I’ve broken up my non-fiction readathon with an audio book mystery. As it happens The Dry runs parallel to The Great Alone which I teased last month. The story doesn’t inhabit the grand icy landscape of uncivilized Alaska, but the scorching drought-prone rural farms of Australia. However, in both novels, the atmosphere sets a stifling mood and foreboding presence so strong, the setting itself could be a main character.
TEASER TUESDAY is a weekly book meme hosted by The Purple Booker. Anyone can join, just open your current read to a random page and choose two ‘teaser’ sentences (no spoilers, just enticing bait to lure would-be readers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments.
The Dry | Jane Harper, 352 pgs.
Across the doors and the hood of his car, the message had been carved over and over into the paintwork. The letters flashed silver in the sun. WE WILL SKIN YOU KILLER SCUM -p. 167
I thought this would be a thriller, but that’s not quite an accurate description; a circular mystery is better. The Dry spills it’s secrets in small measured doses. Tortured detective Aaron Falk deals with the troubling murders of his friend’s family while skirting the edges of an older mystery, the death of a teenage girl, in which his own family took the perceived blame and was run out of town twenty years before. The interlocking nature of these mysteries remains to be seen as I hurtle toward the climax of this novel, riding a wave of curiosity. Now enough clues have been dropped that I know where it’s heading, but I fear it will be a really dark place. A gripping read from a debut author who just released her second novel, Force of Nature. I’ve already heard great reviews and will be reentering her stifling Australian bush-land after I take a few months and perhaps a few breaths.
Any exciting reads to your eyes, or ears?
The Scented Library 