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Last One Out

The gripping and atmospheric Australian small-town mystery from the bestselling author of The Dry

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Last One Out

By: Jane Harper
Narrated by: Angeline Armstrong
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The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller

'A book to get lost in' Ann Cleeves
'Utterly brilliant. I could not put it down' Marian Keyes

Five years ago, Sam Crowley vanished on his twenty-first birthday. The only clues were his footprints in the dust of three abandoned houses.

One set in. One set out.

Now, his mother Ro returns to the dying town of Carralon Ridge. The community is a ghost of its former self, fractured by the encroaching mining operation and years of unspoken grief.

Ro is looking for answers. But in a town where everyone is leaving, the few who remain are guarding closely held secrets.

In this disappearing landscape, can Ro find the truth before the dust settles forever?

'I was glued to it for days' – Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
'An exquisite lament for a lost son, a lost marriage and a lost town with a dark mystery at its heart' – Daily Mail
'The drama grows to a spectacular crescendo that will leave you gasping’ Daily Express

 Crime Thrillers Genre Fiction Mystery Small Town & Rural Thriller & Suspense World Literature
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Critic reviews

This is a slow-burn of a novel, claustrophobic and compelling. It's a wonderful exploration of fractured families and communities, and the conclusion is both shocking and inevitable. A book to get lost in (Ann Cleeves, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Killing Stones)
Jane Harper is mistress of the threats and secrets that threaten life in the backwoods small towns of Australia. She delivers unbearable tension every time (Val McDermid, bestselling author of 1989)
An exceptional book. The sense of place is very powerful and her characterization is utterly brilliant . . . I could not put it down (Marian Keyes, Sunday Times bestselling author of My Favourite Mistake)
A tale of old sins casting long shadows. It is like a locked room mystery with narrow silos of suspects and motives, but it is much more than that. Harper excels at making the reader feel every emotion, every moment of doubt, the thrill of a possible breakthrough, the wrench of another dead end. She takes the reader on a memorable journey that will pull at the heart, stiffen the spine, and thrill the reader. No one can ask for more than that. (David Baldacci, Sunday Times bestselling author of Nash Falls)
This intricate story of a dying town and its residents is beautifully written and incredibly atmospheric. Heartbreaking and wonderful. (Andrea Mara, No. 1 bestselling author of No One Saw a Thing)
I am a huge Jane Harper fan, and absolutely loved Last One Out. The atmosphere of a dying town, combined with Jane's brilliant characterisation plus a confounding mystery meant I was glued to it for days (Jennie Godfrey, Sunday Times bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things)
An exquisite lament for a lost son, a lost marriage and a lost town with a dark mystery at its heart
Harper writes perceptively about intense relationships in isolated communities
Jane Harper delivers another intricate and compelling novel, this one exploring the myriad ways in which ‘home’ can hurt and heal us. An unforgettable book with a shocking and satisfying twist. (Sarah Hilary, author of Black Thorn)
I love Jane Harper's Australia-based mysteries (Stephen King)
As ever in a Harper book, the drama grows to a spectacular crescendo that will leave you gasping
Jane Harper’s The Dry inaugurated a series in which the parched atmosphere of the Australian outback was conjured with a richly atmospheric sense of place, locating Harper in the upper echelons of Antipodean crime fiction. Her position is consolidated with Last One Out, which is a forensic examination of both familial breakdown and the fracturing of a community . . . she remains incontrovertibly the reigning queen of Aussie crime fiction

Harper builds a slowburning, atmospheric mystery steeped in
grief and place
[An] absorbing novel of loss and guilt
All stars
Most relevant
lovely atmospheric book and narrated well which I lovely enjoyed as an audible book. thank you

great read

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Harper's skill in giving us convincing characters, intertwined stories, and an astonishingly vivid sense of place continues. I really wanted to know what had happened, and I cared. Great stuff once again.

Another brilliant and moving tale

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I wish Jane Harper did not write such wonderful books. As with any good mystery I wanted to reach the end to see what happens but I didn’t want to ever reach the end. Deeply emotional. Thank you Jane Harper

Wonderful book

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I’ve been a huge fan of Jane Harper since ‘The Dry’, and have read all five of her previous novels. Her real strength has always been making the landscape a character in itself, but in this almost deserted coal mining town I just never quite got there. Considering the deserted nature of the town there are almost too many characters, and it becomes confusing tracking who is who or caring that much. The story itself was less gripping and somewhat predictable. Overall it left me wanting more. 5 out of 10 when her others have never been below an 8 and have had several 10s, I hope the next one is a return to form.

Not the author’s best

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Another fantastic book by Jane Harper, and brilliantly narrated. All her books are very good, but this is unputdownable. YOu need to get to the end

Absolutely Brilliant

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