Exiles

De: Jane Harper

Narrado por: Steve Shanahan

FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING NUMBER ONE AUTHOR OF THE DRY

'Addictive storytelling' ANN CLEEVES
'An avalanche of suspense' DAVID BALDACCI
'A fantastic crime writer' BELLA MACKIE

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An outstanding novel, a brilliant mystery and a heart-pounding read from the author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man and The Survivors.

A mother disappears from a busy festival on a warm spring night.

Her baby lies alone in the pram, her mother’s possessions surrounding her, waiting for a return which never comes.

A year later, Kim Gillespie’s absence still casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations on a rare break from work is federal investigator Aaron Falk, who begins to suspect that all is not as it seems.

As he looks into Kim’s case, long-held secrets and resentments begin to come to the fore, secrets that show that her community is not as close as it appears.

Falk will have to tread carefully if he is to expose the dark fractures at its heart, but sometimes it takes an outsider to get to the truth . . .

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Praise for Jane Harper

‘A hugely gifted writer’ MARIAN KEYES
'Exceptional' JANE CASEY
'Outstanding' C.L. TAYLOR
‘Spellbinding’ IAN RANKIN
‘A stunningly atmospheric read’ VAL MCDERMID
‘Brilliantly paced’ SUSIE STEINER
‘I devoured it in a day. Her best yet!’ LIANE MORIARTY
‘Phenomenal’ CHRIS WHITAKER

Reseñas de la Crítica

Once again Harper proves that she is peerless in creating an avalanche of suspense with intimate, character-driven set pieces that are as exquisitely engineered as the inner workings of a Steinway. Harper&rsquo;s legions of fans will exult in reading <i>Exiles</i> (David Baldacci, bestselling author of The 6:20 Man)

While so much egregiously repetitive, flatly written fare holds sway in the crime fiction idiom, it&rsquo;s a cause for celebration when genuinely accomplished writers energise things. A prime example? Antipodean star Jane Harper... she remains incontrovertibly the reigning queen of Aussie crime fiction.

I loved<i> Exiles</i>, Jane is a hugely gifted writer and her depiction of the relationships in it is masterful (Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Rachel's Holiday)

Harper skillfully ratchets up the tension in this powerful, slow-burning portrait of small-town life. . . high quality, atmospheric crime fiction

I love Jane Harper's Australia-based mysteries (Stephen King)

<i>Exiles</i> is the kind of crime novel you move into rather than just reading it - a wholly absorbing set of mysteries, a cast of characters that feels entirely real and a setting so vivid you can practically smell the breeze through the bushland. Aaron Falk is the still centre of the novel, a quiet presence like no other in crime fiction. Exceptional in every way. (Jane Casey, Author of The Burning )

A truly wonderful read. Rich in detail, landscape and character and deeply satisfying on all levels. (Sarah Hilary, Author of Someone Else's Skin )

<i>Exiles</i> is an outstanding crime novel, rich in mystery and atmosphere and full of heart. Utterly immersive, captivating and beautifully written; I lost myself completely within its pages and was bereft when it ended. Jane Harper is a rare jewel of an author and <i>Exiles</i> deserves to be huge. It blew me away. It's my book of the year so far. (C. L. Taylor author of The Guilty Couple)

'Jane Harper has once again produced an ingenious, moving and hugely satisfying mystery. This is crime writing perfection' (C. M. Ewan, author of The Interview)

&lsquo;This is a softer, gentler Harper, but with the same fine writing and addictive storytelling&rsquo;<b> </b> (Ann Cleeves, bestselling author of the Shetland, Venn and Vera Stanhope series)

Falk&rsquo;s investigation is a terrific one, but what makes the book memorable is Harper&rsquo;s skill at plumbing personal mysteries &mdash; for instance, why a friendship has ebbed, or how not knowing the fate of a loved one affects a family.

Atmospheric, beautifully observed and fluently written, this is Harper back at her very best

Story amazing as always! Weird pauses in the narration though

I’ve read all three of the Aaron Falk books now and each story is as good as the last! Gripping and exciting I would recommend Jane Harper’s books to anyone!

Slight issue with the narration where there seemed to be long pauses where there was no need to be which is unlike Steve Shanahan in the previous books but was able to overlook them mostly.

Great listen!

A bit less good than the others

I looked at my previous reviews of Jane Harper’s books, and in particular the Aaron Falk books. I never gave 5 stars, and yet I did come back for more. They are a good listen, but not great literature. I found this one could have wrapped up sooner, that the story was dragged out, though I didn’t lose interest. There were some good twists in the plot. The performance is decent, but the same issue as always - not enough distinction between characters, nor between male and female voices. Sometimes it takes a moment to realize who is talking. And, the usual Harper style of jumping around in time, which also might take a sentence or two at the beginning of a chapter to realize that this is not immediately after the previous chapter (unless it states so clearly). At this point, I would not put another Jane Harper book on my Wish List, because there are so many other books than another of this type that I’d want to get to first. If I run out of ideas of what to listen to, then I’d check which authors I enjoyed and maybe try another. Life is short and there are so many good authors out there! Time to move on (as - spoiler here - some characters in books do, too).

11 hour buildup...ridiculous ending

This is not a thriller but a story about grief, sorrow and obsessive compulsive emotional regurgitation ad nauseam. There is lots of remembering. Lots of feeling. How they felt then, in between and now. With everyone Falk meets the entire story and backstory is recounted again and again…not only from that person’s emotional perspective but how he/she emotionally relates to the experiences of everyone else…ad infinitum. Federal police officers talking about their feelings when hearing about the feelings of someone else who is talking about the probable feelings of someone else in relation to someone..….not very believable and also not very interesting, especially if repeated over and over again from everyone’s perspective. This continues for… 11 hours…the story does not move one milimeter forward…It’s like watching an OCD patient washing their hands 100 times…you want to scream: move on!!
There is no twist, no suspence. Those is not a thriller but a jane austen type soap opera about grief.
What’s much worse is that every character sounds the same. I am not talking about the reader’s performance, but every character has the same expressions, vocabulary. So there is no characterization through dialogue happening. It feels all the characters are the same person. Same language quirks..
So 11 hours of Winfrey Opera show…then just quickly before the end..the resolution of the two crimes are presented, like the author suddenly remebered: oh yes, we need to find who has done it. And when it comes, it‘s just such a cheat. Makes no sense at all. The motivation for the recent crime is just ridiculous, completely unbelievable. What a waste. And how the first one happened is equally insulting to the reader. And then it‘s over.
Tortured for 11 hours of completely vapid conversations of family couples talking about kids‘n‘stuff and sadness regurgitated…and then this very dissappointing ending.
I liked Harper’s first book, thought already the 2nd was borderline..just no suspence..no believable story telling. This 3rd is just an insult. I wont read any futures ones.