Over the course of the novel, we learn that Falk has been living in a kind of stasis for several years. Why is that? Has he addressed this by the end of their case?

Over the course of the novel, we learn that Falk has been living in a kind of stasis for several years. Why is that? Has he addressed this by the end of their case?

Maybe because he didn't want to confront his feelings about his father, and the fact that they had no real relationship before his father passed. I'm not sure, but I think in the end of this book, he did sort of come to terms with it all. He set up some hiking times, and it appeared they would be to places that his father had been.

Yes, I agree with the above. Falk is never going to completely come to terms with his relationship with his father, since his father is dead. But he seems forgive himself somewhat and maybe is ready to move on. The hikes he has planned will help, hopefully.

Obviously Erin Falk has some unresolved emotional issues with regard to his father. I think that was made clear in Harper's first novel, The Dry, and it becomes almost front and center here. Carmen is able to help him confront these unaddressed issues more successfully than he has been able in the past, and by this novel's end, he is at least on his way - however, not in the clear yet. Adding furnishings and making his living space more comfortable and complete, attending Carmen's wedding, and reaching out to Greg Raco, his friend from his hometown, Kiewarra and planning to get back there for a hike and reconnect are clear indications that he is looking inward and beginning to self nurture and find peace.

It is obvious that Falk has some emotional "issues," and his story is probably the only part of the novel that just didn't appeal to me. Falk's unresolved issues did not seem to add to the story of the women on the retreat, did not make the investigation more interesting, and did not really seem to be resolved at the end.

In this instance, Falk's situation, the novel is not a stand alone book--the understanding of the character and the seeming irrelevant background only becomes interesting and interrelated to the current story if one has read The Dry

I agree with susiej and katherinep. It did help the reader if they had read The Dry before Force of Nature. I was glad to read that Falk had finally moved forward.

Thanks for this question and your responses. Until I read this thread, I did not realize the book is/may be part of a series featuring the same investigator. The inclusion of Falk’s issues made him seem weak and perhaps not fully engaged in the current investigation due to the time spent revealing the issues with and the refusals of the invitations to hike with his father. I now need to read The Dry to fill in the blanks.

I felt it was because Faulk was grieving. As we all know, everyone grieves differently. I also feel there is no time period with grief. Grief can be cruel. I agree with the others that Falk has learned to forgive himself by him going to the places on the map his father created. I also feel that him going to the wedding is a good sign of hope.

I believe Falk is like many people dealing with life issues in families. Sometimes people choose to avoid and bury those things that relate to intense emotions. It is often easier to pretend they don't exist. Falk clearly loves his father, but has unresolved interactions and with his father gone, he cannot start up new communication. Falk carries the maps his father made like a talisman to connect to the past and his father. By the end of the novel he seems ready to use those maps to chart a new journey.

Aaron Falk is an empty man. He lost his teen years, moved with his father to a strange place and has decided to fight crime through the financial branch of Australia's federal crime agency. At the end of this book he seems to be moving forward to address the stasis in his life. I thought maybe his partner Carmen was a key to this and perhaps she was in a non-romantic, almost sisterly fashion. He probably would not have accepted the same commentary on his life from a male partner.