Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Survivors by Jane Harper Narrator: Stephen Shanahan
Published by MacMillan Audio on February 2, 2021
Genres: Thriller
Length: 11 hours, 56 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
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Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.
The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal town he once called home.
Kieran's parents are struggling in a community which is bound, for better or worse, to the sea, that is both a lifeline and a threat. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.
When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away..
It took me a little to get started but that isn’t unusual these days. There is a bit of past / present here with Kieran and his wife, Mia, coming back to their hometown after years away. Kieran’s father is deteriorating in health so he will need to go into care, and the house sold, and his mother to a smaller place.  The Survivors is set in a small beach community. It would be hard to leave a long-time home, right on the ocean.
There are a lot of pieces to the world with the families who lost children in a devastating storm ten years ago. There are the survivors, parents and siblings, some have guilt that they lived or feel responsible. The primary characters are newer adults, who were teens at the time of the storm, like Kieran and Mia.
There is a new death, the drowning of a girl who is summer help at the local bar & grill. She was an artist who came to sketch and sculpt art in this environment before going back to school in the fall. Her death brings up the old deaths and guilt.  But her death is clearly murder.
Suspects are many and evidence is thin. The murder triggers those still unsettled by the old deaths. I didn’t figure out the killer; I just went along for the ride. It was a tumultuous time for Kieran, facing his parents’ aging, the old death of his loved brother, and the new murder. He is happy these days, loving his wife, Mia and their baby, Audrey. I was fairly impressed with how well he handled his feelings about it all. The ending was satisfying with things settled, past and present.
Narration:
I haven’t heard this narrator before. The voices sounded well for the region, both male and female voices were comfortable. With the regional accent, I listened at 1.25x speed which is just a bit slower than normal.
Listen to a clip:
About Jane Harper
Jane is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and has won numerous top awards including the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year, the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year, the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, and the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year.
Her books are published in more than 36 territories worldwide, with The Dry in production as a major motion picture starring Eric Bana.
Jane was born in Manchester in the UK, and moved to Australia with her family at age eight. She spent six years in Boronia, Victoria, and during that time gained Australian citizenship. Returning to the UK with her family as a teenager, she lived in Hampshire before studying English and History at the University of Kent in Canterbury.
On graduating, she completed a journalism entry qualification and got her first reporting job as a trainee on the Darlington & Stockton Times in County Durham. Jane worked for several years as a senior news journalist for the Hull Daily Mail, before moving back to Australia in 2008. She worked first on the Geelong Advertiser, and in 2011 took up a business reporting role in Melbourne.
In 2014, Jane submitted a short story which was one of 12 chosen for the Big Issue’s annual Fiction Edition. That inspired her to pursue creative writing more seriously, breaking through with The Dry at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards in 2015.
Jane lives in bayside Melbourne with her husband and their two children.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- C21-Winter
I just got this recently and am looking forward to listening to it. I’ve not listened to her standalones, just her Aaron Falk series with the same narrator. He takes some getting used to but after awhile, he adds to the atmosphere. Glad you enjoyed it!
I didn’t realize she had a series. I just took a short bit to get used to the narration and then it was good.
Looking forward to this one, Anne. And it’s not part of a series so I can jump in!
Yes, once I got going it was a great read.
We’re review twins today, Anne! I really enjoyed this one as well and Stephen Shanahan’s performance made the story even more enjoyable. Lovely review! 🙂
Well it’s a high honor to be your review twin! I may have difficulty starting some new to me things but once I get going I really enjoyed it.
This sounds like another solid read from Jane Harper – I look forward to getting round to this one myself at some point this year, although likely in physical copy. Thanks for sharing!
I really liked it. Now I’ll go back and read some of her others’ works.
I have a hardcover copy of this one. I have seen some mixed reviews so I am thrilled to see that you enjoyed it. I can’t wait to give it a try.
When I read something set in another country it can be helpful to have narration to get the sound and cultural phrases to support that environment in the world building. I found it a little bit to get into it, both because of a new narrator and also it felt unfocused as it wasn’t a police investigation but just a bunch of personal experiences which led to the solutions.