Last One Out

by Jane Harper

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.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Australia, Crime, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 14, 2025

About the author

Jane Harper is the international bestselling author of The Dry, Force of Nature and The Lost Man.
Jane is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and has won numerous top awards including the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year, the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year, the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, and the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year.
Her books are published in more than 36 territories worldwide, with The Dry in production as a major motion picture starring Eric Bana.
Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK, and now lives in Melbourne.

Reviews

[Dorie - Cats&Books :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It pains me to give a Jane Harper book a 3* but this one didn’t work for me in so many ways!

PROS:
* Interesting premise of a dying town and how all of the residents are affected. Businesses closed and there are only a few still determined to stay.

* Description of the atmosphere in the town - the constant dust, dirt and noise from trucks coming and going. The very air in the town smells poisonous.

* Good set up with Sam whose disappearance caused Ro and Griff to separate and
Ro to leave the town.

CONS:
* Sam disappeared from a group of three houses that now belong to the mine, we revisit these same houses over and over. Even Harper’s wonderful writing didn’t save this one from being slow and repetitive.

* So many loose threads and lost opportunities to engage the reader further

* In the end what happened to Sam had to be explained to the reader - “telling without showing” is not the form I enjoy in a mystery.

I think this book is much more of a family drama and mystery - it definitely is not a thriller. If you go into it expecting a slow burn this may work better for other readers.

This was a buddy read with Carolyn, be sure to read her excellent review.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last One Out is a very different novel from Jane Harper. I was so excited to get an early copy to read from ,y lovely people at Pan Macmillan Australia,a big thank you.

This book did take a little bit to get into for me. It is a much slower paced mystery story, it so much crime novel as that part comes much later. This is a character and location driven drama about a family grieving and a town that is dying, corral on Ridge is slowly being taken over by the coal mining company taking over its land and forcing the locals away. Businesses are closing and even the local pub only opens a few hours a week. The Crowley family are grieving their son Sam,how disappeared 5 years earlier on his 21st birthday,never to be seen again.

We see how Sam’s disappearance has broken this family, and changed the people still hanging on in town. The family, especially mother Jo, doesn’t trust anyone anymore, and just wants their boy back. The resolution of this mystery wasn’t quite what I had hoped for but worked for the story.

As always Jane Harpers writing is superb. She really does bring you as a reader into the town with her narrative and descriptions of the land and the people. You can certainly picture it all as you read and get a sense of the feelings and emotions this family and town are experiencing.

If a Jane Harper writes it I will read it. I did enjoy Last One Out of course.

[Lavins · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars rounded up

That bad? Yeah
This book should have had 2 chapters and it would have suffice.

This is an insanely long book where what you read in the synopsis is what is going to get you till the very end. All it contains till there is memories, regrets, descriptions, more memories, more regrets. A constant atmosphere of pain and doom. Okay I get it...but 50 chapters of this are not going to make it happen.

And when you get to the end...it's some sort of a...mistake and that's when people confess out of the goodness of their heart...

[Adrian Dooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I absolutely loved this one. A slow burn for sure but all the better of it.

Ro returns to the small and dying town of Carralon Ridge, her former home where five years ago her son went missing on his 21st birthday never to be seen again. This event tore Ro and her family apart, her marriage fell apart and she moved away from the town she had called home. A town that at the time had been and still is slowly dying due to a large coal mine which has appeared on its border and encroached ever closer as it bought out homes and demolished them.

With her son’s 5th anniversary coming up, as she returns to her former home and former family to mark the occasion she is determined to try and find out what happened on that fateful day.

As I said this one is a slow burn. It’s a character study more than a mystery. It’s a story about grief and how it effects people, more than a mystery, be it the grief of losing a loved one or the grief of losing what is familiar as the town itself is the one that is dying.

There is a mystery throughout of course but it often plays second fiddle to the characters, their relationships and their trauma.

I absolutely loved this one. Beautifully paced with vibrant and flawed characters with the bleak backdrop of the town, there’s a melancholy to the story that is constant throughout, only occasionally spiked and dipped by the goodness and badness in people.

A microcosmic look at the human condition that speaks as much about the world we live in as it does about the small town in Australia. An absolute tour de force.

Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

[John Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 33% I thought I was done with this one, but I persevered, mostly through the encouragement of my GR friend Billie-Jade. Thanks for that.

But as well written and sometimes gripping as the book was, with great descriptions of the town and it's characters, it still was a depressing read. A dying remote town with an ever encroaching mine taking over everything, partnered with the five year anniversary of their then 21 year old son going missing on his birthday, doesn't make for happy or even pleasant. Sam's mother Ro was an excellent narrator and the family and most friends were supportive. But as with all small towns, an undercurrent of malice and unsaid thoughts remain.

But once again, beautifully written. 3 stars, library ebook.

'She did miss Griff, deeply and often, but what she really missed was how they used to be, and that wasn’t who they were now.' pg 156

[Hannah Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many characters, not very believable, boring and it dragged. Very disappointing! Sorry Jane Harper… loved your other ones but not this one.

[Fmcklp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lacked a sense of mystery, momentum and drive. Lots of repetition to the point of meandering. The character of Ro wasn’t the most compelling to spend time with. A clear, almost clumsy hint to who did it was dropped at one point and I immediately caught it. The alternate suspects were not convincing enough. I would give this a 2.5, there are now much better Aussie crime authors, although the genre is getting more and more crowded and cliched…

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a book about nothing. You could read the last couple of chapters and know as much as you would had you read the whole book. I skim read this and struggled the whole way through which is a first for me with a Jane Harper book.

[Krystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly a disappointing offering from someone who started so strong. I find Jane Harper's stuff really hit or miss!

If you're into the atmospheric stuff, you might enjoy this tale of a dying town, but I wouldn't look here for a good crime story.

The story begins with a kid going missing, after visiting three abandoned houses. The story then shifts to the present, where we learn more about the abandoned houses than we do about the kid that's gone missing.

It sets the tone for a novel that then discusses every element of the town's collapse, and draws all fun out of the mystery by burying it in dust and broken things. There are broken relationships across town, with many caused by people staying-or-going as the town becomes slowly less inhabited.

It was written well, for sure - no one can ever say Jane Harper doesn't know how to craft a well-written story. It's just that the subject matter wasn't all that interesting.

We do get a payoff eventually, with the mystery unravelling towards the end, but it's mostly dull up until that point so rather disappointing.

If you like the slow stuff that explores relationships between people and setting, this might still entertain. But crime fans might be disappointed if drawn here after reading the more entertaining The Dry or The Lost Man.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an absolute sucker for crime novels set in Australia

[bookswithpaulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I heard Jane Harper was releasing a new book I knew I would fly through it in a couple of days. Thanks to the lovely team at Pan Macmillan I received an ARC.

It did not disappoint. It’s definitely a slow burn this one, reminded me a little of one of my favs of hers (The Lost Man). We have a small town seating The Crowley family are grieving the disappearance of their son on his 21st birthday. He was never seen again, 5 years on we see the impact on the small town as a coal mining company is taking over land and forcing out the locals.

Sam’s disappearance is still not solved we see the impact this has had on his family over the years, his mother Jo just wants her boy back. It’s a crime mystery story, as more bread crumbs are revealed.

I’m always immersed in Janes story telling, her vivid landscapes are a character in their own right. I was drawn into this mystery from the get go.

Is this gem on your radar?

[Sheree | Keeping Up With The Penguins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an interesting addition to the genre of Australian books about missing persons, in that it weaves the mystery into a wider story about the impact of absence on those left behind and the pressures of small-town life.

My full review of Last One Out is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed by this one. I appreciate Harper wanting to do something quiet and maybe more character-driven. Yet, she follows the same format as a typical mystery. Here therein lies the problem: the pacing is dreadful. Page after page of not much other than the repeated observation that the sky is so bright that it brings tears to the eyes (or some close version of that). 30 pages (2/3 of the way in no less!) of characters comparing keys to a found key was less than exciting. I would’ve rather had longer chapters fleshing out the history of the characters but the information is dumped onto the reader. The last 40 pages gets to what Harper is keen to do, so I ask “why fight it for 300 pages.
I wanted to like this; I encourage authors to try new things. This just did not land

[Anne Buist · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about grief. It is a book about small towns and the emotional consequences of a town dying - in this case because of a mining take over, but it could be all the other reasons small towns die. It’s a surprising book in the sense that it is not quite what I expected (I’ve read all her other books) though to be fair the last one set in Tasmania was not about cops either. In this the missing presumed dead child is there from the beginning. No police. No investigation. No suspicion really either. Nor about the other earlier suicide…but a slow burn of emotions as things unfold. Slow pace but I couldn’t stop reading regardless- beautiful prose that puts us in the town and family viscerally. The Lost Man was my previous favourite - this is up there with it though a very different book.

[Anna Loder · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poignant depiction of a dying town…and a mother grieving her missing son, but it didn’t quite work for me. I did have Jane Harper high expectations 😔 out mid October, and massive thanks to Macmillan for my arc.

[ANDREA · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book ,I couldn’t finish it so very slow . Nothing made any sense . It just dragged on . Skipped a few chapters to see if it got any better . But sadly didn’t work for me .

[eighteenohfive · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was apprehensive about going into this book as I’d read some of the other reviews about it being slow, and less about the crime and more about the town. I’m a big Jane Harper fan so was worried I’d be let down, but to be quite honest, I think this is one of her best works. Admittedly, it is more ‘literary noir’ than traditional crime; it’s very much character focussed, with the dying town one of the main characters, and the crime itself is more background, particularly for the first half of the book. It’s definitely much slower, but the writing is evocative and beautiful, with a sharply developed mystery to keep things interesting. I’m glad I had lowered my expectations, because I think if I was expecting a typical Harper, I would have been disappointed, but going in knowing it would be a bit different allowed to me to slow down and enjoy the richness of it.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow burn crime novel but with, as always, Jane Harper's amazing ability to build a sense of place and people.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5★

Review to follow.

[Olga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last One Out suffers from a sluggish pace that never builds meaningful tension. the plot unfolds predictably, and the conclusion is neither surprising nor satisfying. characters feel flat and their motivations thin, making it hard to stay engaged. overall, it is a disappointing read and a far cry from the depth and atmosphere of The Lost Man.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately this was a bit boring. A dying town in the shadow of a big mining operation, a family torn apart by grief at the unexplained loss of their son, depressing characters and abandoned buildings, it’s an overload of grim. The story just felt sad and the disappearance of 21 year old Sam seemed a bit unbelievable, as did all the angst about townsfolk who were leaving. I wanted to see how it finished but ultimately it was uninteresting.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ ahhh I wanted to like this because I LOVE all her other books but sadly it was not for me. The first half, I was sooo disinterested I almost didn’t continue reading. Had to skim read my way through the middle section, waiting for something to happen.

[Billie-Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

As many other readers have remarked, Jane's latest novel is a slow burn. Nevertheless, I never once wanted it to speed up. Fast paced means nothing if the writer fails to create atmosphere, and to bring characters to life insofar as they feel real. Jane is an expert at both, and it's a pleasure and privilege to experience. I would still classify this novel as an outback noir mystery, but also with the writerly merits of credible literature. I am once again reminded why Harper is among my favourite authors and a true exemplar of the genre.

[Catherine]

I have loved other Jane Harper book, but this one...it was very very slow and there was no hook. All we know was that someone disappeared 5 years ago. But halfway through the book the characters were still being introduced and there was no new discovery to do with the disappearance,etc. so it was like...what's the point?

[Marit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in a small town in New South Wales this story reads less like a whodunnit and more like a detailed and in-depth psychological mystery. Five years ago Ro Crowley and her ex-husband, Griff, discovered that their twenty-one year old son had disappeared without a trace on his birthday. Their once thriving town, Carrolon Ridge, is slowly dying as the nearby coal mine buys up more and more land and demolishes the dwellings. Ro lives in Sydney whereas Griff is still in Carrolon. They and their daughter, Della, gather each year for a memorial service. Ro is determined is to find out what each of the remaining residents remembers and who has the key to this ongoing mystery. An exceptional tale.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ro’s son Sam went missing on his 21st birthday and was never seen again.This incident broke her family apart.
Now five years later Ro has returned home to see if she can find out what happened to her son.
A slow burn story about a dying mining town with very little inhabitants and people who are keeping secrets.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can only imagine Harper's previous book 'The Dry' was titled such as a homage to her writing and storytelling ability which is perhaps the only thing drier than the Australian outback. This book is excruciating slow, with virtually nothing happening for the entire thing. Her writing isn't actively bad but is exceedingly average and doesn't do anything to help the story along.

There's no suspense whatsoever, Ro is only very half heartedly looking for answers about her son and is clearly mostly resigned to never having answers, her husband is just getting on with life and her daughter is probably the most invested but even that plot gets dropped pretty quickly. There's no red herrings or plot twists, nothing remotely thrilling happens and even once the truth about Warren and Sam's deaths come out it's glossed over pretty quickly in the final few chapters. There's no emotional confrontation or release whatsoever.

Earlier in the year I read an Ill Wind by Margret Hickey, and didn't particularly like it but it did a significantly better job of essentially the exact same plot - a presumed suicide, big business (wind turbines vs mining) coming in and invading a small town and pushing locals out, violence born from the locals trying to protect the town etc.

I think even marketing this book as crime fiction is wrong, because just having murder isn't enough to classify something as crime fiction imo.

Massive snooze

[Joanne, drinker of tea, reader of books, servant to cats · Rating 2 out of 5]

It grieves me to give Jane Harper a 2 star rating. It truly does.

I was more than happy to be distracted by other things when reading this book.

After the quite engaging first 50 pages or so, the book was slow, shallow, and repetitive to the point that if it had been any other author, I would have dnf'd it long before half way.

The same conversations over and over and over again. A hint early in the book that too obviously pointed to who and why, and was not clever enough to possibly be a red herring.

This was paired with shallow characters that were simply not intesting enough to be considered as an alternative 'who', and not deeply developed enough for even a potential 'why'.

So, there was no sense of anticipation, no sense of anxiety, and no real sense of satisfaction at the end.

And honestly, I felt little pathos for Ro and her family. There just wasnt enough depth to them.

Towards the end there was a plot device that left a plot hole the size of the adjacent mine.

Jane Harper has previously described the landscape and environment with exquisite beauty of phrasing. However, even this was not to her usual level. Bland, and even here, it was overly repetitive.

I have enjoyed Jane Harper's books to date, and greatly anticipated this one. But this one is a definite 'not for me'.

[Isla Madden · Rating 1 out of 5]

BORING

[Mary McBride · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to see a new stand alone from Jane Harper. She is my go to for mysteries.
Well, not this one.
It was slow and the characters were actually boring.
I almost didn’t finish.
I will always give her a try but this one did not do it.