INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Two brothers meet in the remote Australian outback when the third brother is found dead, in this stunning new standalone novel from Jane Harper Brothers Nathan and Bub Bright meet for the first time in months at the remote fence line separating their cattle ranches in the lonely outback. Their third brother, Cameron, lies dead at their feet. In an isolated … lies dead at their feet.
In an isolated belt of Australia, their homes a three-hour drive apart, the brothers were one another’s nearest neighbors. Cameron was the middle child, the one who ran the family homestead. But something made him head out alone under the unrelenting sun.
Nathan, Bub and Nathan’s son return to Cameron’s ranch and to those left behind by his passing: his wife, his daughters, and his mother, as well as their long-time employee and two recently hired seasonal workers.
While they grieve Cameron’s loss, suspicion starts to take hold, and Nathan is forced to examine secrets the family would rather leave in the past. Because if someone forced Cameron to his death, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects.
A powerful and brutal story of suspense set against a formidable landscape, The Lost Man confirms Jane Harper, author of The Dry and Force of Nature, is one of the best new voices in writing today.
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Jane Harper creates an atmosphere that sticks with you long after you finish the book.
This is the second book I’ve read by Harper. The first was THE DRY. She’s a truly good writer, and her plotting is superb. I loved the twists and turns and the character development. I became involved in Nathan’s plight both with his family, the town, and especially his son, Xander. The character of Cameron comes alive as Nathan discovers ever more about his middle brother and his tie to deep, dark family secrets. But what I enjoyed most is the sense of place. This book offers a glimpse into the harsh realities of living in an environment like the Australian Outback.
An engrossing mystery set in the unforgiving Australian outback. Family secrets unfold, past love resurfaces, and the brutal outback becomes as much a character as any of the people. The author kept me guessing the identity of the murderer right to the very end.
My favorite Jane Harper book so far! She has such a talent for putting you in the setting her characters are in., the Australian outback in this case. I could almost feel the sun beating down on my back while standing in a endless sea of red dirt. I could hear the haunting cries of dingoes; I felt the overwhelming isolation and solitude. She made desolation beautiful. Her characters are so human and flawed. She has a way of turning words into art. Jane Harper has fast become one of my favorite authors!
This is the second book I’ve read by Jane Harper, and I have a third on my Kindle. She always spins a good murder mystery plot, along with a compelling Australian setting. This time around, the reader is treated to the remote solitude of the Outback, whose grit, dust and dry heat seem to permeate every scene. Brothers Nathan and Bub Bright meet up at a legendary gravestone dividing their properties, only to find their third brother, Cameron–in charge of the main family homestead–dead.
Harper takes her time introducing the reader to an array of characters as well as family background issues that become key later on. I thought the beginning moved a bit slowly, but the mystery eventually took off. At that point, I couldn’t flip pages fast enough. There was a continued reference to a particular item (no spoilers) that I thought much too heavy-handed (I get it, already!), but other than that this was a good read. I waffled back and forth on the identity of the killer and was proven right at the end, but not for the reasons I suspected. Jane Harper is on my auto buy list, and although I didn’t care for this book as much as The Dry, it delivered a solid tale with an awesome ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown Book Group UK, for offering me an ARC copy of this book that I freely chose to review. I’m also grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate in the blog tour for the launch of the book. After having read both of Jane Harper’s previous books, The Dry and Force of Nature, I rushed to grab this one as soon as I saw it was available. And yes, although it is quite different from the other two, it is another winner.
The two previous books, two thrillers/mysteries, had as protagonist Aaron Falk, a federal investigator of fraud and related crimes, who somehow gets involved in cases outside his comfort zone, for different reasons. Here, there is no professional investigator (however loosely Falk’s credentials might relate to the mystery at hand). I had mentioned in my reviews of the two previous books the fact that the stories put me in mind of domestic noir, and this is even more the case here. It might sound strange to talk about noir when the setting is the Australian outback (the nearest town is Balamara, Winton, Queensland), but plot and character-wise, it fits neatly into the category. And it is atmospheric, for sure. Harper is masterful at making us feel as if we were there, in this unusual and totally unique place, where going out for a walk might end up getting you killed.
The story is set around Christmas time, (summer in Australia), and is told in the third person from the point of view of Nathan Bright, the oldest son of the Bright family, who lives alone in his farm after his divorce, four hours away from the rest of his family, and very far from his ex-wife and his son, Xander, who live in Brisbane. Xander is visiting his father for Christmas (he is sixteen and due to his studies it is likely this might be the last Christmas they spend together for the foreseeable future), and as they prepare to celebrate the holidays, Nathan gets a call. His middle brother, Cameron, has been found dead in pretty strange circumstances. His dead body was by the stockman’s grave, a grave in the middle of the desert subject of many stories and local legends, and a place Cameron had made popular thanks to one of his paintings. Bub, the younger brother, is waiting for Nathan and explains to him that their brother’s car was found nine miles away, in perfect working order, fully stocked with food and water. So, what was their brother doing there, and why did he die of dehydration? When the questions start coming, it seems that Cam, a favourite in town and well-liked by everybody, had not been himself recently and seemed worried. Was it suicide then, or something else?
Nathan is not the typical amateur detective of cozy mysteries, another aspect that reminds me of domestic noir. He is not somebody who enjoys mysteries, or a secret genius, and he only gets involved because he keeps observing things that don’t seem to fit in with the official explanation. As this is his family, he cannot help but keep digging and has to remain involved because, for one, he has to attend his brother’s funeral. The main characters in domestic noir tend to have troubled lives and be hindered by their problems, no matter how convinced they are that they have it all under control. As the book progresses, they learn how wrong they are. In this case, Nathan is a flawed character and lacks insight into his state of mind and that of his life. He has committed some terrible mistakes (perhaps even unforgivable ones), and he is the black sheep of the family, in appearance at least. As you might expect, things are not as they seem, and during the book he grows and learns, and not only about his brother’s death. Nathan might not be the most familiar of characters or the most immediately sympathetic to many readers due to his closed-off nature, but through the novel we also learn about his past and the circumstances that made him the man he is now.
The clues and to the case appear at a slow pace and naturally, rather than feeling forced, and they do not require a lot of procedural or specialized knowledge. There are also red herrings, but most of them go beyond an attempt at wrong-footing readers, and provide important background information that helps build up a full picture of the people and the place. In style the book reminds us of old-fashioned mysteries, without extreme violence or excessive attention being paid to the procedures of the police or to complex tests. No AND tests and no CSI on sight here. This is a book about characters, motivations, and the secrets families keep.
In contrast to the first two novels written by Harper, this book is deceptively simple in its structure. The book takes place over a few days, around Christmas, and, as I said, it is all told from the point of view of Nathan. The story is told chronologically, although there are moments when we get some important background into the story, be it thanks to Nathan’s memories, or to episodes and events narrated to him by other characters. The book manages to keep a good balance between showing and telling and it is very atmospheric, although it moves at its own pace, meandering and perfectly suited to the setting. I’ve never visited the Australian outback and have never experienced anything like the extreme weather conditions described in the book, but I felt the oppressive sensation, the heat, the agoraphobia induced by the open spaces, and the horror of imagining yourself in Cam’s circumstances. The initial setting, with the lonely gravestone, made me think of a Western, and the life in the ranch, isolated and extreme, where surviving requires a daily fight against the elements, made the story feel primordial and timeless. Although the story is set in modern times (there is no specific date, but despite the distance from civilisation, there is talk of mobiles, internet, GPS, etc.), due to the location, people are forced to live as if time had not truly moved on, and they have to depend on themselves and those around them, because if your car or your air conditioning break down, it could mean your death.
Apart from her evident skill in describing Australia and everyday life in the outback (she refers to her research and sources in her acknowledgments), the author is masterful at creating characters that are multi-dimensional and psychologically and emotionally believable, as I explained when talking about the main protagonist. These are people used to living alone and not allowing their vulnerabilities to show. Even within the family, its members keep secrets from each other and don’t share their feelings, although they might all know about what has happened, because that’s what they’ve always seen and known, and perhaps they believe that if you don’t talk about it you can keep it contained. The secrets are slowly revealed, and although many readers will suspect the nature of some of them, that does not diminish their power and impact. The themes discussed are, unfortunately, very current, and although I won’t talk about them in detail, to avoid spoilers, I am sure they will resonate with most readers. Although the ending will probably not be a huge surprise to most readers, it is built up expertly, and I found it very satisfying.
I had to share a couple of samples of writing, although it was a hard choice:
In the centre was a headstone, blasted smooth by a hundred-year assault from sand, wind and sun. The headstone stood a metre tall and was still perfectly straight. It faced west, towards the desert, which was unusual out there. West was rarely anyone’s first choice.
The name of the man buried beneath had long since vanished and the landmark was known to locals —all sixty-five of them, plus 100,000 head of cattle— simply as the stockman’s grave. That piece of land had never been a cemetery; the stockman had been put into the ground where he had died, and in more than a century no-one had joined him.
There was something about the brutal heat when the sun was high in the sky and he was watching the slow meandering movement of the herds. Looking out over the wide-open plains and seeing the changing colours in the dust. It was the only time when he felt something close to happiness… It was harsh and unforgiving, but it felt like home.
In sum, this is a book for people who enjoy an unusual mystery and books focused on characters rather than fast-paced plots. If you love well-written books, and don’t mind investing some time into the story and its characters, especially if you are keen on an Australian setting, you should not miss this one. I will be on the lookout for the author’s next book.
Jane Harper keeps knocking it out of the ballpark for me! I have loved her Aaron Falk books and was only slightly disappointed this novel doesn’t fall into that series. I shouldn’t have worried, everything I loved about the Aaron Falk series is here: the crisp writing style, the slow burning mystery, the use of the terrain as a character all it’s own. I am fascinated with how Harper uses where the characters live to explain so much of their personalities. The isolation and forced independence these people face drives so much of the plot.
Nathan, the oldest brother, is struggling with mistakes from his past that are still impacting his every day life. When one of his younger brothers is found dead in the, literal, middle of nowhere, the tragedy cracks open the family. Why was Cam there, nowhere near his car filled with live sustaining and saving equipment? Was there more to the story? Harper does an amazing job of teasing out the details and weaving the past into the current mystery. I devoured this novel and was completely engrossed the entire time. A definite must read!
This book was very good and pretty unique (at least to me) since it was set in the Australian Outback (and I did the audiobook that was read by someone with an Australian accent). The story is of three brothers with a family farm, a deceased and abusive father, and many regrets, told by the oldest brother, Nick, after the 2nd brother, Cameron, has been found dead of exposure in the Outback. Suicide? Accident? Murder? Nick can’t be sure. The characters are very solid and real, but to me the really interesting part is how precarious living in the Outback can be. It’s an isolated and potentially dangerous place. As Nick explains, at any given moment you’re either perfectly all right, or you’re not at all all right. There’s almost no in-between.
I have read both of Jane Harper’s earlier books and enjoyed them very much. This was an autobuy, but for various reasons remained on by tbr for a while. I picked it up this week when I took a cup of tea out into the garden on a warm day. Jane’s writing is so atmospheric. You can almost feel the hot red sand seeping into the creases of your skin as you read. The characters are hard, shaped by the landscaped and very real. And this story, with it’s mystery, sense of an unseen danger gripped me from the beginning and gradual unfolding of the past and present were deeply engaging. Thoroughly recommend and I can’t wait to read her new book which is out very soon.
I’ve read every book written by Jane Harper and her latest, The Lost Man, certainly did not disappoint.
Cameron and Bub are brothers who have arranged to meet each other on the border of their large cattle property located in outback Queensland. Cameron doesn’t turn up and after a search, is found dead at a legendary stockman’s grave in the middle of nowhere. What’s puzzling is his car is found nine kilometres away. The car hasn’t broken down and is fully stocked with water and food and the driver’s door left ajar.
Cameron lived in the old family homestead with his wife, two daughters, his younger brother Bub and his mother. Nathan, the older of the three brothers, who hadn’t seen his family in months has his sixteen-year-old son Xander staying with him when he gets the call about Cameron. It’s through his eyes that the reader is taken on a journey of family mystery and intrigue.
Cameron had been agitated in the months leading up to his death and with one policeman to cover hundreds of kilometres of remote area, it’s concluded that with no sign of violence or tampering with his car that he deliberately walked to his death. Nathan is not convinced.
The characters are very well drawn and the layers of the family’s history are cleverly peeled away revealing multiple secrets. The landscape, red dust and suffocating heat was beautifully descriptive of how harsh life is in the outback.
“He adjusted his mirrors as the sun’s reflection rose, blinding red behind them. They were heading west, towards the desert, and the sky loomed huge above the perfect flat horizon. By the time they hit the edge and turned north, they would be able to see the dunes; huge sandy peaks running north to south for hundreds of kilometres.”
Indeed, the central theme around mental health issues in the outback is well covered, the lack of resources and the isolation for both women and men is all too real.
“He had lain there, anxious and unsettled, as it dawned on him. He was entirely alone. No staff. Nothing but static on the radio… There was not a single other person near him for hours in every direction. He had been cast fully and completely adrift.”
There is such a lot in this book and like The Dry, I was guessing what happened right up until the end and was certainly surprised. I’m still trying to the digest the motivation and can’t say I’m fully convinced. Saying anymore would be to divulge the spoilers and that wouldn’t be fair. So, I guess that’s a good enough reason to read it yourself. It’s certainly a page turner and a perfect summer read and I’ll let you judge if you think the ending was right.
And Jane Harper blows me away, again! This book is dripping with suspense, drama and charm. If you’re looking for a thriller that keeps you captivated form start to finish, look no further than Jane Harper’s The Lost Man.
I’ve been an avid fan of Harper’s since my Atlanta chapter of Girly Book Club read her debut novel The Dry. More than anything, I was a massive fan of the protagonist, Aaron Falk. From her first book, to the sequel, Force of Nature, I was intrigued by his character development and dialogue with other people throughout the books. But when I found out The Lost Man would be a stand-alone novel I was a little let down and nervous about what the story would revolve around. Boy, did I have little to be worried about!
As Harper always does in her books, the story’s setting is what drives this novel. It takes place in the dry heat and isolation of the Australian outback. When a local, Cameron Bright, is found dead in the desolate land, nearly nine miles away from his parked car, it appears like a strange suicide. But his older brother, Nathan, remains unconvinced. There are too many parts of his brother’s death that don’t add up. Part’s of Cameron’s past begin to surface, making those who’ve help keep them buried, anxious and paranoid.
From there, the tale weaves the traumatic history of abuse and pain that haunts almost the whole family. Nathan has to combat his troubled childhood in order to truly figure out what happened to his brother Cameron.
I always thought Harper’s second novel, Force of Nature, would be my favorite novel but I think this one has surpassed them all! Nothing beats the language Harper uses to describe the harsh landscape of Australia:
“…he felt connected to the outback in a way that he loved. There was something about the brutal heat, when the sun was high in the sky and he was watching the slow meandering movement of the herds. Looking out over the wide-open plains and seeing the changing colors. It was the only time he felt something close to happiness.”
Harper’s writing is truly what draws me in as a reader.She transports me to harsh conditions of the Australian outback. The characters are compelling and complex — the rich details behind the secrets of this family having me aching to find out what happened to Cameron. The Lost Man is a suspenseful, multilayered thriller that I honestly couldn’t put down! I can’t wait to see what Harper does next!
I received an advanced audiobook copy from Macmillian Audio and Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.
Read more of my review here: https://bit.ly/2N4Tzd5
This is my first Jane Harper read and it’s an interesting one. This deals with the death of a man in harsh conditions and as the book progresses we learn of horrible family secrets that eventually explain what happened to him. The families intimate secrets going back a couple of generations with abuse, manipulation, control touching their lives leading to the truth and its consequences.
I reviewed this in the New York Times this weekend, so I’ll just say here – it’s slightly slow for a little while, then takes off and becomes really unputdownable! Loved it.
Harper pulls her readers into time and place so well. Great opening tension that remained throughout. Her best.
I had read Ms. Harper’s previous two books and loved them. They were mysteries, and part of the Aaron Falk series. This is a stand alone novel and quite different.
What I loved about this book was Ms. Harper’s descriptive writing. Here is a sampling of her exquisite descriptions of the Australian outback: “ He couldn’t simply leave, for lots of reasons. And not the least because sometimes, quite a lot of the time, he felt connected to the outback in a way that he loved. There was something about the brutal heat, when the sun was high in the sky and he was watching the slow meandering movement of the herds. Looking out over the wide-open plains and seeing the changing colors in the dust. It was the only time when he felt something close to happiness.” There are so many beautiful descriptions of what can only be called a brutal place to live, and yet there is beauty there as Ms. Harper’s words convey.
There is a legend about “the stockman’s grave” and headstone, supposedly out in the middle of nowhere. Not close to a town or anyone’s home. This is where Cameron’s body is found and that is another puzzle to solve. Why did Cameron choose to come to this site without any supplies?
This book was very much about family. The Bright family with Liz and her sons, Nathan, Cameron and Bub. It is the middle son, Cameron, who is found dead at the beginning of the novel. It is a mystery as to why he was found dead apparently from lack of water and food in the unforgiving heat of the outback. His car was found miles away fully stocked with supplies. Cameron had lived here all of his life, why would he leave his car with all of the supplies and set out on his own, with nothing???? On questioning the family it becomes apparent that something has been off about Cameron’s recent actions and we are left to puzzle out why.
There is mention of a young woman named Jenna, who had gone to the police when Cameron was only 17, charging him with raping her. With the intervention of Cameron’s powerful father, the charges were dismissed and the woman and her boyfriend left town. Yet she had recently reached out for Cameron’s phone number and address, why??
There are many family secrets which come to light throughout the novel. Things went on in Cameron and Ilse’s life with their two daughters which were only talked about in hushed tones. What indeed had been going on???
I loved the interaction of Nathan with his son Xander, home for a school holiday. Nathan and Xander’s relationship grows quite a lot in the novel and it’s great to read about their increased understanding of each other.
This is still very much a mystery but with lots of familial relationships. The only thing a bit different from this book is that I didn’t feel the tension of solving the mystery that was present in her first two books. This is more of a slow burn but a great read!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. The book will be published in February of 2019.
A fascinating, devastating look into a family’s deepest secrets in one of the world’s most radically challenging environments: the Australian outback. I was totally sucked in!
A lonely grave far off in the outback draws concern. It’s so old no one knows who is buried there, legend has it it’s the stockmans grave, and he haunts the area.
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Cameron goes missing, and is found dead, no explanations and no logical reasons why he is in such a way off place and what he died of.
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Then there is a connection with a painting which Cameron painted of the lonely grave, but although Cameron is no longer alive no one dears to touch it, as apparently its cursed.
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Nathan, one of Cameron’s brothers seems to be more into puzzling things out than the police are. So how does he go? Do we get to know what the connection is between the painting and the grave? And how did Cameron die? And why the commings and goings on to the untitled grave? Things heat up and get stifling hot when Xander, Nathan’s son doesn’t want him living in the outback anymore. Will Nathan sell up, or stay and figure out who killed his brother.
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Amazing ride through the outback I had. This is a cosy mystery that has you gently flipping the pages to discover the unsolved unexplained death of Cameron. I couldn’t guess and it had me thinking all the way through, but it’s not all about the killings in this book a few other surprises developed on the way. Great plotting skills yet again from Jane Harper. A well earned 5 stars from me and recommend to all lovers of mysteries/unsolved crime books and readers who enjoy the warmth of the Australian outback.
The book starts out with you wondering if the man died by accident or committed suicide, and then you start to wonder if one of the other well-defined characters was responsible for his death. The book kept my attention all the way through the end and I agreed with how the author wrote the ending.
I absolutely loved this book! A mix of small town secrets, family loyalty and grudges, old wounds, amazing, complex characters, a hint of romance, and of course, the main event: a suspicious death.
As with all her books, the harsh Australian outback setting – a collection of outpost ranches in some of the driest land on earth – plays as much a part in this book as the plot, and as I read, I could feel my throat parching and the heat of the unrelenting sun.
The unraveling of the mystery behind the death of one of the three brothers each working the land and living on neighboring ranches was a delicious puzzle I couldn’t wait to piece together. Each character was complex, with secrets and hidden motivations that intensified the already edge-of-my-seat anticipation.
An absolutely incredible mystery that captivated me from the first page and left me breathless and sad that it was over!
I have really loved this series. I’ve listened to all 3 and enjoy the narrator very much. All 3 have taken place in remote areas of the Australian outback and all have been well written with wonderful complex characters. In Lost Man, Cameron has been found dead by his brother Nathan. The death seems very suspicious to Nathan and I loved the intrigue and mystery of finding out things about Cameron that he was unaware of or unwilling to face at the time. It quite surprised me how the truth came out so that was awesome. I also loved watching Nathan deal with his own demons from his past and start to heal from them along the way.