Last One Out

By Jane Harper

Book Overview

THE INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"A memorable journey that will pull at the heart, stiffen the spine, and thrill the reader. No one can ask for more than that." --David Baldacci
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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250291399
• ISBN13: 9781250291394
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Slow to start but realistic and captivating

Slow for the first 100 pages but worth it in the end. I love Harper’s description of Australia and her plots are realistic and intriguing. Read all her work and this one is one of the better ones.

Really Not a Thriller

Maybe this could have been an interesting short story but I doubt it. It was dreary. Harper could have used a better editor so that it wasn't so repetitive. Skip it.