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!
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was fabulous, I was a bit slow getting drawn in, but once there, bam! I didn’t want to put it down. I changed my mind so many times about the guilty party, but was kept guessing right until the end. Jane Harper manages to spin this tail so you truly don’t know what the truth really is until she wishes us to uncover it. Some important issues are touched on, isolation, depression, suicide, counselling, date rape and domestic abuse. A really great read set in an outback farming community where life is already hard and often circumstance can make it harder.
Thanks to Beauty & Lace Bookclub and Pan MacMillan Australia for the opportunity to read an give an honest review of this book.
This is the third Jane Harper book I’ve read and I have to say, it’s probably the best one so far. Harper is excellent at building the mood of the setting with her description of the scenery and the portrayal of the harsh Australian outback. Cam’s death wasn’t an easy one and reminds me of those mysteries where someone dies in a room locked from the inside.
The Lost Man is set in outback Queensland and you can literally feel the heat and dry. This book doesn’t have the same main characters as her other two books but there is a sneaky reference to one of her other books which eagle-eyed fans might pick up.
I’ve since recommended this book to my bookclub. It’s a great read for the upcoming holidays.
Many thanks to Beauty and Lace Bookclub and Pan MacMillan for the opportunity to read and review The Lost Man by Jane Harper.
This is the first of Harper’s books that I have read and I loved it. Set in the harsh Australian Outback, where secrets are kept, the realities of family life are either hidden or not talked about and people are slow to forget and even slower to forgive and the area is dominated by the stockman’s grave and tales of how it came to be.
The tale revolves around the Bright brothers, Nathan, Cameron and the youngest known as Bub.
Nathan has a patch of land on one side of the fence, which he received when he married Jacqui, and kept after the messy divorce. Their now 16 year old son Xander lives with mum in Brisbane but spends time with Nathan under court ordered visits during school holidays. It’s just before Christmas, and Xander is currently visiting his dad.
The other side of the fence is the huge Burley Downs Station, owned by the boys father Carl Bright, and left to the three boys after his death. Cameron and Bub still live on Burley Downs Station, along with their mum Liz, Cameron’s wife Ilse, his daughters Sophie and Lois, Uncle Harry and currently a couple of backpackers, Katy and Simon. Cameron manages the property, and Bub works on it.
When Cameron is found dead at the base of the stockman’s grave’
s headstone, his fully stocked and perfectly functioning car a few kilometres away questions are raised as to what occurred to bring about the death of an apparently competent and happy man who had appeared to have everything going for him..
As carefully constructed facades begin to crumble the real people below the surface emerge to face their demons and their realities and we discover what we should already know, that what we see on the surface is not necessarily who or what a person is.
I loved the way as the book developed, so did the characters, from two dimensional to fully fleshed three dimensional, how issues of consent, domestic violence, depression and the difficulties of life on the land were sensitively dealt with.
Harper has written a highly believable, relate-able, psychological thriller that may take a little getting into, but then holds you to the very end.
While some may find the topics dealt with in the book confronting, especially those who may currently be experiencing or recovering from family violence, I would highly recommend this book as a great read.
I give it 5 stars
Firstly I would like to thank Beauty and Lace and Pan MacMillan for the opportunity to review The Lost Man.
The Lost Man is set in outback Australia and starts on with a man being found dead in close vicinity to his car that had food and water inside. The book follows the mystery of his death as to what happened to ‘Cameron’.
I did find this book very hard to get into and there were a few times were I was close to just not finishing it. For me I found this book hard to get into but once I had read a couple of chapters I was hooked and did not predict the ending at all!
Jane Harper has not let me down again!
A book filled with vivid imagery, twists and turns, along with plots that you never expect!
The book is about tree very different brothers who live in the middle of nowhere and the battle to discover the real reason why one of them died, at the legendary ‘Stockmans grave’, of all places…
Thank you for allowing me to read this page turner, that I could not put down!
Suspenseful? Intense? Page turner? I’d say all of the above!
Three brothers, growing up on the land, and a mysterious death that changes everything.
The story is told by Nathan, the eldest brother, who has become reclusive after a family breakdown. He becomes determined to solve the mystery surrounding his brothers death, but is conflicted about the things he discovers.
I liked the subtle nod to The Dry – Janes first novel which I also enjoyed.
I very much recommend this if you are a mystery fan. I will certainly be looking forward to more novels by Jane Harper.
Thank you to Pan McMillan and Beauty and Lace for this copy.
What can i add that hasn’t been already said. Jane Harper is fast becoming one of my favourite authors partly because of the Australian settings but mostly for how she weaves a tale.
As others i found it a little hard to get into but once Harper had me trapped there was no putting it down.
A thoughtful, respectful look at life on the land and all its trials with a lot of suspense thrown in
Firstly let me just say for those who were unsure about this book because it doesnt have Aaron Falk in it..dont be… this book is amazing and dare i say better then The Dry.
The Lost Man is a story about family and secrets and about complex relationships, love amd loss and the unrelenting harshness of remote Australia.
The characters are extremely well written and i was hooked by the story trying to figure out what happened to Cam, how a seasoned farmer let himself become stranded, knowing it would most likely lead to his death.
i dont want to give to much away, as the slow burning twists are what make this book so brilliant ..i will say Jane Harper is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.
Thanks to Beauty & Lace for the chance to read ‘The Lost Man – By Jane Harper’. I was excited to read this book. I read Harper’s first book, ‘The Dry’, at the beginning of the year and was thoroughly impressed at how easy Jane could put words on paper and create a whole new Universe that I entered every time I picked up the book.
The Lost Man is a mystery, a slow suspenseful story, that was able to keep me interested and wanting answers. Upon opening the book, I was transported into a part of Australia that I knew existed but had never actually formed an image in my mind of. A lonely, dry, dusty, red, part of Australia, where a ‘neighbour’ can live hundreds of kilometres away and where cattle stations are just so mammoth, that it takes someone like Harper to impress on my imagination, the astounding vastness of one…..I was mind-blown after reading Harper’s description of the outback, it took me a few minutes to get my head around it. At times I felt like I was spending my days in the Qld outback, in scorching heat, red dust devils dotting horizons as my mouth would dry and dust parch my throat. Jane Harper has the most wonderful knack of setting up imagery in one’s mind and plonking you in the middle of her own set.
After Nathan and Bub discover their brother, Cam Bright’s body, at the famous landmark, the grave of the old stockman, which just happened to provide the only slither of shade for miles, the mystery and the mounting questions begin. What happened? Cameron knew the rule about wandering around the properties, that you always stock the car of food, water and petrol and you never stray too far from the safety of the car; the air conditioning, water and food. So why was his body found nine kilometres away from the car which was stocked and in good order. His body dehydrated and burnt.
The mystery and journey for answers begins, as Nathan puts on the detective cap. He doesn’t believe his younger brother was feeling depressed, let alone that he took his own life, not that way, at least. We discover that everyone has secrets and everybody has lies that they’ve buried deep down, long ago. And slowly, like a simmering pot, truths start to resurface and we come to know the characters that make the story.
I’d recommend this book to those that love a good mystery. Those that love the psychological side of things. I found this more an interesting read, than I did suspenseful.
I absolutely loved this book and found it hard to put down once I had started. It is a thrilling family drama set in outback Queensland. It starts with the death of one of three brothers in unusual circumamstances and unravels from there as we get to know the various family members and their family roles.
The book portrays the complexity of living remotely and how it impacts the life and choices of those who do so.
I loved this book and would highly recommend it.