The Lost Man by Jane Harper book review
I’m really pleased and privileged to be on the blog tour for this book. Thanks you to Caollin Douglas at Little Brown Publishing for the ARC of The Lost Man
The Blurb
He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him, and his skin was cracked. Whatever had been going through Cameron’s mind when he was alive, he didn’t look peaceful in death.
Two brothers meet at the remote border of their vast cattle properties under the unrelenting sun of the outback. In an isolated part of Australia, they are each other’s nearest neighbour, their homes hours apart.
They are at the stockman’s grave, a landmark so old that no one can remember who is buried there. But today, the scant shadow it casts was the last hope for their middle brother, Cameron. The Bright family’s quiet existence is thrown into grief and anguish.
Something had been troubling Cameron. Did he choose to walk to his death? Because if he didn’t, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects…
What readers are saying:
‘Jane Harper is an incredible story teller’
‘So good I couldn’t put it down and finished it too quickly!’
‘I could almost taste the dust and feel the relentless heat’
My Review
I really enjoyed The Dry and Force of Nature by Jane Harper and this book is every bit as good as the two previous novels, if not better. Like the other three it’s a stand alone.
This is very much a character driven book mainly about three brothers Cameron, Nathan and Bub and their family members living on an isolated cattle station in a remote part of Australia.
Cameron, the elder brother is found dead of dehydration on a very remote part of the ranch. Near to the grave of an old stockman about whom countless tales and legends have been imagined and told. At first Cameron’s family try to make sense of what exactly happened to Cameron who was a highly experienced herdsman. This event acts as a catalyst where old arguments and family feuds return to the forefront. Was Cameron’s death accidental or was it suicide? The manner of his death for an experienced herdsman is odd. He would have known not to be out in the killer sun without shelter shade or fluids and at such a distance from his car.
After the police decide that the death is not suspicious and decide not to investigate the death any further, the investigation by the family themselves, mainly Nathan and his son Xander, turns into an uncomfortable look at the dynamics of the family. Secrets are uncovered that reveal the disturbed frame of mind that Cameron was in at the time of his death and an uncomfortable frightening tale of fear and abuse is uncovered.
Jane Harper weaves an authentic spell binding mystery that gripped me from the first page and kept me enthralled throughout the whole book. We can only imagine the searing heat and the vastness of the territory where nearest neighbours are hundreds of miles apart but the author brings it to life in her atmospheric and characteristic, descriptive style. Made me feel like drinking gallons of water.
I would walk over hot coals to get to a book written by this author that I haven’t yet read and I can’t wait to read the next one.
Highly recommended
About the Author
Jane Harper worked as a print journalist for 13 years before writing The Dry, a #1 international bestseller, and Force of Nature, also an international bestseller. The Lost Man is her third novel. Originally from the UK, Jane lives in Melbourne.
