Jane Harper | FORCE OF NATURE

Plot (via Goodreads):

Five women go on a hike. Only four return. Jane Harper, the New York Times bestselling author of The Dry, asks: How well do you really know the people you work with?

When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.

But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder? 

Review:

I am a huge fan of THE DRY. It was easily one of my favorite thrillers I have read this year...however, FORCE OF NATURE has surpassed my expectations from THE DRY and dare I say it, I loved this one even more.

FORCE OF NATURE is a tour-de-force that not only features a devastatingly dark and delicious multi-layered plot, but five deceiving and brutally honest women who rip each layer back like a bandaid until the bitter finale. 

What I really enjoyed the most about this plot was how Harper did a splendid job keeping me addicted to this novel by weaving in and out between the past and present. It was really exciting and interesting to see how the women acted during the retreat and how they are acting now. The plot and character combination was not only extremely effective, but so beautifully done that I didn't want to ever close the chapter on this novel as I hate to say goodbye to any of these characters. These women are broken, beautiful, strong, and exuberant...and that's just the beginning. I do enjoy the return of Aaron Falk and to this day still consider him one of my favorite characters, but I just loved how well Bree, Beth, Lauren, Jill, and Alice really took over this story and were the key central characters. 

Similar to THE DRY, the thing that I love most about Harper's writing is how the weather in her novels really play a key role all in their own. In THE DRY, I found the sweltering weather to be not only atmospheric, but suffocating and kind of an additional layer to the already swelling plot. In this novel, I found it to be even more atmospheric with the weather almost playing a villain. Nature itself is a huge piece of this puzzle, but the weather is disastrous and eerie. I mean, there's talk of a serial killer who used to haunt the woods the women are in, four extremely well-developed red herrings, and now the weather is looming over everyone threatening to strike at any moment. 

This is easily one of the best thrillers I have read this year and ever in my life. I have a select few novels that I would revisit and this is definitely towards to the top of the list. It's beautifully written, well-executed, claustrophobic, atmospheric, and deliciously deceiving. Well done, Jane Harper. Well done, Aaron Falk. I do hope that the both of you stay on my reading shelves for a very, very long time.

*Special thanks to Flatiron Books for providing me with this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5