Audiobook Review: Exiles by Jane Harper

 

Exiles (Aaron Falk #3) by Jane Harper

Publication Date: January 31st 2023 by Macmillan Audio

Pages: 368

Audio Book Length: 12hrs 25min

Narrators: Stephen Shanahan

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Aaron Falk is on vacation in the Marralee Valley to attend the christening of his godson, which was supposed to happen a year earlier but was put off when Kim Gillespie, the ex-sister-in-law of Aaron’s friend, went missing from a local festival. She supposedly abandoned her newborn in a stroller at the festival and just walked off, never to be seen again. Her teenage daughter, Zara, doesn’t buy that and really the whole family agrees that Kim’s actions were out of character. A year later they’re making an appeal at the same festival for information.

 His friend Sergeant Raco asks Aaron to look over the evidence he’s been compiling, even though the story as it goes suggests Kim took her own life. There’s another unsolved case, a hit and run, from five years earlier that Aaron ends up looking into, as well. Being in Aaron’s mind, getting his thought processes, really highlighted how gifted he was in working out what actually happened.

Jane Harper’s beautiful writing brought these characters to life, Aaron, and the cast, so that I cared about each one of them. Her descriptions of the Australian landscape, weaved seamlessly throughout, made it easy to picture and feel a part of. The Marralee Valley sounds like a beautiful idyllic place to live with its rolling hills of vineyards.  

I was so happy with the personal progress Aaron made in this installment! He loves his job but seeing the love and closeness between family and friends has him questioning his career and place in life. There’s also blossoming romance which factors heavily into his decision. Sergeant Raco, his family, and friends were a tightknit group, their relationships spanning years, a group that has welcomed Aaron with open arms. As for the two mysteries, they left a lasting impression. I’m still thinking about them.

Exiles wraps up, and while it is book three of the series, it’s excellent on its own! I look forward to (hopefully!) more of Aaron Falk in the future!

I listened to the audiobook version of this story, as I did with the previous two, and I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Shanahan’s performance of all characters! His Australian accent is fantastic! Highly recommended! I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed. 

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is on his way to a small town deep in Southern Australian wine country for the christening of an old friend's baby. But mystery follows him, even on vacation.

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Kim Gillespie's disappearance. One year ago, at a busy town festival on a warm spring night, Kim safely tucked her sleeping baby into her stroller, then vanished into the crowd. No one has seen her since. When Kim's older daughter makes a plea for anyone with information about her missing mom to come forward, Falk and his old buddy Raco can't leave the case alone.

As Falk soaks up life in the lush valley, he is welcomed into the tight-knit circle of Kim’s friends and loved ones. But the group may be more fractured than it seems. Between Falk’s closest friend, the missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge. What would make a mother abandon her child? What happened to Kim Gillespie?