A year later and Falk is back in town for the festival again staying with his friend, Greg Raco, a police officer who is uncle to Gillespie's teenage daughter.

[3] Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald Sue Turbull concluded: "In the end, Exiles is a book as much about friendship as it is about family.

The moment when Falk silently helps Joel clean the graffiti from his father’s memorial by the reservoir a touching case in point.

"[4] Marion Winik in The Washington Post stated: "Though she makes a point of careful plotting and neatly tied-up threads, Harper’s books are as much about Australian society and the pressures and dangers of the country’s landscape as they are about finding missing people and solving murders.

Social issues like domestic abuse, addiction and bullying play a significant role in her plots, and Exiles is no exception.