Mary Beth K

When I read this book, I wasn't sure whom I had the most compassion for... Clyde, Joy, Peter or Paul. I think it makes a great book for book clubs as there is a lot up for discussion. Since reading the book, I have found myself thinking about the characters and how the fate you are given defines your destiny. Were the characters just resigned to their preordained paths or could they have changed their fate. Who is really the Golden Child? Peter or Paul?

I was really excited to be selected to review an advance copy of Force of Nature.

"Force of Nature" is a step above author Jane Harper's previous novel, "The Dry." It is a fast-paced mystery and very hard to put down. When you're not reading, you find yourself asking, "Where could Alice be?"

The company schedules a mandatory multiple day outdoor team building game with the co-workers. Men are dropped off at one point in the great outdoors while the ladies are dropped off on another trail You're in the bushlands of Australia in the Giralang Ranges and when it gets dark, it's really dark. The wildlife and the terrain aren't the only things haunting these hikers. Their past creeps up on them too as personalities flair. After a long day of hiking, the goal is to reach a campsite with additional supplies. But what if you fail to get there as you've lost your way and are off track? What if a serial killer happened to trudge these very same woods in the past and may have a son set on revenge. You have to ask yourself what you would do in this situation.

Federal Agent Falk is back in this novel, along with Carmen Cooper, and they have to put the clues together in order to find Alice. Carmen is a good match with Falk. The story goes back and forth from the past to the present and in some novels that can be annoying but in Force of Nature it flows easily.

Force of Nature will not disappoint. The entire time I was reading this book, I could see it as a future movie. It's a great read.