“Death rarely changes how we feel about someone. Heightens it, more often than not.”
This was a book that caught my attention by its popularity. In fact, it’s a difficult for a thriller to have a high rating. High expectations are a constant in a thriller reader, when it comes to creativity and its ability to make the heart race and the throat twisted in a knot.
The Dry is Jane Harper’s first novel, an Australian author. Despite being her first novel, she won at least 10 literary awards.
Aaron Falk returns to his hometown, after being chased out, to go to the funeral of his best friend from his teens, Luke Adler, and his family. It’s suspected that Luke murdered his family, killing himself after. Aaron, as a plea from Luke’s parents, starts his investigation on it, to prove Luke’s innocence.
While investigation, Aaron seems himself forced to confront his past with Luke, whatever led him to be chased out. All of this takes place in a little town a few hours away from Melbourne, Australia.
Despite having an excellent plot, I didn’t consider it a mystery thriller but a crime one. I didn’t feel any empathy towards any of the characters, nor they were well developed, emotional wise. It seems like they only have the past and the present without passing through any feelings, which I consider important in a thriller.
An author that can’t trigger the butterflies in the stomach, the knot in the throat, failed as a thriller writer, and Harper kind of did. What she missed in each character’s individuality, she made up talking in general.
General when it comes talking about the population’s suffering, the extreme dry that they go through. The influence it has in them and its consequences. I could feel the anguish of a population in a ruin for something that they can’t control.
I can say that I really liked the plot and its well appropriate ending. I wasn’t able to make safe enough theories about what happened, nor who the suspect is. Harper was able to lead the reader towards the way she intended. No questions left unanswered and the ending isn’t perfect but perfect enough considering the plot. Perfectly imperfect.
Despite being the author’s first novel, I can see that she has great deal of potential to reach the status of a renowned and great crime thriller writer. As you can imagine, its hard to be perfect at the first work. With that being said, I want to read more of her and follow her evolution as a writer, by reading her second novel – Force of Nature.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
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