Last One Out by Jane Harper
When the postman delivered the ‘Last One Out’ by Jane Harper, I knew it was time to clear the reading decks. This is her sixth book, (I’ve compiled a list if you want to read the others) and I know my precious reading time is going to consumed by her latest release. To begin with, I keep it to a chapter a day, let the story and the setting sink in, thinking about the characters and their motivations.
My last day finishing this I woke an hour before the alarm and it was the first thing I reached for.
What’s the setting in ‘Last One Out’?
When I start a new Jane Harper novel I’m as eager to discover the setting as much as the plot and characters. This time it’s the town of Carrolan in New South Wales, which is being slowly eaten up by a mining operation, a black mass on the horizon that emits an ominous industrial hum and covers everything in grimy dust.
Harper zooms in, and our attention is on three abandoned buildings on the side of a hill just outside the town, connected by three paths that converge into a dusty track. There’s a pretty ivy covered cottage, a weatherboard farmhouse and and a squat sandstone bungalow, now boarded up.
What’s the story?
The prologue takes place five years to the modern day, where Sam Crowley stands on the dusty track, looking up at the three buildings. It’s his 21st birthday, and he’s due back at the family home for a party. He never makes it.
We join his mum Ro, dad Griff and sister Della five years later, as they gather at the family home for a memorial to the son and brother who just disappeared.
Carrolan and Characters
As previously mentioned, this is a town on its last legs. At the single crossroads the only building in operation is the pub, and that’s only open a couple of hours a week. From the start you feel it won’t be long until the last person has left.
There’s still some lingering resentment between the last of the towns inhabitants. Originally united in their determination to resist the mine, cracks in the alliance appeared when first one sold, then others followed. The few who remain know they’ll only get a fraction of the original offers, whilst others have come back out of guilt, whilst some are tied for family reasons. But most have left, or are making plans to do so.
The events have taken a toll on Ro and Griff’s marriage, each alone in their grief. Gathering for the memorial, they start to look through some boxes of Sam’s things. Will a further visit to the three abandoned homes on the hillside reveal any secrets?
Summary
This was a slow burner for me. As is usual in her books the setting is an integral part of the story, and she excels in creating a dusty, abandoned backdrop. It took a wee while for the atmosphere and tension to build, though I was intrigued with the mystery from the start.
As usual her characterisation was spot on, all believable with their own motivations and burdens. I read slowly, my suspicions fluctuating around the characters.
I really felt for Griff and Ro, their grief felt all too real and it gave the story an emotional heart that you don’t always find in thrillers. There was also something sad to watch as the town slowly disintegrated, soon to be swallowed up.
I found this to be atmospheric and melancholic, beautifully written as usual and I didn’t mind the slower pace. It was very much character driven, tightly layered with a mystery that comes to the boil nicely in the final third.
Already looking forward to the next one.
326 pages Macmillan
April 14, 2026
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If you liked this, you might also like ‘The Survivors’ or ‘Exiles’by Jane Harper, whilst another thriller you might enjoy is ‘God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore.