The Survivors

The Survivors

By Jane Harper

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 community he once called home.

Kieran's parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. 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...

You all know I'm a big Jane Harper fan, and I was very excited about this one.  It felt a little different from her others, not so much because of the Tasmania setting, which does for the sea what her other books do for the outback and the jungle, but more because the main character wasn't isolated. 

As in several of her other books, the main character is coming back to town after being semi-ostracized for a youthful incident which led to someone's death.  Someone else dies and we begin to find out the connections between the two, usually alleviating some, if not all, of the guilt the main character felt at the start.  It was interesting to see here how the addition of the partner and baby made Kieran feel less likely to be killed, or have some sort of attack or something.  It just felt more secure, both in their attitude about what happened, but also in their future.  A baby can do that for you, I guess.  We see that explicitly in the book, too, when Kieran confronts the killer and the killer asks him how he overcame the guilt he had, and Kieran kind of goes, "I found something else to live for" referring to his baby and baby mama. 

I know that's kind of vague, but it really makes the book feel less of a "thriller" and more of a slow, easy mystery read.  There's very little concern that the main character will end up meeting a nefarious end.  And, like her other books, by the end the main character is absolved, not only of the recent death, but of their past guilt as well.  It's very explicit here, with repeated references to "The Survivors" a trio of monuments on the rocks which are meant to symbolize survivors of an earlier shipwreck.  They pop up repeatedly though, and the idea of survivor's guilt is heavy, not only with Kieran's youthful mistake in staying too late at the caves and requiring the ill-fated assistance, but also in the sense of those who were able to leave town and those who aren't, who are semi-captive to a fading locale, wholly dependent on tourists and dying out.  Kieran's father, who has dementia, and his mother, who is packing the house up in preparation for his father's departure, are also emblematic of the survivor's phenomenon, both wrapped up in the past in their own ways. 

Harper does a masterful job with the setting as usual.  Like her others, the location and elements are another character (gosh, how trite, but it's true) and the sea is a looming presence over everyone.  I would say that I still prefer The Dry  of all her books, but this was a good addition to her catalogue.