Last One Out by Jane Harper
Publication Date: April 14th 2026 by Macmillan Audio
Pages: 326
Audio Book Length: 11hrs 38min
Narrators: Angeline Armstrong
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★★½
My
Thoughts:
Carralon Ridge used to be a charming small town, where you’d
come to make a life and raise a family.
Until a mining company systematically bought up the houses and land and
started operations. Ro and Griffin raised their kids, Sam and Della, there and
never thought they’d leave, until their son Sam disappeared.
Five years ago, Sam was back from college and working on
making an oral history of Carralon Ridge, interviewing all the old residents.
While on his way back to his parent’s home to celebrate his birthday, Sam
pulled over his rental car, got out and vanished. Grief put a wedge between Ro
and Griff and when Ro couldn’t take it anymore, she moved.
Ro is back in Carralon Ridge, five years later, for the
anniversary of Sam’s disappearance, when new information surfaces. At first,
Ro, Griff, and Della aren’t sure if it has any bearing on Sam’s disappearance,
but they’re determined to find out. I was very invested in the outcome, both
finding out what happened to Sam and in how Ro, Griff and Della's futures would
play out.
Last One Out was reflective, with Ro able to see the
mistakes she and Griff made in handling the grief. The atmosphere of the dying
town with the residents divided over selling out or staying was palpable. The
puzzle of what happened slowly emerged and while I didn’t find the reveals
surprising, I found the whole story captivating!
I listened to the audio version and loved Angeline Armstrong’s
performance! She gave a distinct voice to each of the characters, male and female.
Her Australian accent sounded authentic and her tone, soft and calm, felt
perfect for this slow burn mystery.
5 Stars
From the New York Times bestselling author of Exiles and The Dry comes a captivating new novel set in a modern ghost town.
Carralon Ridge, a once vibrant village in rural New South Wales, has become a shell of itself, its houses and buildings bought up and left to rot by the mining company operating at its borders. A decade into its slow death, surrounded by industrial noise and swathed in thick layers of dust, the skeletal town is all but abandoned, with just a handful of residents clinging onto what remains.
After years of scorning those who left the Ridge behind as it fell into ruin, Ro never imagined she'd become one of them. But everything changed when she lost her son. Five years ago, Sam vanished while visiting during a break from college, leaving behind a rental car with his belongings inside. Sam had loved Carralon Ridge, and had been working on an oral history of the town to preserve its legacy before it vanished altogether. It wasn't long after his disappearance that the rest of the family began to crumble away too.
But when Ro returns to Carralon Ridge to be with her husband and daughter on the anniversary of Sam's disappearance, she begins to suspect that something important was overlooked in his case. Because while nothing can stop Carralon Ridge from dying, someone seems to want to make sure that its secrets die with it.
