Taken from Google Books:

WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?

I just can't understand how someone like him could do something like that.

Amid the worst drought to ravage Australia in a century, it hasn't rained in small country town Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.

Policeman Aaron Falk returns to the town of his youth for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke's death threatens to unearth. And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past and why he left home bubble to the surface as he questions the truth of his friend's crime.

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This is a discussion thread for people who have read or are reading the book in question. With that in mind, there are likely to be spoilers throughout. However, in the event of major twists or “how it ends”, please wrap content in spoiler tags.

Code:

[spoiler]Surprise!content here[/spoiler]

Questions:

1. Did you find the ending satisfying? Was it predictable? And if so, did that take away from the conclusion?
   
2. How did you find Aaron Falk as a protagonist? Do you think his role as both an outsider AND a native was integral to the story, or would it have worked had he been one or the other?
   
3. The hostility of the land is a big part of the story. Do you think the author expressed this well and how significant is it to the overall feel of the novel?
   
4. Which characters did you like most? Who do you wish we'd seen more of?
   
5. Would you read the next book in the series Force of Nature?
   

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fabulous set by Lady <3

HEY I'M LATE TO THIS PARTY.
This is the third book I've read this year featuring the protag going back to a hostile hometown. (Other two: Bonfire + Sharp Objects.) I think of the 3 this is the one that centered the setting best re: the climax, but overall I loved Sharp Objects more. I liked the echoes of the past.

1. Did you find the ending satisfying? Was it predictable? And if so, did that take away from the conclusion?

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I thought that Gretchen was going to be the killer. I LOVED the thing with the lighter at the end. I also liked the thing with Ellie. Justice for Ellie!! I kind of wish that things w/ Falk+Gretchen had worked out differently or been drawn out more, idk? ALSO LIKED THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY ABOUT KAREN. HOORAY FOR KAREN.

I'll be checking out the sequel I think.

  

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MJ made this!