This is my second Jane Harper after reading The Dry. I really enjoy her writing style and the isolated Australian outback setting.
This novel was quite a slow pace in places and perhaps is more family drama than murder mystery. The characters are fantastically well developed and intriguing though which kept me reading through the slower bits. I'll definitely be reading more of her books.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
This is Jane Harper’s third book and it was a magnificent experience to read the story of the Australian outback and the families who make their living in this land.
The Lost Man is the story of one family and how the land and the family history shapes the lives of three brothers. It is with the death of Cameron,the middle son, that the story begins and ends. It is a fascinating, engrossing read and I enjoyed reading this book.
Highly recommended.

A crime thriller set in the Australian Outback

Jane Harper has written a compelling novel that reflects the stark landscape that is home to the Bright family. The family cattle farm is vast, so vast that it takes 4 hours to reach the outer boundaries by car. The harsh conditions seem to mirror the conflicts within the family, and as the story evolves, the reader is drawn into a web of long-buried secrets, secrets that rip the Bright family apart.

Cameron Bright, the middle brother, is found dead in the shadow of the Stockman's grave, a local landmark steeped in legend. His older and younger brothers are shocked at his death. There seems to be no motive and no clues. The barren outback is a deadly place to get lost, and nobody survives without water in the scorching heat.

The life of a cattle rancher is difficult and fraught with battling nature. The book touches upon many dark themes including domestic abuse and sexual abuse, and the ending has a real twist that I did not expect.

This is the third book that Jane Harper has written, and I will be sure to read her first two novels based on this book. Her atmospheric writing really captures the harsh landscape, and the story has so many great characters.

Gillian

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

I've been so amazingly lucky to be involved with the blog tours for Jane Harper's first two books in the Aaron Falk series, The Dry and Force Of Nature so I was delighted when Caolinn Douglas contacted me via email and asked me to be part of the tour for Jane's new book. The Lost Man is a thriller set once again in the author's home country of Australia but this time, it's a stand-alone novel that introduces us to brand new characters and once again, an impossibly mysterious situation. In this story, we follow Nathan Bright and his family as they struggle to deal with the discovery of his brother Cameron's body. As I've come to expect with all of Jane's novels, nothing is quite what it seems and Cameron's death is much more complex than originally expected.I was excited to read The Lost Man as a buddy read alongside blogging bestie, Jennifer from Tar Heel Reader and boy, did we have a lot to talk about? This book really got under my skin in the most unexpected manner and the second half of the novel in particular had me on tenterhooks throughout, to the point where I actually had to message Jennifer and just squeak acronyms at her i.e. OMG, OMG!

Jane Harper is an absolute wizard at creating atmospheric settings and using the harsh climate of the Australian outback to her advantage in developing a tense, nail-biting narrative that I found it difficult to tear my eyes away from. The seclusion of the area, the isolation of family members and the way that they are forced to interact, communicate and work together as the nearest neighbours are three hours drive away was nothing short of brilliant and I could almost smell the unease in the air. The thought of being in such a remote area where it would be difficult to get prompt help in an emergency is absolutely terrifying to me and the idea of having to be prepared with survival materials every time you take a drive was quite difficult to wrap my head around but completely fascinating and only served to heighten the drama of the situation.

Personally, I felt this book was very much a novel of two very different halves. Let me stress that this isn't a bad thing at all. I found the first half of The Lost Man to be slightly slower in pace. We were introduced to the Bright family, we experienced their confusion at losing their brother/son/husband etc and we began to see bits and pieces of Nathan's private investigation into uncovering the reasons behind Cameron's death. At this time, I appreciated the intricate detail that Jane Harper presented us with, allowing the reader to become familiar with the setting and the situation. In fact, I felt as if I was eased into a situation delicately and methodically so by the time I was halfway through, I was entirely comfortable (although obviously intrigued) with what was happening.Holy Moley, by the second half of the novel does she pull the rug out from under your feet or what?! I was genuinely thrilled by the direction the narrative took, the secrets that were uncovered and the meaningful way in which the reader gets to know each individual personality a bit deeper. Jennifer and I had a lovely chat about halfway through and as with all of our little talks, we tried to analyse the plot and figure out what might be going on, voicing our predictions for the rest of the book. I'm over the moon to announce that we were wrong and I couldn't be happier telling you that.I honestly feel that Jane's literary writing style is almost one of a kind. There's not many other authors out there that I can think of that manage to create such literary, intelligent work that combines beautiful characterisation with a plot that you can't help but become heavily invested in. As a result, I simply HAVE to give it nothing less than the full five stars!

This is the third of Jane Harper's novels and I think it might just be my favourite so far. Set in the Austrailian Outback, this is a book where the setting plays a primary role in the novel. Cameron Bright's body is found after he never showed up to complete some repair work on a mast on the edges of his property. What made this man, who was knowledgeable about the area, abandon his car and therefore his supply of food and water to wander across the remote outback to end up dying on top of the notorious grave of The Stockman?

It is Christmas in Australia and the sun is relentless. Cameron's body has been found and brothers Nathan and Bub are having to deal with this discovery as well as keeping their own heads above water. Each has his own problems - Nathan has become more reclusive than ever, following on from his ban to enter the city a decade previously. His son Xander is visiting from Brisbane and even he can see the changes in his father's behaviour. Younger brother Bub is getting fed up with not being listened to, and seems to have more problems than alcohol can deal with. Also at the property are Cameron's wife and daughters, Harry who has helped out on the farm since anyone can remember, Liz, the boys mother and two British backpackers who were after summer jobs.

Each character has their own secret or two and Jane Harper draws them out one by one. What did Nathan do that resulted in him being shunned by his own community? Who are these British backpackers - isn't it strange for them to be out here with no experience? Why was Cameron out at the Stockman's grave? When Nathan discovers the car abandoned by his brother, something is niggling him but he can't figure it out - what was going through Cam's mind and was he really walking to his own death that day?

Jane Harper certainly brings the hardships of living and surviving in the outback to the forefront of the readers mind in The Lost Man. It certainly doesn't make me want to live that way, and you come away with a new found respect for anyone who has to deal with such a harsh climate on a daily basis. This book is full of the trials and tribulations one family can experience, especially when they are your closest and only neighbours.

A man's body is found in the Outback near what is locally known as 'The Stockman's Grave'. He had been out in the open and died of dehydration. His brothers are called to identify his body, and the family are then thrown in to the process of organising a funeral for him on Christmas Eve.
This is a family with many secrets - a family who have had hard lives and upbringings - and these secrets are ready to come out into the open.
The eldest brother, Nathan, can't believe that his brother died in the way that he did. They were all born and raised in the Outback, and wouldn't make the mistakes that led to the death of his brother, so he wants to try and find out exactly why and how he died.
I really enjoyed this book - they're a complicated family with a difficult past. I loved the way we are drip fed the stories of their lives, and the circumstances that made them who they are.
I love the Jane Harper books that I've read so far - she is so good at writing an uncomfortable atmosphere, and I really felt for the characters. The descriptions of the Outback, the bleakness and the heat, are so graphic that I feel like I could be there too (and with that heat, I'm glad I'm not!). I have Force of Nature sat on my bookshelf, and I'm really looking forward to reading it next!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this really fabulous book!

I've not read any Jane Harper before, but I can guarantee I'm going to read some more! I found this story of family history repeating itself compelling and truly page-turning.

Fighting the flab... 3 stars

In the scorching heat of the Australian Outback, two brothers meet at the site of an old grave, where a man lies dead – their brother, Cameron. He is far from his vehicle and without water or anything to shade him from the broiling sun. But how did he get there? Is this some dreadful form of suicide or is there some more sinister reason for his death? Nathan, the brother closest to him in age but who has been rather detached from the family for some years, starts asking questions and soon begins to uncover tensions and secrets that make him reassess those closest to him...

This starts off with a brilliant first chapter that is creepy and horrific, though not in a gruesome way, and immediately places the reader in this vast isolated cattle-ranching country on the edge of the desert, where one mistake can mean death to the unwary, from heatstroke, dehydration or snakes. Then Harper gradually introduces us to the various family members and slowly fills in each person’s past so that we begin to understand the undercurrents that run underneath the outwardly united front the family presents to the world.

Nathan’s son Xander is visiting for Christmas. His home is with his mother in the city, so he provides another outsider view of the family, and an interesting perspective on the differences in lifestyle between these isolated ranchers and the urbanites. Bub, the youngest of the three brothers, has a chip on his shoulder about his brothers always seeming to be the ones in charge. The sons’ mother, Liz, has had a hard struggle to hold her family together despite her (long-dead) husband’s brutality and cruelty. Harry has worked on the property for so long he’s viewed as part of the family. And although he has fought against it, Nathan has always been strongly attracted to Cameron’s wife, Ilse. Throw in a couple of backpackers doing temporary jobs on the property, Cameron’s two daughters, and the folk from the tiny little local town, and there’s plenty of room for resentments and rumours, lies and secrets, to have built up in the claustrophobia of this small community.

Harper is great at creating settings, using some of the extreme conditions and environments to be found in the vastness of Australia as her backdrop, and showing how the fight to survive in harsh inhospitable conditions takes a toll on her characters, physically and mentally. Here she sets the book at the hottest time of the year, when the danger is at its greatest for anyone who doesn’t obey the rules of survival that all inhabitants are taught from childhood. If accurate, and I assume it is, it sounds quite literally like hell on earth (to my cold-seeking Northern soul, at least) and I couldn’t help wondering why on earth anyone would choose to live there. It’s not just the heat, though – Harper shows the isolation and loneliness that comes with living on huge ranches, some as large as small European nations, and suggests, again I assume with good reason, that suicide is another of the hazards of life there.

The plot is interesting, but the story comes to light only gradually, so I won’t risk spoilers by saying more about it. The weakness of the book is that it’s too gradual – it comes in at just under 400 pages and could easily have lost 100 pages or more and been a better, tighter book. After a great start, there are large parts where nothing seems to happen for ridiculously long periods of time – pages filled with mundane and repetitive dialogue and descriptions of the effects of heat that didn’t move things along at all. I considered abandoning it more than once, and skimmed many pages in the mid-section. However, it picks up again in the last quarter so in the end I was glad I stuck with it. I do wish authors (and editors) would work harder to tighten up their middles – there’s a bookish obesity epidemic out there! Especially in crime fiction.

In summary, then, there’s an excellent book in here struggling to get out from under the flab. The interesting plot, good characterisation and great sense of place make it worth reading but it’s badly let down by being far too long for the story it contains. I think Harper is a talented writer (which is why I’m so grouchy!), so will be looking forward to her next novel, with my fingers crossed that she can learn when she’s done enough to set the atmosphere and get on with telling the story.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group.

Author Jane Harper is an exceptional writer. Yes, there are many wonderful storytellers out there, but, in my humble opinion, I think that her writing goes up another level.

Reading this during a cold, wet, miserable English winter I could easily imagine the brutal unstoppable heat, the relentless sun beating down, almost feel the desert dust that covers everything and all I could envisage was mile upon mile of wide open plains with no shade in sight at all, where your closest neighbour is several hours drive away - it's a solitary life for some, including Nathan, the narrator, one of the brothers, who has his own problems and who I found a fascinating character.

From the very first line until the last, I was obsessed by the mystery of what happened to Cameron in the desert. Why was he found over 8km away from his car in such a hostile environment that a man can die of thirst within hours. Everyone thinks that Cameron was 'a good guy' but was he?

The story revolves around the family who are waiting for his funeral in the family home and we discover that not everyone gets on. There is an undercurrent of tension throughout as family secrets, long buried, come bubbling to the surface, long held resentments are aired and surprising discoveries are made.

I devoured her first novel The Dry, felt the Force of Nature in her second, and I think that The Lost Man, which is a standalone, not a police procedural, is her best one yet. Painting a vivid picture of the harsh life in the outback, it was well-paced, clever and unpredictable.

If you haven't read any of Jane Harper's novels yet I would urge you to read any of them and be blown away, as I have been!

Another excellent book from this author. She never disappoints!! A five star recommendation from me. I loved it!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Jane Harper for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

In The Lost Man we meet Nathan, Bub and Cameron, three brothers that live and work on neighbouring cattle stations. Cameron is found dead at the stockmans grave having abandoned his car full of supplies, there doesn’t seem to be any suspicious circumstances and everything points to suicide, it looks like he has walked to the grave in the intense heat knowing full well he won’t make it back.
Nathan isn’t convinced, he doesn’t believe his brother would do that. Cameron has a beautiful wife, two daughters and is well liked within the community, it doesn’t make sense to Nathan. So what did happen to Cameron?
The Lost Man see’s Nathan exploring his families lives, unearthing secrets and burrowing into the past. This isn’t a fast paced story but the author drip feeds the reader, keeping the atmosphere going from first page to last. I could feel the heat, the dustiness and the tension as I read, it’s thoroughly gripping and a hard book to put down.
I liked Nathan, he’s had a hard time and is very much on his own and I liked the progression of his relationship with his son Xander who is staying with him for Christmas. The story is very character driven and I loved finding out each characters secrets. No one is really who they seem when you delve deep into their past.
The Lost Man is another fantastic novel by a very talented author, quite different to the Aaron Falk books but definitely on par with those best sellers. It was totally gripping, suspenseful, atmospheric and down right blooming brilliant. So yes I’ll be highly recommending The Lost Man and I can’t wait to see what Jane Harper comes up with next.

As soon as I started the novel, I felt like I was in good hands. Jane Harper has a wonderful writing style which can blend descriptive passages, dialogue and plot points seamlessly. Each elements adds up to a terrific read. You learn so much about her characters as the story unfolds. I can honestly say that I did not guess the twist at the end until it was revealed. There are some many red herrings and you find your opinions on the family members and others changes as you learn more.

The searing heat and grit of the Outback is stifling and an ever present reminder of the menace behind everyone's lives there. You sense all the time that there is a threat to life and wonder which way that will work out. Most of all, I found the characterisation to be superb. You feel that you are living on the farm alongside the family. Each member has their own subtlety and working out the dynamic between them adds to the story. Nathan's isolation and selective memory of his childhood makes him a fascinating character but there are some secondary characters who also seem vivid and alive to us, including some we do not meet. So precise is the writing, that you still can envisage them all.

In short: A stunning read where the atmosphere is scorching.

Thanks to the author for a copy of the book.

Thanks to the author for a copy of the book

Harper is undeniably a master of her art. She is a highly skilled storyteller, and her stories are only getting better. I found myself transfixed by the description of the surroundings, the characters and the tale in general. It’s the kind of book that makes you skip sleep.

Kudos to Harper for the level of hands-on research it must have taken to be able to pull this story off with such an authentic feel to it. She captures the complete isolation of the surroundings and the strict rules each and every inhabitant of the land has to adhere to in order to survive.

That is the biggest question when the body of Cameron Bright is found in the outback of Queensland. Why didn’t he stick to the rules that have been rammed into him since he was a child? The obvious solution, and perhaps the most painful for the family, is that his death was a choice.

The author shines a light on the adverse psychological affect of solitude, loneliness and the almost impossible task of keeping a property or business afloat in these remote areas. The high rates of suicide in rural Australia are on an upwards trend, and men seem especially reluctant to seek help.

With the suspicion of suicide surrounding the death of their brother both Nathan and Bub have to take a closer look at their own mental health. This is particularly the case where Nathan is concerned, because he has been treated like a persona non grata since an unfortunate incident over a decade ago. Imagine being in a remote area and not seeing another person for months on end and then being treated like a pariah when you enter the only place that offers a break from the isolation.

Harper plots with the slow intensity of a predator stalking their prey, and yet she does so in such a warm and inviting way that the reader becomes so engrossed that they can’t see what’s coming or what is looking right at them.

I really enjoyed where the author took this plot. It was unexpected, but also absolutely necessary. The motive is universal, the repercussions of what proceeds the motive last a lifetime. It’s a beautiful slow-burner of a crime set within the outback, with strong characters and a fantastic plot.

Thanks to Net Galley and Little Brown Group UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Jane Harper does it again with another slow burner but definitely a 5 star read. The descriptive writing comes alive and you can feel the dry heat and the red dust of the Australian outback.
It’s a family story mainly about the 3 brothers, Cameron who has just been found dead out at the stock mans grave, the middle of nowhere,, Nathan who has ostracised himself from everyone and Bub who has always felt like an outsider. . Cams death is a mystery, what was he doing out at the stock mans grave? why did he leave his car which didn’t seem to have broken down and was well stocked with food and water.?
The family all admit that Cam seemed to have had a lot on his mind as last few weeks and was a shorter than usual.
Liz, their mother is devastated to have lost a son, especially Cam as it seemed he was her favourite, he was well respected and liked.
Nathan is trying to shove the mystery by retracing Cam’s steps and the route he would have taken. He is also trying to build a relationship with his teenage son who is staying at the ranch for the summer.
There are many family relationships going on in the story, they have been through a lot in the past but they still remain together. secrets unfold as the story progresses Nathan for me was the main character in the story.
A compelling read and totally different from the authors other 2 books. Loved this book.

Three brothers, one of them dead. This shouldn’t have happened. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t so much that he wasn’t old. It was the way he had died. He had known the nature of the land, its harsh and unforgiving relentless heat and yet he had died without water. His car parked miles away with everything he needed inside it. His only shelter for his last few hours being given from a solitary headstone of a stockman from 100 years before that no-one could remember the name of. But the dead man’s grave hadn’t been able to save him, just give him hope that someone would find him. They had but too late.
Set in Australia the story is as much about this untameable country as it is about the people who seem to be in constant battle to live there. The descriptions are brutally beautiful, exhilarating and deadly but the brothers have to figure out if the death of their brother was due to him letting his guard down and losing a battle with the elements or by human intervention.
The story is told mainly through Nathan, the youngest brother as he dips back into the past and memories of the family, his mother Liz, Uncle Harry and two brothers as it travels back in time then returning to present day where he feels that there is far more to his brother’s untimely death. There isn’t a huge cast of characters in this story but each have their own secrets and grudges. The story is suspenseful of what is coming rather than riveting but compelling like an ageless classic.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the Little Brown Book Group UK for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

Two years ago I read the debut novel The Dry by Jane Harper and I thought it was fresh, intelligent with the great rugged Australian outback forming a beautiful backdrop. Force of Nature was the second book featuring Federal Police agent Aaron Falk and although not quite as outstanding as The Dry it was still an excellent read. So with some excitement the good people of Little Brown via netgalley sent me a gratis copy of The Lost Man in exchange for an honest review and I began to read..........Do you remember in the early 80's the adventure of the Ewing family in the long running series Dallas which in reality was an American soap series analyzing the never ending feuds of a wealthy oil dynasty. The Lost Man reminds me so much of this series a family torn apart by its past having to cope with sudden unexpected death. The body of Cameron is discovered one morning by his brothers Nathan and Bud under the relenting sun and brutal Australian outback...unfortunately that's about as good as this story gets. We spend the best part of nearly 400 pages listening to tedious family squabbles as old hatreds and secrets come to the surface. This was a monotonous piece of storytelling with little or no excitement that rambled forever until the final pages when Cameron's murderer is revealed. A story that was monotonous in the extreme with its constant use of the word "mate" (yes I know it is Australia but there is such a thing as overkill) a story that I found contained little merit and a story that I most certainly would not recommend. Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

The Lost Man is so far my favorite book by Jane Harper. It was interesting to read a stand-alone book and not a new book in the Aaron Falk series. However, right from the very start when Cameron is found by his brothers Nathan and Bub did I feel that this book will be good.

The wonderful setting, one could really feel the Australian heat while reading the book. Not to mention the vastness everything takes hours to reach. Then, then there is the death of Cameron. Was it really a suicide? Has the legend of the Stockman's something to do with the death? The more one reads the more one realize that not everything is as it seems. There are secrets, deep dark secrets...

I will end this review now. This will be a short review since I think that this book should be experienced and I don't want to reveal too much of what is going on. I will just say this, it's beautifully written and I would love to see this book made into a movie or miniseries!

The Lost Man was very different from Jane Harper's previous books (The Dry and Force of Nature) - another fantastic book.

The author is such a great storyteller. Set in the searing heat of the Australian outback, the book tells the story of the death of Cameron, the older brother of the Nathan and Bub. Nathan does not believe that Cameron's death was a suicide and goes about trying to find out his last steps and what happened to him. Nathan also has his own problems but ends up unearthing family secrets whilst doing so. Meanwhile, the family are preparing for Cam's funeral.

The author's description of the Queensland outback and the loneliness of life there is compelling. A tale of family secrets, relationships, loneliness, tension, struggle and hardship.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

I was already a big fan of Jane Harper from her first two books and was not disappointed with this one. She taps into something so dark and bleak that makes her unputdownable.

Jane Harper, in an interview for The New York Times, called The Lost Man a study in isolation and she is not wrong.  This book really is about the setting as much as it is about it's characters.  The remoteness and isolation. The heat and extreme weather.  The practicalities needed because of it and most definitely the effects this landscape has on the people that live there.  As we move through the book, in Nathan's hunt for the truth behind his brother's death, he unearths parts of everyone's lives, including his own, that pay testament to this.  Events that have been long buried and more recent episodes that are being kept hidden or unaddressed. A masterclass in writing about truly believable characters and what their pasts have done to them and wonderful insights into the emotional aspects of what it is to live in this type of remote family life.

I particularly enjoyed her attention to detail in areas like the supplies and tools needed to be kept in their cars whenever they are travelling around in case they break down in the hospitable and deadly weather. The massive cold storage areas that are required to keep food and the role of the 'local' doctor and policeman in keeping check on people and their mental and emotional state.  You can tell this book has been researched extremely well.

The story of Cameron's death moves slowly through the book and this allows the reader to really appreciate the setting and lives of the characters that establish the plot. Cameron's death is what starts and ends this story.  What you get in between are wonderfully written narratives about the individual lives of each of the character's, all interwoven together to establish the reasons for why Cameron's died. This makes for a wonderfully atmospheric read.

I enjoyed Jane's other two novels The Dry and Force of Nature.  This is a standalone novel and another fantastically absorbing read.

I would like to thank @caolinndouglas for the invite to take part in this blog tour.
I also received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review

The Lost Man is out now and is published by Little,Brown