The Lost Man by Jane Harper is a book that reads almost like Agatha Christie for the modern age, but I have to say that I enjoyed it far more than any of that particular lady's body of work. The stage is set when the body of Cameron (Cam) Bright is found in the middle of the Australian outback, after apparently abandoning his car and walking into the vast nothingness. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters, his mother, and his two brothers, as well as several station workers including a couple of backpackers. As his brother Nathan tries to figure out what really happened he must also come to terms with his own past, including the breakup of his marriage, his feelings for his brother's now widow, and the fact that his actions have resulted in him becoming an outcast.
The isolation of the family station, and the dangers of life living in such a remote location are really brought to bear on the storytelling, and it is a real testament to the authors skill that she makes the location feel both vast and oppressive at the same time. She is also very talented at creating flawed characters, from the three brothers at the heart of the story to the more minor bit players, they are all so easy to feel for and believe in. While the plot is something of a slow burn, as befits the burning heat it plays out in, it is still a completely captivating read. This may have been my first Jane Harper book, but if they are all of this calibre, it certainly will not be my last.

Jane Harper always writes with an incredibly powerful sense of place and The Lost Man is no exception. However, while her two previous novels, The Dry and Force of Nature are both led by her detective Aaron Falk, this book stands alone. The titular lost man is Cameron Bright, middle of three brothers. The Bright family oversee 3,500 kilometres of land in Queensland but when Cameron goes out to fix a repeater mast one day, he never returns. A helicopter spots his body near the old stockman's grave, sole landmark and source of local folklore and ghost stories. What was Cameron doing out by the grave? Why would he have abandoned his well-stocked and functioning car nine kilometres away, the keys still in the ignition? While the immediate assumption is that Cameron took his own life, his elder brother Nate is less sure. With a funeral to organise and Christmas just around the corner, family secrets bubble beneath the surface - this is a thriller that lingers in the mind long after the final page.Harper's ability to summon forth the landscape of Australia is one of the things that has made her writing so distinctive. Whether it is drought-struck Kiewarra in The Dry or the outback in Force of Nature, she captures the brutality of the Australian climate. With The Lost Man, we travel to a landscape even more unforgiving. 'A million years ago when a million natural events still needed to occur, one after the other, to form this land as it lay in front of him now. A place where rivers flooded without rain and seashells fossilised a thousand miles from water and men who left their cars found themselves walking to their deaths.' Harper describes unflinchingly what death by heat exhaustion and dehydration has done to Cameron - if this is murder, the weapon has been the land itself.

The Lost Man is a closer cousin to The Dry than Force of Nature, with its central character Nate Bright an outcast in a similar way to Falk in the first book. The main theme of the novel though is isolation, with Harper acknowledging in interviews a fascination with people choosing to live in far-flung outback communities and what 'their day-to-day lives are like and how that impacts their relationships'. The Bright brothers make work the same land but their homes are hours apart. They have grown up defined by their distance from others. Their children learn from 'School in the Air', they have few friends, they have all learned from an early age to never leave home without adequate provisions in case of car malfunction. Nate is divorced with his son living far away in the custody of Nate's former wife - he can go weeks without setting eyes on another living soul. Even in the opening pages, it is clear that his isolation has people worried. If anyone was going to be found mysteriously dead near the stockman's grave, one would have thought it would be Nate.

Like Luke Hadley in The Dry, Cameron Bright has been the golden child. Unlike Nate, he went to university and has made a success of his land. He was happily married to Ilse and the two of them had two young daughters Sophie and Lo - he seemed to have everything to live for. Matriarch Liz is utterly distraught by her son's passing, her grief 'raw and messy', she spends most of the novel in a haze. Yet there are cracks beneath the surface - the bad memories of violence at the hands of their late father, a letter written by someone who once accused Cameron of a terrible crime, objects going missing around the farm, strange pictures drawn by Cameron's daughter Lo.

Harper depicts the darkness at the centre of the brothers' childhood with sensitivity - how can a wife escape a violent husband when she is trapped hours away from the nearest community? How would a child get away from an abusive parent - where do you run to? Even those not born to the life struggle, with the vulnerability of the backpackers is also shown with stark realism. There are times during the year when the international travelers can make up a third of the workforce within the Australian National Farmer's Federation, not least because the backpackers are generally obliged to undertake 88 days of agricultural work if they wish to extend their Visa for a second year. It may seem particularly salient in the current climate to point out that a yes is not a yes if no is not an option, but Harper makes it clear that these issues are not new. We talk about invisible abuse, coercive control but living in an environment such as this, the land has the potential to be the ultimate tool of intimidation.

Harper draws out the mystery with such skill, effortlessly dropping a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter. She has always had an eye for the detail that sets loose the whole mystery, such as here when Nate gets into Cameron's abandoned car and is surprised to have to adjust the seat. He and Cameron were the same height. Weaving in and out of the novel too is the story of the stockman at whose grave Cameron was found. Each character has their own version of how the man met his end - he tripped over his gun, he raped an Aborigine girl and was killed for it, he was a cattle rustler who vanished mysteriously - each version revealing something about the person telling it and about the risks that you have to accept while living in so brutal a landscape.

Harper has fast become one of the most interesting new voices in crime and with this her third novel, she shows no sign of loosening her grip. Indeed, there is a rawness to The Lost Man, a tragedy, which charts new territory for her. Nate is not an entirely likeable protagonist. Long banished from the local town for an unforgivable mistake, he is awkward around people. His son points out that Nate's attitude towards his ex-wife is not always fair, his memories of past events not always accurate. Yet for all his flaws, for all his failings, we see that he is not a wicked man and that he is trying to understand what has happened to his brother. The emotions and dynamics at play are complex and the electrifying conclusion still left a lot of room for contemplation. With a blink-and-you'd-miss-it cameo from Aaron Falk, it seems likely that Harper will be returning to her detective for her next book but with The Lost Man, she has produced a thriller of such intensity that the reader does not feel his absence. Unpacking secrets upon secrets, the tale of the lost Bright brother is both heartbreaking and haunting - this is rural crime at its very best.

„The Lost Man“ is a slow-burn mystery about the strange death of a man in the Australian outback.

Cameron Bright lies death in the shadow of an old tombstone, a so-called lonely grave, in the middle of nowhere. His car is just 9km ahead, fully stocked with food and water. His two brothers are puzzled. How did Cameron end up there at this old grave, dying of dehydration under the gruesome Australian sun while he had plenty of water in his abandoned car? This mystery is a tough one but Jane Harper has no rush to enlighten us. And I enjoyed every word of her story. It is a slow-burning, character-driven story about a family who lives in rural Australia. We get to know the characters and learn about their hard life. The merciless but beautiful landscape of the Outback is a character on its own. You can feel the heat and see the endless sky full of stars. The life of those people is intertwined with the landscape. There is not much to say about the story; it is about family and secrets. Not much new here but the setting makes the difference. And of course the beautiful writing.

I was no over-impressed with Harper’s first book, “The Dry”. I found it to be an OK read but did not get all those ecstatic reviews. Then I read “Force of Nature” and I was blown away. And with “The Lost Man” Jane Harper won me finally over. I absolutely loved this book. Once started I could not put it down. I loved the slow pace, all the time she took and let us into this world. I just finished a book which had absolutely nothing to tell in so many words. So it was a blessing to read a book which has so much to tell in such beautiful words. I fell in love with the family, the landscape, the mystery.

I felt that this started off as a bit of a slow burner but chapter by chapter the story of each of the central characters emerge.

Cameron dies in the outback in mysterious circumstances. The authorities say he took his own life but his brother, Nathan is convinced something is wrong. Here we see him try to get to grips with what really happened but not everyone wants him to find out and does he really want to know?Who are the backpackers working on the farm? Why has Jenna re-emerged and what is Ilse hiding? Who else has a secret to hide?

In true Jane Harper style, the setting is sparse and unforgiving and this is revealed in her clear description of the environment. Her portrayal of the characters builds chapter after chapter, along with the tension.

It’s the little things that finally reveal the truth and the ending is somewhat unexpected but totally befitting the storyline. A great read.

You may be familiar with Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk series but The Lost Man is something altogether different, but no less gripping.

When the body of Cameron is found near a landmark, his death raises a number of questions. What was he doing out there? Was he alone? Did the heat and the environment catch him unawares, despite his experience? Did he take his own life? What really happened to Cameron?

The harsh and unforgiving landscape of the Australian outback plays a huge part in this story. It’s almost a character of its own. With its relentless heat and all-encompassing feeling of isolation, this tough life isn’t for the faint-hearted. When there is no one around for miles, the only people you can truly depend on are those closest to you, even if they are three hours’ drive away. But do we ever really know someone?

None of these characters came across as particularly likeable but I blamed that on their way of life and obviously, the death of a loved one. Yet, I still found it quite hard to sympathise with them. However, I did admire their perseverance. It takes a special kind of person to survive this particular set of hardships, I think, and obviously life isn’t a barrel of laughs and there’s little to be happy about.

Bit by bit, the truth about this family is revealed when family secrets that go back decades are discovered. While The Lost Man is relatively slow-paced, it remains compelling throughout as we delve into the intriguing and complex family dynamics. The mystery surrounding Cameron’s death is a gripping one and I couldn’t figure it out at all.

The Lost Man oozes atmosphere from start to finish and is all about family. This character driven story makes for some compelling reading and if Jane Harper wasn’t on your radar yet, she most definitely should be now!

I loved Jane Harper's first two books, <a href="http://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup/2017/01/11/the-dry-blog-tour/">The Dry</a> and <a href="http://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup/2018/02/05/force-of-nature-by-jane-harper/">Force of Nature</a>, and I was a little disappointed to hear that her third book, The Lost Man, didn't feature Aaron Falk, the detective from the first two.

I wasn't disappointed for long.

The Lost Man isn't just a crime novel. It's an exploration of a family, a town, a landscape, and yes, a death. There's so much more to it than the crime though, as it weaves narratives of several family members together, and deftly takes apart people and their motivations.

There aren't any heroes. There are certainly villains. Are they who you think they are? If you're anything like me, you'll be kept guessing throughout, as the story unfolds like the landscapes in her descriptions. It's so vivid that it feels like a memory rather than a piece of fiction - I can't begin to describe people and places the way Jane Harper does. I read this book back in October according to my kindle, and it's stayed with me throughout. Although I am thinking that maybe I deserve a re read.

I've yet to meet anyone who has read The Dry or Force of Nature and not adored them. I actually think The Lost Man is even better, which I didn't think was going to be possible.

Buy this book. But be ready to block out the next couple of days for reading. You won't want to put it down.

I absolutely adore Harper’s Aaron Folk series which started with The Dry and continued in Force of Nature, but I was thrilled to learn that The Lost Man, her third novel, would be a standalone. It differs a little to her previous novels, in that this isn't a police procedural, and while there is a police investigation (there is a dead man, after all) the story is not told from the perspective of an investigating officer who is at most a peripheral character. Instead, the novel is told from the perspective of Nathan Bright, Cameron’s eldest brother, who sets out to solve the mystery surrounding his brother’s death. There are many unanswered questions and the plot goes in unexpected directions as Nathan and the reader learn more about the events surrounding Cameron’s final moments, and it’s a mystery as intriguing as any detective novel I’ve come across.

It’s clear from the beginning that the three Bright brothers – Nathan, Cameron, and Bub – didn’t always see eye to eye. Their relationship goes a long way beyond sibling rivalry, and the reasons for this are revealed over the course of the novel as we get to know the Bright family in more detail – the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. As the novel is told from Nathan’s perspective, the reader quickly learns that he is essentially banned from town – ostracised and largely ignored by all but his immediate family for the last ten years. As a result, he spends a great deal of time alone, his ex-wife and son living in Brisbane, and even though he believes that he is fine, there are clearly cracks in the façade. I found Nathan’s character to be fascinating, and it was interesting to learn about his banishment, and whether this fate was deserved or not.

The mystery surrounding Cameron’s death is also incredibly intriguing. He’s grown up in the outback, and so is fully aware of the dangers of being caught out without supplies, and yet his body is found 9km from his car, with no water, food, or shade. There is no logical explanation, and while it becomes clear that Cameron maybe wasn’t as happy as is initially assumed, it’s a difficult way to go, and the question of whether he chose his fate or whether it was forced on him is one of the main questions to be resolved.

"Life out here is hard. We all try to get through the best way we can."
This a harsh landscape to survive in, and Harper captures the difficulties brilliantly, bringing Australia to life as she has in her previous novels. It’s not a lifestyle for the faint of heart, not just for the isolation, but also the difficulties in ensuring that nothing runs out as well as the health implications of being exposed to the sun so much.

The Lost Man is another stunning read from Jane Harper. Excellently plotted and beautifully written, this is a story that pulls you in and doesn’t let go.

Jane Harper is a MUST-READ author. The Lost Man is so great and atmospheric. I cannot get enough of this woman's writing. The characters are unlikable. The plot is filled with tension. And the setting is a character all on it's own. If you enjoy mysteries and well-written, atmospheric novels, you need to be reading Jane Harper now. Highly recommended!

Jane Harper, for me, has always been one of those authors who you hear a lot about but you just never get the moment to grab a book to read....until now. Yes, until 'The Lost Man', I hadn't picked up one of Jane Harper's novels yet everyone was shouting about how good her writing was on social media. So, when I finally got the chance to join the 'in crowd' as it were, I knew I had to jump at it. I would be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive - what if I didn't like it? What if I was the only one not to fall under Jane Harper's spell? Obviously I wouldn't know the answer to that until I had read the book....and now that I have, I can answer it.

I didn't dislike it! In fact I was captivated by Jane Harper's storytelling! It didn't take me too long to work out where the title of the book fit with the storyline, however the truth behind the lost man doesn't become clear until the last knockings. Frustrating? Yes and no. I totally appreciated why the author kept the pace as it was, and it would have been pointless to divulge the truth too early in the story, but at times I did find the pace too slow because there wasn't always that hook for me to hold onto.

I thought that the character dynamics were very cleverly written, especially as their lives were intimately entwined with each other's, whether they liked it or not.

Personally, I thought the latter portion of the book was what stole the show as it ticked the boxes for grit, intensity, and uncertainty, a lot easier than the rest of the book. So much so, I didn't want the book to end. Saying that, I didn't dislike the other parts of the book at all, I just felt like it was missing something.

Overall, 'The Lost Man' made me feel a bit like a lost woman at times, but I found the authors storytelling to be spellbinding and worth its weight in gold.

Jane Harper’s third novel, The Lost Man, opens with a death which seems to make little sense. It’s a mystery that’s all the more disorientating for being set in the harsh and unfamiliar landscape of a Queensland summer.

Aaron Falk, the detective from Jane Harper’s previous two novels, is a no show in this latest book but he’s not the lost man of the title. That distinction seems to be shared between two brothers: the dead man, Cameron, who looks to have strayed too far from his car and become disoriented in the heat, and Nathan, who needs to know whether his brother did so deliberately.

Youngest brother, Bub, may feel sidelined in the family business but it’s Nathan, the eldest, who is cut off from people both physically and emotionally. Divorced and living on his own, except for the present time when his son is visiting from Brisbane, he’s been ostracised by the community, both settled and itinerant, for breaching an unwritten outback code ten years ago. As the novel progresses and you get to know the man better, you can’t help but hope there’s a chance of redemption for him here, together with some sense of release for the family.

Jane Harper’s description of the land and its people is as blistering as the Queensland heat. My skin prickled as I read and I could almost feel the ubiquitous red dust on its pages, as both the mystery surrounding Cameron’s death and the family involved unravel. It’s especially absorbing if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live and work on a remote outback station. What kind of person would you need to be to survive such a life in that landscape?

The stockman’s grave as the setting for the discovery of Cameron’s body serves to remind us just how isolated someone is out here and how quickly things can go wrong: the neighbouring properties are expansive and remote, the climate and landscape unforgiving, and inevitably this takes a toll on the people who live and work there, as well as how much they have to fend for themselves. There may be a police sergeant in the nearest town but he’s responsible for such a vast area that he can’t possibly deal with everything in the way we’d expect to happen here in the UK. It’s understandable so much is left to Nathan.

Throughout the book, Jane Harper keeps bringing her story back to that lonely marker of the stockman’s grave and I enjoyed hearing different versions of the myths that have grown up around this landmark, and seeing how the theories behind Cameron’s death could similarly form their own version, only adding to its notoriety. And, ultimately, it’s fitting that the only local to have bothered to unearth the true story behind the stockman’s grave, is the one searching for answers to his own brother’s death at the same site.

The Lost Man is an extremely satisfying read: it felt like a slow but intense burn yet I gulped it down in two goes to get my Harper hit. Now firmly on my list of authors to read as soon as a new book’s released.

I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher but that has in no way influenced my review. I am a huge fan of Harper’s writing having loved her previous novels, the epic The Dry and the superb Force of Nature. This latest book, however, is a standalone and not part of the brilliant Aaron Falk series so if you’ve not picked up one of Jane Harper’s books before now is the time to start!

When Jane Harper has a new book coming out you can guarantee it will be one of my most eagerly anticipated reads of the year. Full stop. If Jane Harper writes something then oh boy, do I want to read it! The Lost Man is a brilliant addition to her repertoire but one I found quite different from her previous works. One thing I will say is that in every Harper novel I have read you can guarantee that the landscape; that desolate isolation, the unpredictability of the Australian Outback plays as much a part of the story as the lead characters do. I think it’s something us Brits tend to struggle to get our heads around. Exactly how much open space there is, how far you have to travel to see another human being and how totally alone you can feel. Harper writes these scenarios with such aplomb and so vividly that I found myself totally immersed in the picture she was painting for us readers.

The Lost Man is about the Bright family, an isolated family of cattle farmers. You can’t help but like Nathan, the eldest of the three Bright brothers. Early on you discover that he has done something so catastrophic that the entire town has turned their backs on him. What exactly that is you don’t discover until later in the story but for a community so dependent on each other and so isolated you can guarantee it’s no small thing. Despite discovering what terrible thing Nathan did, my like of the character did not waiver. He comes across as a struggling, part-time, single parent who regrets past decisions he made but most of all he comes across as very lonely. Tidbits of information fall into the reader’s lap as the story progresses and things gradually start to crystalise. Before long Nathan realises that not everything is as it seems…

Would I recommend this book? I would. This was a slow burn of a read for me that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a well-written story. The setting and the characters combine to make a suspenseful tale about the Bright family and the secrets they hide within their familial bubble. I had my suspicions about what had happened to Cameron, the deceased middle brother, but it was interesting to watch the story unfold and have my suspicions confirmed. Harper throws in some wonderful red herrings to keep her readers on their toes and I had several moments of doubt before the perpetrator was uncovered. You can’t go wrong with a Jane Harper novel and if you haven’t read one of her books before then please do yourself a favour and grab a copy.

I read and reviewed an eARC of The Lost Man by Jane Harper. The above is my own unbiased opinion.

The Lost Man is the third Jane Harper novel that I've had the pleasure of reading, and I think it may just be my favourite yet. Harper's storytelling is magnificent and I always look forward to her novels.

The unbearable heat and unforgiving conditions of the vast Australian outback set the scene for The Lost Man. Three brothers live on neighbouring farms; their farms each almost the size of a small country.

Cameron Bright, is dead, days before Christmas at a place known as the Stockman's Grave. A place of local legend, a landmark so old that no one can’t actually remember who or what is buried there.

When Cameron’s car is found nearby with good tyres, sufficient fuel and provisions, the local police have no option but to conclude that Cameron’s death was suicide. He knew the area, he grew up in the area, there is no way he’d have abandoned his vehicle and not taken the provisions.

Cameron’s family although respectful of the police opinion, struggle to come to terms with it. Nathan the main protagonist of our story is convinced that there is more to his brothers death than meets the eye.

Through Nathan’s eyes we learn so much about the Bright family. Seemingly normal from the outset, it is clear that the have a chequered history as the novel progresses. Could an outsider have wanted Cameron dead?

I can’t answer that, not can I tell you anything about that ending that everyone’s talking about. You’ll just have to read this stunning novel yourself to find out. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Jane Harper never disappoints me. I loved this book – I was totally engrossed in these characters and the extraordinary lives they lived. It was a real eye opener to the issues they had to deal with living so remotely. I enjoyed the way the story slowly revealed itself and I felt so sad and compassionate at the end. This book felt very genuine, well written, well paced and very believable – a quality that I feel is missing from a lot of crime thrillers these days as they try to be too clever. I would very much recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed Jane Harpers previous books as you won’t be disappointed

The Lost Man is an all-consuming, immersive read. Three brothers, one long term friend and hired hand. Each of them, in their own way, deserving of Jane Harper’s title. Harper’s novels are characterised by a vivid and captivating sense of place and in The Lost Man we are left in no doubt as to the brutal effects of being left in the harsh heat of the outback without succour.

This is a place where isolation takes its toll far too often and where small communities have long memories and do not easily forgive or forget.
In a place where your nearest neighbour may be three hours away, Jane Harper manages to pull off the feat of making the reader feel both isolated and claustrophobic at the same time.

The excoriating heat, dust storms and remoteness all wield a price on the inhabitants of the outback and its beauty is harsh and cruel.

In this vast, unforgiving expanse, Harper offers a domestic noir; a family mystery that explores the darker side of human nature and makes us consider family dynamics and nature versus nurture.

With striking dramatic prose, a strong and steady pace and a narrative that imbues every scene and every word with meaning, she paints a picture that is so thick with oils that you just have to take your fingernail and scratch the surface to see what lies beneath.

Rife with carefully plotted contradictions – like celebrating Christmas in arid heat and only days after a dead body is discovered, Harper manages to ensure the reader’s undivided attention as this compelling psychological drama plays out in front of our eyes.

I really enjoyed her first two novels. This one is a stand-alone, but it is, if anything, even better.

Since they have not heard from their brother Cameron who was due to meet them, Nathan and Bub set out for the remote border of their land in the Australian outback. They find Cameron dead, obviously from dehydration and close to the grave of the legendary stockman. His car about 9 miles away. The whole scene doesn’t make sense to them, yet, there must be a reason. When they return home, the news is greeted with silence, nobody really seems to be too sad, but nobody wants to tell Nathan what had happened the weeks before, obviously, there was something that had troubled Cameron. The deeper Nathan digs, the more secrets he uncovers that had been buried for a long time.

I have read novels from Jane Harper before and had certain expectations. “The Lost Man” however, did not make it easy for me. I expected some crime novel with a lot of suspense, but it took more than two thirds into the novel until I finally found it interesting and at least a bit exciting.

What made it most difficult was the fact that I hated all the characters. None of them was sympathetic and I was always fighting internally whom to hate most. We mainly meet elderly men, frustrated, eaten away by hatred and therefore harassing the people around them. It was just awful to follow them when they recklessly and egoistically do their own thing. More than once was I close to giving up because I didn’t see any progress in the plot and hardly could stand the characters’ lamentations.

Looking at it from the end, there is a clever crime plot that I could really appreciate, but it is a very long and hard way to get there. The novel certainly transports the hardship of farmers in the far away outback.

Der Prolog ist einfach überwältigend. Die Weite, Einsamkeit, Dürre und Trostlosigkeit trifft den Leser und schafft sofort Atmosphäre.

Cameron, der mittlere Bruder der Bright Brüder wird kurz vor Weihnachten, nach der Vermisstenmeldung, von einem Piloten tot in der Wüste aufgefunden. An der Landmarke stockman's grave. Die Umstände sind zunächst allen Beteiligten unklar. Während sie auf den Polizisten und den Mediziner warten müssen, suchen die beiden Brüder nach seinem Wagen und finden ihn 8 Kilometer entfernt intakt mit Wasser und Nahrungsmitteln für eine Woche. Es ist ein Rätsel. Zunächst übernimmt ein ganz junger Polizist die Aufnahme, da Sergeant McKenna bei einem anderen Fall nicht wegkann. Die unglaubliche Größe Australiens wird fühlbar. Für Arbeiten sind die Farmer stunden- und tagelang unterwegs.

Nach den Ereignissen kehren alle auf der Farm der Großmutter ein. Auf der elterlichen Farm findet die trauernde Familie so zusammen. Der Tote lässt seine Frau Ilse und zwei junge Töchter zurück. Auf Nachfragen stellt sich heraus, dass er in den letzten Wochen nicht er selbst war. Oft erlebte die Familie Cameron übernächtigt, unaufmerksam und reizbar. Doch keiner weiß den Grund. Im Raum steht ein möglicher Selbstmord. Allerdings erscheint die Methode allen doch reichlich bizarr. Die Gruppe der Charaktere wird von zwei Backpackern, die im Haus helfen, ergänzt. Es wird klar, dass es in Nathans Vergangenheit dunkle Geheimnisse gibt, die ihn unbeliebt gemacht haben. Die Andeutungen lassen den Leser mit rätseln.

Es kommt nicht wirklich zu Ermittlungen. Die Geschichte bleibt hauptsächlich durch Nathans Fragen in Bewegung. Die Autorin nimmt sich Zeit, die Protagonisten zu beleuchten. Nathan kann einem ans Herz wachsen. Die vergangenen Ereignisse klären sich nach und nach auf, bis der Anruf von Glenn alle aufwühlt und noch mehr Geheimnisse der Vergangenheit auftauchen. Das Ende kann überraschen und lässt einen nachdenklich, aber auch hoffnungsvoll zurück.

Bei diesem Roman handelt es sich weniger um einen mitreißenden Thriller, sondern um ein sehr spannendes Familiendrama. Ich habe hierfür schon die Bezeichnung Outback Noir gelesen. Die Autorin bringt dem Leser die Härte und die Einsamkeit dieses Lebens sehr gut nahe. Das geht unter die Haut. Diese Geschichte macht neugierig. So habe ich einiges zu Australien recherchiert und gelernt, das mir im Gedächtnis bleiben wird. Bislang das beste Buch der Autorin.

Für mich ein ganz großer Australien Roman!

5 von 5 Punkten

If you pick up The Lost Man to read immediately after reading an action adventure thriller then you may feel that there is not too much going on in this book. Now, consider a painting. It may take the artist hours to pull together the features, the light and the subtle shades which will leave the end result as a beautifully depicted landscape, telling a story and capturing a moment in time. That is what Jane Harper does in The Lost Man. She builds up layers of story, shades of emotion and depth of characters – all set against a harsh backdrop of the Australian wilderness – and leaves the reader with a wonderfully told story where the lives of three brothers are laid out for inspection.

The Lost Man opens with a death. Cameron – the middle brother of three is found lying in the desert wilderness. It is Christmas time and the weather conditions are brutal hot sunshine – he has walked across a barren landscape and succumbed to the elements. However, when Cameron’s brothers trace his journey back to where he left his car they find it intact, fully operational and well stocked with survival provisions. So why has Cameron left the safety of his car and why did he not take any food or water?

It is a perplexing question and the surviving brothers can offer no immediate answers. However, the story unfolds and Jane Harper will peel back layers of the characters in her tale and secrets will out. The reader gets to understand the isolation these hardy souls have to endure as they farm the land and scratch out a living. Their lives have been closed books to other family members but the circumstances surrounding Cameron’s death will lead to conversations which would never have taken place being aired in front of unexpected audiences.

This is story telling of the highest order. I just wanted to keep reading as the author transported me to the other side of the world. The information you are craving is drip fed into the story and the pages begin to turn themselves. What a talent Jane Harper is – she will draw you into her world and you will not want to leave.

I loved The Lost Man. It’s thoughtful, engrossing and rather powerful.

The synopsis isn’t that alluring: in the Australian Outback in the punishing heat of a Queensland midsummer a man is found dead by his two brothers near the boundary of the two properties in which they have lived all their lives. There is a mystery about why he broke the cardinal rules of Outback survival and as questions are asked, some dark family history and secrets emerge. It sounds very familiar ground, but Jane Harper creates something quite special out of it.

The whole thing is beautifully done. Harper’s writing is unflashy and readable, but has a quiet excellence about it. She generates a very powerful sense of place and the effect of the harsh conditions on its inhabitants. The story unrolls slowly but for me very grippingly as she develops her characters with delicacy, insight and subtlety. Dialogue in particular is excellent as believable characters emerge gently but powerfully and a sense of tension and menace slowly builds. We also get a fine, insightful picture of the effects of loneliness and isolation and of the long, bitter memories which can persist in a small community.

If you expect mutilated corpses, several Big Twists, car chases and the like, this won’t be for you. The pace is slow and measured, but the atmosphere and mystery are beautifully done, I found it utterly gripping and there is genuine human insight here, too. It’s one of the best books I’ve read for a while and I recommend it very warmly.

(My thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Jane Harper is the queen of tense storytelling. She primarily features realistic characters in her stories, and none more so than The Lost Man. In many ways it's a claustrophobic book, the story takes place on a farm and the surrounding areas. Cameron Bright is a well liked family man, brother, farmer and neighbour. For some inexplicable reason he leaves his vehicle and walks in the blazing sun to a well known local landmark, the Stockman's Grave. This is where he is found a day or two later, having suffered a horrible needless death from exposure and dehydration. His family are stunned as Cameron would have known it was certain death to abandon his vehicle in that terrain. Why would he possibly do it? Harper fleshes out her story slowly, showing multiple motives. The ending took me by surprise which is always a bonus. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed The Dry and Force of Nature, so I was very keen to read Jane Harper's new book The Lost Man. It is not a continuation of the Aaron Falk series, but a stand along book about a family living in the outback. (I learned a lot about what that must be like - it is a hard life..)
It took me a few chapters to get involved, but when I did I was had. It is pacey yet paced, and I found it held my interest and made me want to keep reading (pity I had to go to work!) The tension builds nicely and I was intrigued to find out what had happened.
I think that Jane Harper has such skill in making her characters flawed and yet so likeable and relatable.
I recommend #TheLostMan and I am already looking forward to her fourth book. Thank you #NetGalley @NetGalley and @LittleBrownUK for giving me the opportunity to read this book. It is published in the UK next week, and I think it will be a big hit.