Kieran Elliott's life changed forever 12 years ago when his reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. Wracked with guilt, Kieran is revisiting his small coastal Tasmanian hometown with his partner and baby when a body is discovered on the beach. The proceeding case brings up past memories as long-held secrets threaten to emerge...

Jane Harper has a gift when it comes to writing mystery novels that keep you guessing until the end and The Survivors was no different for me. I also find the setting of her books is always pivotal to the storyline. Her atmospheric and descriptive writing in this instance works well in the audiobook format too, as I could picture myself on the beach or in the water with the main character. With excellent character development, a fantastic narrator and a likeable protagonist, I highly recommend listening (or reading) The Survivors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the audiobook in exchange for a review - all opinions are my own.

Another brilliant and atmospheric book by Jane Harper.
I listened to the audiobook and it was very well read with the narrator able to create atmosphere with his voice.
This mystery will keep you guessing to the end. What happened years ago during the storm when 2 beat friends lost their lives and a girl went missing? Now it's the present and a murder shock the community. Who killed Bronte? Are these deaths related?
Jane Harper is brilliant when it comes to characterisation and always write excellent family dramas.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette UK Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

To begin I must say that I usually enjoy Jane Harper books but I got stuck with this one. Maybe it was the slow start, just not getting the point of what was going on and not being able to clearly define of picture the characters. Once further in, the read improved but its not my favourite.

*A big thank-you to Jane Harper, Hachette UK Audio, and NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.*
This was not my first encounter with Ms Harper's writing so I must say it felt somehow different from her other works which are set in the outback. Here water is in the backgorund of the events and descriptions.
Atmospheric and dark, a slow-burner, set in a small seaside town haunted by the events from the past and another tragedy, was a truly good listen that engaged me fully. I found the plot intriguing and appreciated the gradual unravelling of the truth. Not connecting to any of the characters did not spoil the enjoyment for me. The narration is top-notch, a perfect voice for this book.

This was an interesting audiobook. It explores many facets of the characters involved, and looks at their guilt, and how the past affects the future. There is much to go at in it, and it is beautifully written.

It is quite slow paced, but that doesn't matter, we grow to know the characters as the novel builds (although why the main character insists on carting his baby everywhere I'm not sure- it was quite off putting in parts, as I was more worried about the baby!)

I don't believe in retelling a story in a review, so I will simply say, the way the past meets the present at the end of the story, is extremely skilful in it's handling. I found the murderer's reasoning believable, and could imagine the situation he found himself in when he committed the crimes, which made the plot believable. (Not that I condone murder in those circumstances- just that the writer showed how the situations affected the murderer very well.)

The narration was good and reflected the pace of the novel very well.

I love Jane Harper's books. I've read them all. But I just couldn't get on with this one. It was possibly just bad timing, but I didn't connect with any of the characters and found the story confusing. It was also odd how little women were portrayed in the book, but then again, that was true for The Dry, and I didn't mind it so much in that one. Then again, I stopped reading about halfway through when I realise it was feeling much more like a chore than pleasure, so perhaps it picked up in the second half.

I won't be writing a public review because I suspect this was probably just down to my frame of mind at the time of reading - i.e. it was Christmas, lots going on, etc, so needed something that was pacier.

Anyway, I still very much look forward to the next book, and I have no doubt this will be a hit with a lot of people. Harper is an immensely gifted writer, so the fact this one book didn't work for me at this time doesn't really mean much.

The sea contains the answers in this latest Jane Harper read set in Evelyn Bay in Tasmania, a small coastal town with an old tragedy hanging over them that has never been fully answered and then a new one further throws the spotlight on it. Jane Harper’s reads never disappoint as you are kept wondering and suspecting everyone till the very end. The audio copy of this book was very well done and an easy listen made all the more atmospheric with the Australian narrator. Many thanks to Netgalley and the Hachette UK Audio for the Advanced audio copy.

When a young artist is found dead on a Tasmanian beach everyone is horrified. And they can’t help but remember the storm of long ago which left three dead. Suspicions abound, but no one seems to have any real reason to kill Bronte.
Oh my word I do love Jane Harper’s books. The Survivors is yet another fantastic read that drew me in immediately. This crime novel unfolds gently as we meet the residents of Evelyn Bay and learn of the horrific storm that hit twelve years ago, wreaking devastation and wrecking lives.
Don’t expect loads of action-packed excitement. No, this book gradually takes hold of you with its layers and layers of personalities, history, relationships, secrets and lies.
Kieran and Mia have recently returned to Evelyn Bay with their baby to visit Kieran’s parents, Verity and Brian. Jane Harper brings her characters alive, and we learn of Verity’s obsession with online support groups and self-improvement, as well as Brian’s advanced dementia. We meet Kieran and Mia’s friends from when they were growing up in Evelyn Bay, as well as a best-selling author who’s moved there and caused a few ructions. All the way through, the author teases us, hinting that we’re not quite getting the full story. Throughout, as the police investigate Bronte’s death, Harper sows little doubts – so while at first no-one seems to have motive, I soon began to suspect a whole lot of people.
I enjoyed Harper’s use of the language. It’s clever and subtle. Her writing enveloped me so that I felt I was there on that beach where the murdered girl was found. She has a way of doing dialogue perfectly, describing body language and conjuring up the surrounds in ways that make people and places come alive. I could see the caves, the sea and The Survivors – the stark iron memorial to a shipwreck.
Harper writes compassionately about the dementia that affect Kieran’s father, and its effect on families. There’s one hugely unsettling scene with his granddaughter, that broke my heart.
DI Pendleton, sent from the mainland to help local Detective Renn investigate, is a wonderful character, whose insight and persistence finally cracks the case. I hope we’re going to meet her again in the future.

Jane Harper is one of the best new authors I’ve come across. Her writing is powerful and she’s created scenes which really give a sense of time and place. The Survivors is no exception and as an audiobook, I was impressed by the narration and totally gripped by a compelling story.

It’s set in a small seaside community where there was a tragedy during a freak storm 12 years earlier. Added to this, a young girl went missing. Fast forward 12 years to the present day, when a former resident returns with his wife and daughter. His mother is packing up the family home as dad has dementia, there are echoes from the past running through every action and former friends meet and catch up on old times. Then there’s another tragedy....

This is a story that sucks you right in. Jane Harper creates people you believe in and care about. Added to that, the plot is twisted and develops layer by layer as people try to make sense of past and present events and how they’re linked. I could really picture the seaside dwellings going right onto the beach and the coffee bar nearby. Plus the sea caves and their mysteries were dark and dangerous. Jane Harper cleverly explores guilt and how it reverberates. Really enjoyed this thriller.

This is a mystery set in fictional Evelyn Bay, a small town on the coast of Tasmania, riddled with secrets.

Kieran and Mia return with their baby daughter Audrey to help his parents pack up the family home. His father is suffering from dementia and his mother wants to relocate to somewhere more suitable, where they can get more appropriate support and care.

Kieran and Mia have hardly arrived and the body of one of the seasonal workers, working at the local Surf and Turf pub, is washed up in the water. This is not the first death in the town. Several years ago there was a terrible storm, lives were lost, property damaged and Kieran has been carrying the burden of culpability for something that happened way back then. At the time a young woman also went missing and that is still a mystery that hangs over the community.

Suspicion falls on a variety of people, the police start their investigations and Kieren starts to put the pieces of the jigsaw  together.

This is a slow burning mystery which I listened to as an audiobook on my Covid walks; I delighted in the dulcet tones of narrator Stephen Shanahan, with his gently undulating Australian accent. The author is adept at creating setting, redolent of the coast and the sea, the landscape and the pounding waves. There are a series of caves where people have congregated but are known to be extremely dangerous. There is a sunken boat where divers can explore the wreck, and the sculpture, titled The Survivors, stands witness to this tragedy.

The author really knows how to paint small town life, cloying in its intensity, as she dwells on the interactions, the motivations and the grudges that build up and linger. She has created such a convincing end-of-season feel to her setting. It is a well constructed storyline - at times a little overly ponderous - that kept me listening right to the end.

Having not read a Jane Harper novel since The Dry I had forgotten how good she is at putting her finger right into the bullet hole and applying pressure, finding the things that make us hurt and extracting pain as well as a gripping read.

The audio narrator did a great job at conveying the gaps in speech and rending emotion from Harper's solidly written scenes. The dialogue where two characters say what seems to be nothing of note but demonstrates key aspects of characters was as well done as I remembered.

I'm from a small beach town - larger than the one here and perhaps more on the margins and less well known than these characters but still with enough lived experience to find a lot to recognise here.

Would definitely listen to more from this narrator (maybe if you aren't Aussie the accent would be annoying but as an Aussie expat this one didn't bug me).

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this taut and suspenseful thriller set in Tasmania - and enjoyed the audio so much that I might have to read the book too and make sure I didn’t miss anything!
In a small town by the sea in Tasmania, a community is shocked when a young girl’s body is found. But the investigation dredges up old memories of a young girl who disappeared a long time ago, and Kieran, home to visit his parents, finds himself in the centre of everything trying to put all the pieces together. Could the two young girls and grizzly events be connected?
This wasn’t your average thriller - the tension built slowly until you just couldn’t wait a second longer to find out what really happened, and the story was very cleverly plotted to keep the reader guessing throughout.
There’s a brilliant mix of real, flawed characters who are all believable suspects, and their interactions were exactly the kind of Aussie banter I remember loving so much, which gave the story a great sense of place.
The location was also beautifully described, and I loved the way the story of ‘The Survivors’ was such an integral part of the book. This was a compulsive read - original, suspenseful and if I’d read it in book form I’d say impossible to put down!

Excellent narration from Stephen Shanahan adds to the enjoyment of this suspenseful and atmospheric thriller set in Tasmania. Lots of lies and secrets from the past create twists and turns as we try to find the truth in order to solve this murder mystery. Yet another great book by this author. Thank you to Jane Harper, Net Galley and Hachette UK Audio for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Survivors (audiobook) by Jane Harper

I am such a huge fan of Jane Harper - I loved The Lost Man in particular but I enjoyed all three previous novels. Unfortunately, while I liked The Survivors, it's my least favourite of Harper's books. She writes beautifully, especially about places and relationships, but I thought that this was at the expense of the story. There is a lot of talk, a lot of reflection, a lot of remembrance, but, for me, not enough movement. I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narration by Stephen Shanahan was excellent. I think that I would have rated this one higher if I hadn't inevitably have been comparing it to the previous wonderful novels.

I was really looking forward to The Survivors as I'd heard great things about Jane Harper. Maybe this isn't her best work. I found I was having to nag myself to listen as I never really got into the story. For me, it felt like a load of waffle as padding and then a great final 40 minutes. Stephen Shanahan does a fine job with the narration. I've definitely got no complaints there. But this book simply didn't do it for me. Sorry.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Bolinda Audio and Jane Harper. This was a brilliant audiobook with excellent narration. I read over of her previous books The Dry a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it so was delighted to have the chance to listen to this one. The story is gripping, engaging and very well written. It keeps you hanging on right until the dramatic ending. If you like thrillers, you'll love this one.

I really enjoyed this book. Both the characters
& the plot were engaging right from the start. The characters were very real & likeable.

The story had you questioning virtually every character as they all had motive & opportunity.

Overall this book was great. Well written, easy to read & very addictive.

I would recommend it to all.

As with all other Jane Harper’s books, the writing in The Survivors is atmospheric and descriptive, so I have given it an extra star just for this. However, I must admit that I didn’t enjoy this story as much as The Dry and The Lost Man. It’s just too slow and not very suspenseful; the characters were unremarkable and not much was happening between the promising beginning and disappointing flat ending. I didn’t really like the narrator who had a strong Australian accent and monotonous voice. Overall, it’s a sound read but not the one I’d recommend.

Another tense and intense tale from Harper who excels at wringing drama from small groups or communities where claustrophobia is the other side of familiarity.

Set in a tiny sea town in Tasmania, the setting is as much a character as any of the people here, not least the caves which get filled with the tides. Everyone is a little bit broken: whether through grief or guilt, and long held secrets are both shattering and, eventually, healing.

This is a grim story in lots of ways, yet makes gripping reading - and it delivers a satisfying end without offering up easy resolutions to all the issues being dealt with by the characters. I can imagine the people living on, a testament to the understated skill of the book.

Definitely at the literary end of the crime spectrum and my favourite Harper to date.

I switched between the book and audio, the latter nicely read in an Aussie accent with a laidback feel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller by Jane Harper. It was atmospheric and transports you to the coastal town of Evelyn Bay. The sea and the beach almost comes alive in Harper’s writing and it’s almost as if it’s a whole character in itself. The characters, their complex relationship dynamics and the small town dynamics were all excellently portrayed. The mystery itself was intriguing and kept me guessing till the end. My one complaint was the narration. It fell flat for me and took away some of the joy of reading/listening to a good thriller. I think I would have preferred reading the book instead.
The book itself gets 3.75 stars and the audiobook 3 stars