The dry : a novel

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The dry : a novel

Title:

The dry : a novel

Author:

Harper, Jane (Jane Elizabeth), author.

Shanahan, Steve, narrator.

Series:

Aaron Falk ;

Series Number:

Summary:

"A small town hides big secrets in The Dry. After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke's steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead. Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there's more to Luke's death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets."-- Provided by publisher.

General Note:

Title from container.

Compact discs.

Edition:

Unabridged.

Physical Description:

8 audio discs (9 hr., 49 min.) : CD audio, digital ; 4 3/4 in.

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Audiobooks.

Subject Term:

Homecoming -- Fiction.

Best friends -- Death -- Fiction.

Homicide investigation -- Fiction.

Truthfulness and falsehood -- Fiction.

Secrecy -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Australia -- Officials and employees -- Fiction.

Australia -- Fiction.

Author(s):

Shanahan, Steve,

Publisher:

Macmillan Audio,

Electronic Access:

View cover art
View cover art

Publication Date:

2017

2016

ISBN:

9781250117601

Publication Information:

[New York] : Macmillan Audio, [2017]

℗2016

Call Number:

CDB HARPER

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003458950	Adult Fiction Books on CDs	HARPER	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

*Winner of the CWA's Gold Dagger Award*

"A breathless page-turner, driven by the many revelations Ms. Harper dreams up...You'll love her] sleight of hand...A secret on every page." --The New York Times

"One of the most stunning debuts I've ever read... Every word is near perfect. " --David Baldacci

A small town hides big secrets in The Dry , an atmospheric debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper.

After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke's steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.

Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there's more to Luke's death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.

Author Notes

Jane Harper is an author who won the 2015 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript for her novel The Dry. The $15,000 award was presented at the opening night of the 2015 Emerging Writers Festival. Harper's winning manuscript was chosen from a shortlist of three from more than 130 entries. The Dry tells `the story of a city policeman who is dragged back to the country township he fled years earlier to investigate a multiple homicide'. The Victorian Premier's Literary Award, for an Unpublished Manuscript, is administered by the Wheeler Centre. The Dry won the 2017 Indie Book Award for Derbut Fiction and as Book of the Year. It was also the winner of the 2018 British Book Awards, Crime and Thriller book of the year, and won the 2018 Barry Award for Best First Novel. Her second book entitled Force of Nature was published in May 2018, which won the 2018 Davitt Award for Readers' choice. The Lost Man is her third book and was published in October 2018.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

At the start of Australian author Harper's devastating debut, Melbourne-based federal agent Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown, Kiewarra, for three funerals-those of popular school aid Karen Hadler; her six-year-old son, Billy; and her husband, Luke, Aaron's childhood best friend. Luke apparently murdered Karen and Billy before turning the shotgun on himself. Falk knows better than anyone that his charismatic mate may have had a darker side-two decades earlier as teens they gave each other bogus alibis for the afternoon of high school crush Ellie Deacon's suspicious death by drowning. When Luke's brokenhearted parents beg Falk to investigate, he can't refuse. But as Falk begins digging with the help of recently arrived Sgt. Greg Raco, including looking into a possible connection to the earlier tragedy, he swiftly discovers that a badge may not protect him from a town driven to the brink. From the ominous opening paragraphs, all the more chilling for their matter-of-factness, Harper, a journalist who writes for Melbourne's Herald Sun, spins a suspenseful tale of sound and fury as riveting as it is horrific. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

When Luke Hader and his family are found shot to death at their farm near the small town of Kiewarra, the locals presume it to be a murder-suicide, the desperate act of a man pushed to the brink by financial woes caused by the area's two-year drought. Luke's father is not convinced, though, and asks Aaron Falk, once Luke's best friend and now a police officer in Melbourne, to investigate. But as Aaron probes the case, he faces hostility from the townspeople who remember that 20 years ago he had been a teenage suspect in the drowning death of a young girl; what saved him from being charged were the alibis Luke and Aaron had given each other-alibis that some residents know were lies. Winner of the 2015 Victorian Premier Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, this first novel by a former journalist was an Australian best seller, but despite the critical acclaim it has received, this work fails on many fronts as a mystery: slow, tedious pacing; poor character development; lack of suspense or surprise (readers can spot the culprit and plot twist a mile away). VERDICT Because of the advance hype, crime fiction fans will want this, but steer disappointed readers to Peter Temple's superior The Broken Shore, which offers a more authentic portrait of small-town Australia. [See Prepub Alert, 7/25/16; library -marketing.]-Wilda Williams, Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.