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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I’ve read all three of Jane Harpers books and this is just as good as her first two (though missing her wonderful investigator, Aaron Falk). The opening chapter is haunting and raw, painting a horrifying picture of one man dying all alone in the desert. Harper’s talent is that of drawing you so completely and utterly into her characters worlds, that you have to readjust your reality whenever you put the book down. The desert is a beautiful place and Harper brings it to life with her evocative descriptions. The clues to the mystery of how Cameron died come out in a slow-burn, but are handled with great skill. I didn’t see the end coming and would never have guessed who the real murderer was.
I loved this book as much, if not more, than Harper’s first book, The Dry. Suspense is my favorite sub-genre of crime fiction, and Jane Harper is right at the top of my list. She’s surpassed Lou Bernie and Allen Eskens (sorry guys). Grit and tension are baked into the Australian outback setting. Plop down a dysfunctional family and away you go . . . .
Jane Harper has established herself as a master author of crime/suspense, her first novel, The Dry, took readers all over the world by surprise, The Lost Man is just as good, or perhaps even better. This one vividly brings the Australian Outback to the reader, as the wind blew outside my Pennsylvania home, I was immersed in reading The Lost Man – I could almost feel the grimy dust from the open range blowing through my hair.
This family saga is about the Bright brothers, Nathan, Cameron and Bob, their widowed mother, Liz, Nathan’s son, 16 year old Xander, as well as Harry, the dedicated lifelong ranch foreman, along with Ilse, Cameron’s widow and the mother of two captivating young girls, Sophie, age 8, and Lois, age 6, make up the principle cast of characters. Nothing is as it first appears and no one is quite what you expect based upon early introductions.
This novel is written in an omnipotent third person point of view. Cameron’s prize-winning painting of ‘The Stockman’s Grave’ hangs almost like a religious icon above the huge stone fireplace in the ranch’s great room. This image threads through the novel with a variety of deep emotions attached to it, depending on which character’s point of view is the focus at that twist in the story.
Bob and Nathan had not met in months, though they are each other’s closest neighbors. It is still three hours to drive from one cattle ranch to the other. They try to make sense of the situation as their brother, Cameron, lay dead at their feet, beside the stockman’s grave, along-side the boundaries of their ranches.
All the characters develop slowly with layers of depth, as do their interpersonal relationships. Vivid memories of Carl Bright, the father haunts the two surviving brothers as well as their mother.
There is wit and insight as the characters reminiscence and confront the accuracy of some of their long-held recollections. Despite these short comic breaks, the tension mounts to the point that I felt could cut it with a knife.
The readers confront three challenges reading this novel: How and what do we perceive as truth? What do the characters perceive as truth? And what is truth? Even the title could mean different things to different readers. Who really is The Lost Man?
I wasn’t sure that I was going to like this book. It took awhile to get into the characters. I am so glad that I didn’t give up. I am now waiting for Jane Harper’s debut, The Dry, from my library. Really a new fan.
Un-put-downable. My book-enabler sister in Australia alerted me to this one because she knows how picky I am. Stay up and read!
I love both Jane Harper’s other books books and this third standalone is as good. I was so sorry to finish it and leave the world. It’s a wonderful story about how a family farms in the outback in Queensland. Central to the story is a man who is found dead at the start of the novel. Was it suicide, accident. Or Murder? A wonderful account of dynamics, landscape and heat. The suspense is slow burning. Suspects are everywhere.
I can’t recommend it enough. Nor can I wait for the next one.
I’d been meaning to read Jane Harper, an Australian journalist turned novelist, and her suspense/romance/family saga, THE LOST MAN, did not disappoint. Wow, does she paint a picture of the desolate, lonely, dusty Australian land. A perfect setting for this dysfunctional family where three brothers suffering the sins of an abusive father wreck each other and those around them. Good twist at the end. Some of the description, and dialogue, dragged a bit, but I found myself totally absorbed and pumped to visit this beautiful country.
Trigger warning: domestic violence, implied rape, family drama
After reading Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk series, I knew I needed to read The Lost Man. Instead of being a thriller, this book focuses on family and what happens after the loss of a family member. I like that the story develops gradually throughout the book and the pieces start fitting together. The description of the Australian Outback and the difficulties it brings on everyone living there bring the story to a whole new level of desperation as the characters deal with grief. Although the ending could have used some sight into the future, I think The Lost Man is a well-written and enjoyable story. I look forward to reading more by Jane Harper in the future.
I loved it. Maybe the best book I’ve read so far this year. When it comes to setting, no one beats Jane Harper This book is even better than The Dry. And that’s saying a lot.
THE LOST MAN by Jane Harper is a slow burn, atmospheric murder mystery set in the unforgiving and remote Australian Outback.
The apparent suicide of Cameron Bright seems to be just another tragedy in this family’s story. A well liked family man, no one can understand why he would leave his well-stocked vehicle and walk to the Stockman’s Grave in the deadly heat of the Outback summer to die.
When Nathan Bright meets his youngest brother Bub at the fence-line between his and the family’s properties at the Stockman’s Grave to recover his brother’s body, Nathan has more questions than answers. The local police believe it is a suicide, but Nathan has trouble believing. He returns to the family homestead to help, but the past returns to haunt him as well as the secrets his brother was hiding.
As the family grieves, Nathan’s suspicion grows that there may be a murderer among them.
This is one of those books you start and just fall into the intrigue of the location and mystery. Ms. Harper’s description of the heat and dry in the Outback in the summer pulls you in and makes you believe you can feel the isolation and danger of the location for the families that live there. My opinion of the point-of-view main character, Nathan changes continually with each new family revelation Ms. Harper weaves into the story. The secondary characters are all hiding their own secrets and add to the feeling of surprise and dread with each revelation. The resolution of the mystery was a surprise I did not see coming which makes this a truly memorable read.
I highly recommend this book and author!
In ‘The Lost Man’, Jane Harper reveals the isolated and dangerous world of cattle graziers in far west Queensland. When a 40 year old cattle man is found dead in the desert, his older brother, Nathan, persists in asking questions. Without medical and police help, Nathan must find the answers himself. Harper’s evocative writing ushers the reader into the strange world of the Australian outback. Masterful.
I highly recommend this book. It was such a beautiful, poignant, engaging story, set in the stunning, but harsh outback of Australia. I grieved when I finished it and felt I would really miss the characters and the world Jane created. This is her third book and I thoroughly enjoyed The Dry (brilliant first book) and Force of Nature. This is an author to follow!
Jane Harper has a honed talent for absorbing her readers in a setting and immersing them into the lives and minds of her characters. In her latest book, The Lost Man, Harper maroons her audience in a desolate landscape in Western Australia. Her protagonist is a deeply saddened cattle rancher who has been ostracized for a former transgression by the small community that populates the lonely expanse. Nathan Bright is first introduced at the site of his brother’s recent death near an isolated gravestone. Given the area’s harsh climate, he died excruciatingly of exposure without benefit of shade and supplies. Accompanied by his other brother and visiting son, Nathan is left to wonder why his brother would have fallen victim to those elements that they were acutely aware of and had adapted to throughout their lives. As the novel progresses, it is revealed that Nathan is somewhat estranged from his family, divorced and teetering on the edge of a deep depression. When he reluctantly gathers with his family during their mourning, he recalls missed opportunities for a different life. He regrets having squandered a chance to win over the woman who became his deceased brother’s wife. There are flashbacks to his childhood with an abusive father and the resulting necessity for the three brothers to choose between self-preservation and protecting each other. Unconvinced that his brother had committed suicide, Nathan begins digging into his past and discovers layers of secrets and lies that permeate the entire family. The Lost Man presents an intriguing mystery and character study with a tone that expertly evokes the dread and unease of its unforgiving setting. Fans of The Dry and Force of Nature will be delighted with Harper’s new standalone novel that further proves her prowess as an innovative and versatile author.
At first, I struggled to get into this book, it wasn’t grabbing my attention. But, about 1/3 of the way into it, I was hooked. Family secrets abound in this mystery, and all is not what it appears to be on the surface. I really enjoyed how Jane Harper describes the bleak and unyielding Outback of Australia, capturing its devastating landscape. The landscape becomes a character in the novel. I loved the ending!
#TheLostMan #Jane Harper
Jane Harper has delivered a stunning, atmospheric novel that centers on a family with complex relationships and skeletons in the closet. Seamlessly, readers weave in and out of the past, treated to snippets of Nathan’s memories about his brother, father, and his ex-wife. I didn’t have the heart-pumping adrenaline that some books in the mystery/suspense/thriller genres provide, yet I did feel a growing unease as the story progressed.
I don’t know if I would have enjoyed this book as much if I had read it rather than listened to it. The narrator was spectacular and really did a great job of portraying the frustration expressed by Nathan and Xander.
on Dream Come Review
I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher; all opinions are my own.
The title refers both to the events of the story as well as the psychological state of the protagonist. A real page-turner in the classic sense with a twist that you don’t see coming. A phenomenal read.
Couldn’t put it down!
An excellent and different novel, from the Australian Outback. Very atmospheric rather than action-packed. You can feel the heat and taste the dust.
Description of the landscape was interesting. The ending was a heart warming surprise.
A mystery set in the Australian Outback. The atmosphere is so real you can taste the dirt and feel the heat. The pacing of the mystery is perfection. But best of all, this is about a suspicious death in a family where everyone is a suspect. Family dysfunction is at the core and all the secrets that come along with it. I read this book in two days. Then I went and bought another of her books. For me, it was that good.