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Where They Fall
A MISSING BIOLOGIST.
A CHILLING CONSPIRACY.
A COP THAT WON’T BACK DOWN.
When Lachlan Harvey, a leading mind in synthetic biology, is drugged in the heart of the city, he wakes in a secret facility in the harsh Australian outback. Kidnapped for his unique skill set, he learns quickly that escape is impossible. His only chance of survival is compliance.
Detective Cameron Cole and his partner Rachael Blake are tasked with solving the sudden disappearance of Lachlan Harvey. The case throws them into a dark world of conspiracy, corruption, and cutting edge science. Just as the pair begins to make progress, they’re pulled off the case - a stark warning that sometimes the truth doesn't want to be found.
Discovering a web of lies leading to the outback’s unforgiving terrain, this could be the one case these hard-bitten cops won’t survive. Will they follow orders or will they blow open a sinister plot buried deep in the desert sand?
One thing they’ll come to learn — the South Australian outback really is deadly.
If you like relatable protagonists, ominous threats, and hair-raising twists, then you’ll love L J Duncan’s raw Aussie noir.
A CHILLING CONSPIRACY.
A COP THAT WON’T BACK DOWN.
When Lachlan Harvey, a leading mind in synthetic biology, is drugged in the heart of the city, he wakes in a secret facility in the harsh Australian outback. Kidnapped for his unique skill set, he learns quickly that escape is impossible. His only chance of survival is compliance.
Detective Cameron Cole and his partner Rachael Blake are tasked with solving the sudden disappearance of Lachlan Harvey. The case throws them into a dark world of conspiracy, corruption, and cutting edge science. Just as the pair begins to make progress, they’re pulled off the case - a stark warning that sometimes the truth doesn't want to be found.
Discovering a web of lies leading to the outback’s unforgiving terrain, this could be the one case these hard-bitten cops won’t survive. Will they follow orders or will they blow open a sinister plot buried deep in the desert sand?
One thing they’ll come to learn — the South Australian outback really is deadly.
If you like relatable protagonists, ominous threats, and hair-raising twists, then you’ll love L J Duncan’s raw Aussie noir.
344 pages, Paperback
Published July 22, 2022
8 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
L.J. Duncan
4 books12 followersL J Duncan is a fresh new voice in the crime fiction and dystopian thriller genre. He comes from a small town in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. His interest in heavy-hitting literature and cinema has helped fuel his no holds barred approach to story telling.
Having been raised in a family with a love and passion for reading and music, L J Duncan began to dabble in writing about half his life ago. It just wasn't fiction - it was rap lyrics...
Years of writing lyrics helped fuel the fire until his mid-twenties when he found he needed something more to keep the flames burning.
L J Duncan began writing crime fiction and dystopian thrillers and now with The Soteria Trilogy complete, he finally has some titles to share with the world.
His style is gritty and raw, as all good thrillers should be, and he doesn't water things down. The SOTERIA trilogy is ready to shock you, awaken you and hopefully immerse you in a future that might not be too different from what we have faced this year.
Having been raised in a family with a love and passion for reading and music, L J Duncan began to dabble in writing about half his life ago. It just wasn't fiction - it was rap lyrics...
Years of writing lyrics helped fuel the fire until his mid-twenties when he found he needed something more to keep the flames burning.
L J Duncan began writing crime fiction and dystopian thrillers and now with The Soteria Trilogy complete, he finally has some titles to share with the world.
His style is gritty and raw, as all good thrillers should be, and he doesn't water things down. The SOTERIA trilogy is ready to shock you, awaken you and hopefully immerse you in a future that might not be too different from what we have faced this year.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 4, 2022
Where they Fall is an engrossing thriller about Lachlan Harvey, a synthetic biologist who is taken against his will and whisked to a secret facility in the Australian outback. After being drugged, Harvey wakes up to a living nightmare upon discovering that the only way to survive his ordeal is to comply with the despicable orders made by his captors. The orders involve Harvey being forced to utilise his biology skills to carry out work and experiments that are not only unethical, but worse still, they are beyond inhumane.
Two hardy Victorian cops named Detective Cameron Cole and Rachael Blake are assigned the role of following up on Harvey's sudden disappearance. What they uncover is beyond their comprehension, and they become sucked into a web of lies, corruption, and the stark reality that people in high places are not who they thought they were. The odds are against them, and they quickly discover that not all is as it seems within their chain of command. If they are going to survive this investigation, they must outwit multiple parties who have more collective power than they could ever dream of.
Then there are the two couples who set off on a journey to travel into the unknown through creepy terrain, their lives about to be changed forever simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In true Duncan fashion, he cleverly intersects each scene and plot twist to encompass the looming fates of the biologist, the police, and the travelers with the use of three degrees of separation. As with Duncan's other novels, he keeps the reader invested by humanising the characters, then he adds layers of complexity to propel the plot forward, and cleverly sucks the reader into rooting for the protagonist due to his inherent need to survive.
Duncan's build in pace to the climatic ending is impeccable, and I for one, had a book hangover from reading on when I should have been sleeping! Another brilliant novel from a fellow South Australian author - well done!
Two hardy Victorian cops named Detective Cameron Cole and Rachael Blake are assigned the role of following up on Harvey's sudden disappearance. What they uncover is beyond their comprehension, and they become sucked into a web of lies, corruption, and the stark reality that people in high places are not who they thought they were. The odds are against them, and they quickly discover that not all is as it seems within their chain of command. If they are going to survive this investigation, they must outwit multiple parties who have more collective power than they could ever dream of.
Then there are the two couples who set off on a journey to travel into the unknown through creepy terrain, their lives about to be changed forever simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In true Duncan fashion, he cleverly intersects each scene and plot twist to encompass the looming fates of the biologist, the police, and the travelers with the use of three degrees of separation. As with Duncan's other novels, he keeps the reader invested by humanising the characters, then he adds layers of complexity to propel the plot forward, and cleverly sucks the reader into rooting for the protagonist due to his inherent need to survive.
Duncan's build in pace to the climatic ending is impeccable, and I for one, had a book hangover from reading on when I should have been sleeping! Another brilliant novel from a fellow South Australian author - well done!
July 19, 2022
Rating: ★★★½
Just before I started reading this, I read an Aussie rural noir set in a very wet & humid northern QLD and then I jumped into this where it's set in hot & dry South Australian desert. I felt a little bit dislocated. Meanwhile, IRL, Sydney weather is just as unpredictable as ever but as it is winter, I kind of wish to be in SA.
The novel is told from 3 perspectives: Lachlan Harvey, a kidnapped scientist, Cameron Cole, the detective tasked to find the missing scientist, and Jake Gibbs, a tourist on an outback adventure. This last perspective confused me a bit as he wasn't mentioned at all in the synopsis though one would assume he's probably involved somehow and in a rather significant way since his is one of the perspectives. As always for me, it took a little bit of time to adjust for the alternative POVs but the alternating perspectives were layered very well chronologically that the story flows on quite smoothly.
Featuring likeable characters, Where They Fall is a thrilling race-against-the-time read. You'll probably have to suspend some disbelief, especially on the science side of things, but the suspense and hair-raising ending make the read unputdownable. Also, how far would you go to keep your family safe? These characters pulled out all the stops!
My thanks to the author for gifting me an ecopy of this book in exchange of my honest thoughts
Just before I started reading this, I read an Aussie rural noir set in a very wet & humid northern QLD and then I jumped into this where it's set in hot & dry South Australian desert. I felt a little bit dislocated. Meanwhile, IRL, Sydney weather is just as unpredictable as ever but as it is winter, I kind of wish to be in SA.
The novel is told from 3 perspectives: Lachlan Harvey, a kidnapped scientist, Cameron Cole, the detective tasked to find the missing scientist, and Jake Gibbs, a tourist on an outback adventure. This last perspective confused me a bit as he wasn't mentioned at all in the synopsis though one would assume he's probably involved somehow and in a rather significant way since his is one of the perspectives. As always for me, it took a little bit of time to adjust for the alternative POVs but the alternating perspectives were layered very well chronologically that the story flows on quite smoothly.
Featuring likeable characters, Where They Fall is a thrilling race-against-the-time read. You'll probably have to suspend some disbelief, especially on the science side of things, but the suspense and hair-raising ending make the read unputdownable. Also, how far would you go to keep your family safe? These characters pulled out all the stops!
My thanks to the author for gifting me an ecopy of this book in exchange of my honest thoughts
October 25, 2022
A biologist is kidnapped at the very beginning of the book and we are taken on an adventure that explores the detectives trying to find him, people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time, mercenaries in the desert 🏜 and a handful of other colourful characters!
Who can even be trusted?!
There is multiple storylines being told at the same time in this book which had me wondering how they were all going to come together or make sense at the end. It was so clever how this was done and how everything tied together so seemlessly.
We have a cop team, some travellers, and a biologist who all end up in the outback and mixed up in some scary and dangerous stuff.
I really enjoyed how the small town was involved in everything, it just added to the scary and untrustworthy vibes! The stuff that was happening in the secret facility scares the HECK outta me, because I can just see how (unfortunately) it could be seen as useful 😅🙃😬
There was plenty of gruesome mrder in this, and plenty of action!
Who can even be trusted?!
There is multiple storylines being told at the same time in this book which had me wondering how they were all going to come together or make sense at the end. It was so clever how this was done and how everything tied together so seemlessly.
We have a cop team, some travellers, and a biologist who all end up in the outback and mixed up in some scary and dangerous stuff.
I really enjoyed how the small town was involved in everything, it just added to the scary and untrustworthy vibes! The stuff that was happening in the secret facility scares the HECK outta me, because I can just see how (unfortunately) it could be seen as useful 😅🙃😬
There was plenty of gruesome mrder in this, and plenty of action!
August 22, 2024
A gory action-packed thriller, but totally unbelievable that there would be that many evil people colluding in secret to cover up a horribly unethical and inhumane operation. Learned a lot about South Australia and tons of map points for my Travel through Books atlas project.
August 8, 2022
Detective Cameron Cole and his partner Rachael are on a missing person case. The missing person is Lachlan Harvey, who is a scientist and an impressive skill set. This puts him on a radar of people that want what he can do. Lachlan wakes up in Australia and a secret entity wants to use his brilliant mind for their own purposes. He realizes that there is no chance of escape and complies with everything that is asked of him. Meanwhile, Cameron and Rachael start piecing together what had happen. They are pulled off the case and told to move on. They realize that there is corruption that caused them to be pulled off this case. They have decide if they want to move on or finish what they started. Will they survive the terrains of Australia or the corrupted entity that hides their tacks well? An entertaining and exciting thriller, with twists and turns. A definite page turner.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
July 26, 2022
This is a great read! I did really enjoy it, a good, fast pace, brilliant ideas & storyline. Interesting characters, chilling in some respects! As always a super enjoyable experience & I will look forward to reading more by this writer! I do recommend!
June 2, 2023
A great read that shows dystopian possibilities of a truly horrific future.
Setting, characters, dialogue and atmosphere combine to show a theme of what can happen when you take the ethics out of science.
Setting, characters, dialogue and atmosphere combine to show a theme of what can happen when you take the ethics out of science.
November 5, 2023
What’s not to like, international conspiracy, missing scientist, crooked and maverick cops. Suspend a little bit of disbelief and go with the adventure.
October 8, 2022
I'm just at 14% yet, so maybe go on reading, not bad so far.
I don't understand what kind of vacation is driving by in desert infested with flies. How is this fun?
Update
I'm surprised I've actually finished it, the characters weren't annoying, apart from detective Blake, I can't take seriously an adult drinking soy latte and smoothies and taking cut up fruit to a stake out.
Also, there wasn't any shoe-horning ideology which I despise the most, but apart from that, I can't name anything positive. There isn't any single original idea, fresh thought and absolutely no humor.
I don't understand what kind of vacation is driving by in desert infested with flies. How is this fun?
Update
I'm surprised I've actually finished it, the characters weren't annoying, apart from detective Blake, I can't take seriously an adult drinking soy latte and smoothies and taking cut up fruit to a stake out.
Also, there wasn't any shoe-horning ideology which I despise the most, but apart from that, I can't name anything positive. There isn't any single original idea, fresh thought and absolutely no humor.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews