Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(101)
It was nearly time to leave, but he thought he had just long enough for a quick call.
He heard the dial tone down the line and could imagine the phone ringing at the other end in Kiewarra. His hometown. A familiar voice answered.
‘Greg Raco speaking.’
‘It’s Aaron. Are you busy?’
A laugh down the phone. ‘No.’
‘Still skiving off work?’ Falk said. He pictured the police sergeant at his home. Not back in uniform just yet.
‘It’s called convalescence, thanks, mate. And it takes a while.’
‘I know,’ Falk said, turning over his own burned hand and examining the skin. He did know. He had been lucky.
They talked for a while. Things were a little better since the drought had broken. Falk asked after Raco’s daughter. After the Hadler family. All doing okay. And everyone else?
Raco laughed. ‘Mate, if you’re that curious, maybe you should come and see for yourself.’
Maybe he should. Eventually, Falk glanced at the clock. He had to get moving. Catch his plane.
‘Listen, are you bored with this convalescence of yours yet?’
‘Very.’
‘I’m thinking of going for a hike. One weekend. If you feel up to it. Something gentle.’
‘Yeah. Definitely. That’d be really good,’ Raco said. ‘Where?’
Falk looked at his dad’s maps spread out on the coffee table in the warmth of the afternoon light. The sun glancing off the picture frames on the wall.
‘Anywhere you like. I know some good places.’
The careful pencil marks showing him the way. There was plenty to explore.
Acknowledgements
Once again I am lucky enough to have been surrounded by a wonderful group of people who have helped me in so many different ways.
A sincere thank you to my editors Cate Paterson at Pan Macmillan, Christine Kopprasch and Amy Einhorn at Flatiron Books, and Clare Smith at Little, Brown, for your faith and unwavering support. Your insight and advice has been invaluable and I am truly grateful for the many extraordinary opportunities you have created for my writing.
Thank you to Ross Gibb, Mathilda Imlah, Charlotte Ree and Brianne Collins at Pan Macmillan, and to all the talented designers, marketing and sales teams who have worked so hard to bring this book to life.
I would be lost without the help of my incredible agents Clare Forster at Curtis Brown Australia, Alice Lutyens and Kate Cooper at Curtis Brown UK, Daniel Lazar at Writers House and Jerry Kalajian at the Intellectual Property Group.
Thank you to Mike Taylor, senior reptile keeper at Healesville Sanctuary, Senior Sergeant Clint Wilson from Victoria Police, and Grampians Gariwerd National Park visitors and community team leader Tammy Schoo, for kindly sharing their knowledge and expertise of native wildlife, search and rescue procedures and camping and hiking techniques. Any mistakes or artistic liberties are my own.
I am indebted to the many dedicated booksellers who have championed my books with such enthusiasm and, of course, to all the readers who have embraced the stories.
Thank you to the Elwood mums and their beautiful babies for your warmth and friendship. You have been a beacon of light through it all.
As always, love and thanks to my wonderful family who have supported me at every step: Mike and Helen Harper, Ellie Harper, Michael Harper, Susan Davenport and Ivy Harper, Peter and Annette Strachan.
Above all, my deep gratitude to my remarkable husband Peter Strachan – the help you have given me spans years and would fill pages – and to our daughter Charlotte Strachan, our love, who has made us so much more.
About Jane Harper
Jane Harper is the author of The Dry, winner of various awards including the 2015 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, the 2017 Indie Award Book of the Year and the 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year. Rights have been sold in 27 territories worldwide, and film rights optioned to Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea. Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK and lives in Melbourne with her husband and daughter.
Jane Harper The Dry
WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?
It hasn’t rained in Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the farming community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are discovered shot to death on their property. Everyone assumes Luke Hadler committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son.
Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for the funerals and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and his childhood friend Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke’s death threatens to unearth . . .
‘Every now and then an Australian crime novel comes along to stop your breath and haunt your dreams.’
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
‘One of the most stunning debuts I’ve ever read.’
David Baldacci
‘This is a story about heroism, the sins of the past, and the struggle to atone. But let’s not forget the redbacks, the huntsmen, the rabbit scourge and all that makes this a quintessential Australian story beautifully told.’