Author: Jane Harper
ISBN: 9781743549100
RRP: $32.99
Publication Date: October 23, 2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
The Lost Man is the third book by talented Australian author Jane Harper and it’s another 5 star read for me.
The Lost Man is set in the vast outback of Queensland. Two brothers meet at the border of their neighbouring cattle properties, at the legendary landmark that is the stockman’s grave. A landmark that has been a part of the landscape for so many generations that no-one remembers the truth of the site.
The stockman’s grave casts a shadow that offered little hope for the middle Bright brother Cameron when he found himself under the relentless outback sun.
Cameron’s death raises many questions and through the anguish of saying goodbye the family is left to try and unravel the mystery. Cameron had been troubled in recent months, did he lose hope and walk into the unforgiving sun because if not the isolation leaves few suspects.
The Lost Man is a slow burning suspense that is completely character driven. The cast of characters is quite small because the Bright cattle properties are so large, and so far out of town, that the only real interactions are the family and the staff. Town is a number of hours away and there is only a single police officer, who happens to be hours in the other direction when Cameron is found.
Nathan is the older Bright brother, living on an adjoining property to the rest of the family and still about a 3hr drive away. He is living a life more isolated, and is deemed a much greater risk. He often leaves his radio off and is completely uncontactable, which concerns everyone who cares about him. He had issues in town a couple of years ago and has been shut out and shunned, completely unwelcome in his hometown. Nathan has grown accustomed to the isolation and now can go months without hearing another voice or seeing another person.
Cameron seemed to have it all together; lovely wife, two gorgeous daughters, a successful cattle property and the respect of the town. What is it that was troubling him? No-one seems to know.
Harper has woven a captivating tale of the hardships of life on the massive cattle properties in outback Queensland, the isolation, the stress, the risks associated with supplies if there are floods. It really is almost unimaginable to me to try and picture what life would be like. Add to all of that distance and isolation the prospect of mental health issues or medical issues and how do you ensure everyone’s wellness. More to the point how do you recognise the signs of someone being at risk?
Cameron’s death looks pretty cut and dried but there are things that just don’t quite add up. Nathan and his teen son Xander continue investigating on their own because it’s too hard to just accept that things are as they seem with so many inconsistencies. The question is how do you move forward when you don’t like what you uncover?
The Lost Man was a captivating story that I should have read in a short matter of days but just lately my books are almost gathering dust, much to my dismay. I was invested in these characters, their heartaches, their grief and their decisions. We uncover a lot of the past and the way that it shapes our present.
A slow burning suspense of endurance, of courage and of finding the strength to change the shape of the future.
Jane Harper can be found on her Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Lost Man is book #46 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2018.
Thanks to Pan MacMillan 50 of our Beauty and Lace club members will be reading and reviewing The Lost Man so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.
The Lost Man is available now through Pan MacMillan, Booktopia, Angus & Robertson and where all good books are sold.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
The Lost Man is set in the harsh Australian Outback, in the desert regions where temps reach boiling point and humans can’t withstand the elements for more than a few hours.
Cameron, one of three brothers, has been found dead near an old gravesite called ‘The Stockman’s grave’. The grave is one of local legends and nobody seems to know how or why Cameron was there to begin with.
Brothers Nathan & Bub must comfort their mother and Cameron’s wife Ilse and his two young daughters while trying to get answers on Cam’s death.
I loved this book for many reasons, the true blue Aussie characters, the harsh landscape, the mystery and the mixed emotions.
Jane Harper is a brilliant storyteller and she really had me wondering and guessing as I turned the pages.
I highly recommend ‘The Lost Man’.
Thanks to Macmillan and Beauty and Lace for the chance to read this Australian outback book, complete with dust and dirt, cattle, and stockman, heat and plenty of Australian venacular- mate! The story is written in a lively, catchy style, and you want to read more about the brothers, particularly as the landscape is so familar, you can feel the heat from the pages. Nathan and Bub came alive, as they try to work out Cam’s death, and the story flows from the brothers relationship as much as the death, and what Cam may or may not have been doing, and how this will upset his wife and kids. The blockbuster style carries you along, and I can see that the tv series treatment woud work for this book too. Jane Harper writes to suck you into the rough diamond characters and their interelationships, with a local flavour. I would give this a 3/5 as a good, hearty read.
the Lost man is Jane Harper”s third book and definitely dose not disappoint, it draws the reader in right from the first page with its powerful story of suspense, family secrets and undercurrents. It has the reader trying to unravel the mystery of Cameron Brights death.Why would an outback rancher that knows all the rules of survival in the outback end up dead and his car that is fully stocked be miles away from him ? The story is set in the harsh Australian outback about the Bright Family who is thrown into grief after discovering Cameron’s body by the Stock mans” grave a place with its own history.
Lost Man
This is a complex psychological thriller that is hard to put down.
The story begins with the discovery of Cameron Bright found dead in the outback in Queensland without supplies and with the sun beating down on him. We then have his two brothers Nathan and Bub standing over his body very confused as to why and how Cameron was out in the middle of nowhere without any supplies when he knew better than anyone as he had grown up in the area and would know what he needed in the outback.
The site of Cameron’s death is the Stockman’s Grave; a burial site for a man whose own death is a mystery. But why was Cameron there, how did he die and why did he leave his car close by when it was full of supplies?
The surrounding townspeople all think that Cameron either killed himself or found himself stranded, but his family suspect there is someone else involved. The family struggle to come to terms with Cameron’s death and as the story progresses more family secrets are uncovered.
It is hard not to bond with members of the Bright family. The emotions, fears and life experiences of all of them are complex and quite relatable.
I liked the suspense and build up of the book and I really liked the ending. I can’t recommend this highly enough. An incredible read from start to finish.
A man found dead in the harsh and unforgiving outback of Australia. Did he make an error in judging his surrounding land? He grew up and lived on the families outback property where he was found dead his whole life, and he was found nine kms away from his car that was fully stocked with food, water and supplies ….. did he intentionally walk off to his death?
The story is written from the eldest brother Nathan’s perspective and there are subtle things about his brother’s death that don’t quite add up. Why would his brother who was well liked, charming, successfully running the family farm and married with two daughters…. everything that Nathan didn’t have, do something like this? And why would he choose to do it this way?
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Pan Macmillan for allowing me the opportunity to read and review ‘The lost man’ by Jane Harper. I was looking forward to reading this story. I had heard great things about Jane Harper’s other books and this did not disappoint. I enjoyed reading about the harsh outback of Australia. I enjoyed finding out the story of Nathan as he was finding out things he didn’t know about his family. A family that he hadn’t seen for 12 months.
I found the book was well written and I enjoyed the story. It kept me interested, it kept me guessing and it kept me wanting to know more. I don’t plan to go to the outback Australia any time soon, however I do look forward to reading more of Jane Harper’s books!!
This storyline is set in the harsh outback of Queensland. If you have never seen the outback you will learn a lot about the bush and surrounding landscapes.
The story revolves around three brothers who all own pockets of vast cattle properties which all border on to each other. They always met up on the boundary lines for chats.
In the outback there is a gravesite known as Stockman’s Grave but no one remembers who was buried there.
No one expected to find middle brother Cameron Bright’s body, who uncanningly was found at the stockman’s grave. Cameron had the perfect wife, kids so was it suicide or murder or just an unfortunate accident? No one knew and the other 2 brothers needed to find out more.
All the Bright family members start trying to remember what they had been doing before Cameron was found dead. Could they have prevented whatever was wrong or how it happened?
There is not a lot I can say about this book as the characters are all from the same family but you really want to keep reading to see how Cameron died where he did.
I found the storyline a little slow in some parts but it is one of those reads that still capture your attention and you really want to find out how Cameron died.
I read Jane’s first book The Dry and was sort of half expecting FBI agent Arron Falk to pop up during the storyline but he is not in this book at all.
Thanks Beauty and Lace and Pan Macmillan Australia for another great read. The cover depicts the storyline perfectly.
Wow! The Lost Man by Jane Harper and published by Pan Macmillan, is such an engrossing story and so well written! I loved it and found it hard to put down.
It starts off relatively slowly as it sets the scene, but each detail has been carefully thought through, the multilayered characters skillfully and realistically depicted and the atmosphere created by the well paced build up is completely enthralling. Like the relentless sun beating down on the parched outback landscape, as you turn the pages the ‘heat’ and intensity of the story increases!!
As the true circumstances of Cameron Bright’s horrible and desperate death, are revealed, so too are the underlying tensions and secrets of the whole Bright family. Deep and painful truths that have been long hidden begin to emerge and the images of a quiet farming family are soon shattered!
The Lost Man is a powerful, intense family drama – a great read, and the author Jane Harper a brilliant talent. I will definitely be looking out for more of her well crafted tales!!
I am so thankful to ‘Beauty and Lace’ for intruding me to fabulous Australian author Jane Harper. I could not put ‘The Lost Man’ down, I loved every second of this book, so much so I went out and bought ‘The Dry’ and ‘Forces of Nature’
‘The Lost Man’ is a real page turner, so many twists, a typical vast Australian outback station, three brothers, one married with kids, one an ‘accident’ one ‘the black sheep’ mum the ‘matriarch’ the farm help, the ‘backpackers’ all the characters are there.
The rugged unforgiving outback landscape, a violent past, a young man’s misdemenour swept under the carpet, betrayal, skeletons in the closet, burial plots on family land, love lost, love found. A real who-done-it, and just when you think you’ve got it all sorted out, you are so far off the beaten track, you couldn’t see the headlights coming through the dust storm.
Thank you so much Beauty and Lace and Pan McMillan for giving ne the opportunity to review such a wonderful book, that I thoroughly recommend – go out and purchase this book, you won’t be disappointed
I’m going against the grain here but I just didn’t love this book. Well the first half anyway – I really struggled to get into the story.
I’m an outback aussie farmer’s wife & with the current drought situation, some of thoughts had by the characters are definitely accurate, which I found a little confronting.
As for the ending – It redeems this whole book. Cracker of an ending!
Thankyou Beauty & Lace for selecting me to read The Lost Man written by Jane Harper
This book is set in the outback of Queensland where the country is harsh and dry
This book gives readers from cities a sense of what the outback is really like in regards to the difficult conditions
The story begins with the death of Cameron Bright out near the stockmans grave, he has no provisions on him and Cameron would know better, has he been murdered, committed suicide or was his death an accident ( no spoilers ) readers will discover the answer later on in the book
The Bright family members just don’t understand what has happened/ or what went wrong
I loved this book it was a real page turner and had an ending I never saw coming