to that fateful, stormy night are cleverly interspersed with another mysterious death that occurs soon after arrival. Characters are well observed and once again the Australian sense of place is very powerful. An excellent story of love and death - past, present and future.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for a fair review.

Another great tale of small town intrigue and secrets from Jane Harper, this time set in a coastal town in Tasmania. Harper is so good at building tension and I found this a real page turner.

Once I got into this, the latest Jane Harper book, I was hooked. It started off a tad slow and I was struggling with the way the chapters referred back to a disaster in Kieran's home town of Evelyn Bay in Tasmania and the present day. But once into the story it rattled along at a far old pace.

Kieran has survived a fateful storm at sea, but it had taken the lives of his brother Finn and friend, as well as leaving a young local girl missing. He returns to his hometown some years later, with his wife and baby daughter, to help his mother pack up the family home; his father is suffering from dementia and needs to go into care.

Whilst back at home, guilt rises to the surface about the accident, and then a young waitress, working through the summer, is found murdered on the beach. This new disaster brings up the memories and stories from that fateful night and relationships reach breaking point.

Who has killed the young girl and more importantly why? Has she stumbled on what happened years ago, but it was a tragic accident wasn't it?

As her latest book Jane Harper continues to set such vivid scenes, the picture on the front of the book capturing perfectly the dangers of storms and high tides. Recommend you read her latest, it's a great one!

Jane Harper’s latest novel takes us away from the outback and into a small coastal town in Tasmania. It’s a setting where the residents feel intimately involved in each other’s lives, the highs and the lows, but despite this secrets can still remain.

A tragedy struck the town during a severe storm 10 years ago and the deaths of three younger members of the community change the lives of their families and community forever. There are unspoken recriminations and guilt that take a strong and lasting hold.

Years later a key figure from this tragedy, Kieran, returns for a short visit to help his parents move. It’s an opportunity to catch up with old friends too, but events take a dark turn when a body is found on the beach and a lot of memories from the time of the storm resurface.

There are secrets you want to unravel, a landscape you want to immerse yourself in and thoroughly explore, and relationships that feel tense and stretched to breaking point in this novel. It gripped me early on and I read long into the night to resolve the mystery of what unfolded - both on the beach and way back on the day of the storm.

I definitely recommend this book. It’s not fast paced- you invest in characters and their back story as you travel through the book and there are layers of secrets to be peeled away. It speeds up at the end and there was no way I was putting the book down until all was clear...and the ending was satisfying, tying up loose ends, despite leaving me with a lingering sense of loss.

My thanks to Jane Harper, the publisher, Little Brown, and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic read. I have been completely unable to put this one down. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Full review to follow on publication.

Jane Harper is well known for her ability to transport readers to the world she has built in her novels. She did it again with The Survivors, where we are taken to a small coastal town in Tasmania which suffered a huge tragedy ten years ago. Although the residents are continuing to live their lives, the effects are still felt throughout the town and they are about to be resurfaced when tragedy strikes again.

Although I enjoyed this one, I wouldn’t say I was as hooked as I was hoping to be. I was expecting it to be a page turner but this one was more of a slow burn which makes sense considering grief plays centre stage as one of the main themes covered in this book. I did get a little worried every time Kieran, our main character, went for a swim and left his baby to hang out on the beach unattended. Do people really do that?? The ending is where the pace really picked up and Harper did a great job in pulling everything together. Even though this isn’t my favourite, I’m still looking forward to reading more books by Harper as she definitely knows what she’s doing when it comes to thrillers.

A fascinating slow burner, well written as always. Kieran has spent his adult life feeling guilty and responsible for the death of his brother and another member of their small community because of his selfish decisions. He is also blamed by much of the community. He has moved on and has a partner and a young baby and returns briefly to help his mother pack up her home and move his father to a facility. Fate strikes again and Kieran has to face his demons yet again.
This is a great study of a small community and how youthful selfishness defines adulthood. Do you blame yourself more than others blame you? Can you ever move on?
Good characterisation, clever story. Jane Harper has succeeded yet again to write an absorbing tale.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Jane Harper/Little, Brown Book Co for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Tasmania Australia, Evelyn Bay a small coastal town. It's winter so no tourists are around. Kieran once lived in this town but now lives with his partner Mia and their baby daughter Audrey in Sydney.
Kieran's father Brian has dementia and they are helping his mother Verity move from the family home, with Brian going into a nursing home in Hobart.
Kieran's friends are around - Ash, Olivia and Sean. They also meet Bronte an art student on a research project from Canberra University.
There is an underlying history that involved Kieran and the tragic deaths of two people - one his elder brother. With small town secrets and resentments, this is soon to affect them all, when tragedy strikes.
This is another brilliant book from this best selling author, she is a master storyteller. With each page the story unravels bit by bit. You won't want to put the book down as the story is revealed.
Most definitely highly recommended, from the author of "The Dry" and " Lost man".