Last One Out by Jane Harper

 

First Line: He had been here, that was clear from the marks in the dust.

Just a handful of residents remain in Carralon Ridge, once a thriving rural village in New South Wales. For the past ten years, its houses and buildings have been bought up and left to rot by a mining company operating at its borders.

Five years ago, Ro lost her son. Sam vanished while visiting Carralon Ridge during a break from college. Sam loved the town and had been working on an oral history to preserve its legacy before it vanished altogether.

Now, Ro has returned to be with her husband and daughter on the anniversary of Sam's disappearance. Soon, she suspects that something important was overlooked in his case. Nothing can stop Carralon Ridge from dying, but someone wants to make sure that its secrets die with it.

~

Several years ago, my husband and I spent many days searching out and visiting old ghost towns from one end of Arizona to the other. It was lots of fun, a great way to explore the state, and very educational as well. Reading Jane Harper's Last One Out reminded me of those times. 

I felt the dust of Carralon Ridge seep into every pore and crevice of my body. It blurred my vision, and the blazing sun made me want to reach for my sunglasses.  In other words, Harper's setting is superb. Here in Arizona, entire towns have been swallowed whole by mining companies in search of gold and copper, so it was easy for me to visualize this Australian town slowly being put to death.

However, Harper doesn't just give readers an incredibly evocative setting; she populates it with multi-faceted characters. After her son's disappearance, Ro's family fell apart, and when she returns to join her husband, Griff, and daughter, Della, for a remembrance ceremony for Sam, she can't resist revisiting the last places her son was known to visit. As she moves from place to place and talks with the town's remaining inhabitants, readers get to know her-- and them-- and become just as invested in learning the truth of her son's disappearance. 

Harper has proven to be a master of creating settings, characters, and plots that get under my skin. Last One Out is a must-read for those who like to be swept away in the pages of an absorbing story.

Last One Out by Jane Harper

eISBN: 9781250291400

Flatiron Books © 2026

eBook, 336 pages

Standalone Thriller

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.