Summary

In the prologue, the third-person narrator tells us that Alice Russell disappeared in the bushland, and that she had a mean streak. Then, time skips backwards, and we learn that five women and five men in separate groups went into the bushland on a corporate retreat. The men arrived at the endpoint ahead of schedule, but the women did not show up. The retreat leader called the park rangers and a search for the women began. As night descended, four women appeared and asked if Alice had made it back.

In Chapter 1, Agent Aaron Falk of Melbourne’s federal financial investigation unit was reading a book when his new partner, Carmen, called him late Sunday night. She was with her fiancé, who Falk did not like much. She told Falk that Alice Russel, a woman they were working with in regard to...