Madeline
The Survivors by Jane Harper starts in a small town in Australia, a group of thirty year olds are brought back together ten years after the storm that changed their lives forever. What happened in that storm? No one is talking about it but it still haunts them after being brought back to town. The Survivors, the statues in the ocean, are the only ones that know the whole story of what happened ten years ago.
Premise of The Survivors
A body washes up on the beach ten years after the storm where Finn’s body was found on that same beach. Questions start to get asked and a deep secrets of people who once knew each other well start to get unearthed. How did Finn’s body end up on the beach? How is this new girl’s body tied to the morning after that storm? And where did her body come from? Each of these questions get answered one by one as the layers of secrets get peeled away and the truth is revealed.
There are the people who know what happened and the people who want to know what happened. There are a number of characters in this book to grasp onto and understand their relation to the deceased and the other characters. There are a few families to understand. All of the characters have been affected by the tragedies and most of them are likeable until the truth of what happened after the storm comes to light.
Final Thoughts
Although I generally enjoy reading thriller books the premise of The Survivors sounds appealing, the story did not hold my attention as was promised. I did not care enough about the characters to have the same emotion that I am sure was intended. Part of this uninterest on my part was the confusion of characters.
The story covers three age groups. By putting the characters into age groups, the lines started to get drawn on who is who and how they relate to the other characters. Then there are the families that tied it all together. My recommendation for those who care to read this simple book, is to pay attention to the relations of the characters to get the full appeal of the book.
