Jane Harper blew onto the scene a few years ago with The Dry, and with The Lost Man, she's somehow managed to write a third book that's just as good as her first two. A standalone, The Lost Man features the most incredible setting from Jane Harper yet. While her first two books also showcased rural Austrailia, I don't know that I've read a story before this one where the sense of isolation possible in a rural life came through as clearly. Nathan, the main character in this story, is more isolated than most even- partly by choice, partly due to circumstances readers learn about slowly. The parching, dry heat; the solitude- the sense of place in this book is unbelievable, and critical to the story.
On top of the vivid setting, Harper has also written a really solid mystery. It's the kind that, once all is revealed, will make you want to start over and see if there were clues you missed. It's not tricky or twisty, which is so refreshing in a world where so many books are hinging their stories on THE BIG TWIST. It's straightforward, it's evenly paced. It's exactly the book I wanted to read.

This was a great, well written thriller with a punch to the gut ending.! The setting is dramatic and the characters are well developed and interesting. I’ve read and enjoyed her previous books and look forward to the next one.

Jane Harper is known for her Aaron Falk series set in Australia. This novel is a stand-alone set deep in the Australian outback where if things go wrong, the result is usually deadly. Brothers Nathan and Bub, who are also neighbors, meet for the first time in months at a remote area of fenceline which separates their property because that is the spot where their brother, Cameron, lies dead.

As the family gathers to mourn Cameron, unanswered questions, long-hidden secrets, and suspicions swirl around them. Did Cameron make a fatal mistake that led to his death in the hostile outback, or did someone lure him cruelly to his death? Is he the successful farmer and family man that appearances would have others believe? These questions and many more keep the reader guessing who is to blame for the death of a father, son, brother and friend.

The Lost Man is an exploration of human connection and families as well as an examination of what it takes to survive in a harsh environment. Even though this story is different from Harper's previous novels, I enjoyed this story and found it unpredictable enough to keep me wondering and extremely difficult to put down.

Again I am left feeling greatly unsatisfied with another of Jane Harper's books. The premise was great this time, the setting spooky and eerie. Loved the plot and the characters (especially Nathan) but the execution was severely lacking. Again the story was predictable, no real mystery there, and again more domestic violence as the main plot line. What really let me down though was the reveal and the ending/wrap-up. Just too tidy and made absolutely no sense.

Giving 3 stars for the setting, Nathan and Xander's relationship, and the eeriness of the QLD rural areas. I think Jane Harper's writing is just not for me.

The Bright brothers are overseers of a vast amount of land in the Outback in Queensboro. The land is extremely hot, unforgiving and dangerous and no one leaves home without a large amount of supplies. When one of the Bright brothers, Cameron, doesn’t come home one day after supposedly going out for a repeater mast repair, an alert is put out. He’s found dead at the foot of the stockman’s grave, which is a great source of legend in the area. Cam’s brothers, Nathan and Bub, cannot understand why Cam would have left his car, which was fully stocked with emergency supplies, to walk 5.5 miles, which he knew would be a death warrant. Cam has left behind their mother, Liz, his wife, Ilse, and two young daughters, all of who are devastated and confused. This has all happened right before Christmas. While the police and others believe this to be a suicide, doubts and suspicion abound among family members and threaten to tear them all apart.

I was completely glued to the pages of this book. It’s a fascinating tale and the author is an expert at making her characters come alive. Not only that, but what a forbidding area this took place in, one where your life depended on having enough water and air conditioning to survive. It’s a land that could be hated but also loved for its stunning beauty. The author has created a dark, suspenseful atmosphere that is completely riveting. This is a slow burning, heart breaking book that blew me away. It’s not only the mystery of Cam’s death that was fascinating but also the relationship of Nathan and his teenage son Xander and Nathan’s complicated history with Cam’s widow, Ilse. And then there’s their mother, Liz, who loves them all so dearly.

A deeply satisfying, gripping tale that I most highly recommend.

Jane Harper can bring the Australian outback to life - when you read one of her books, you are immersed in the setting. Reading The Lost Man was all the more striking for me since I was socked in with a snowstorm here in Upstate NY. The Lost Man is not in the Aaron Falk series (please, Jane - more Aaron Falk in the future?) but tells the story of the Bright brothers - Nathan, Cam, and Bub who live on an isolated cattle ranch in Western Australia. The story opens with Nathan and Bub going to the stockman's grave, to watch over the body of their brother Cam until the police and medical authorities arrive. Without giving away the plot, the author begins to reveal the back story of each of the characters, particularly Nathan, as she describes the ferocity and unforgiving Outback. This was definitely a family saga, with the death of Cam playing a significant role. Was it murder? Was is suicide? What family secrets are the Bright brothers hiding? Read the book and find out!

Atmospheric, Australian gothic suspense. Who-done-it (and why) on this extremely isolated outback cattle ranch? Many family dynamics at play here and tons of twists. Dare to venture to the back-of-beyond and excavate past and present family secrets. Hint: there’s more than one lost man in this novel. Delivers on every level. Warning: kept me up late and indoors on a stormy weekend, turning pages until the ultimate, surprising end.

Nathan and Bub, two brothers meet at the Stockman's Grave where their third brother Cameron has met his horrific end. Beautiful yet at times inhospitable, the Australian outback seems to have claimed another victim. The slow reveal of the secrets and old wounds at the heart of the family kept me turning pages unable to step away. Through her detailed and vivid writing, Jane Harper brought not only this family to life but brilliantly captured the isolation and harsh life on an Australian cattle station. My favorite of her books so far!

Whenever an author who has a good thing going with a series decides to step away and write a stand alone, it makes me nervous. But in this case, I'm so very glad that Jane Harper did just that.

In The Lost Man, Harper moves away from anything resembling a procedural and gives us a gorgeously haunting mystery where the most menacing character in the book is the land itself. The ominous and creepy sense of place is so strong that the story almost feels Gothic at times.

The atmosphere here is beautiful, dangerous, and so perfect as a setting for the unsettling tale of familial betrayal and dark secrets that Harper has crafted.
Nuanced, fascinatingly flawed characters populate a book in which nearly everyone is guilty of something, but the guiltiest party of all may not be who you think it is.

The story wends and twists delightfully against the bleak backdrop of the outback, and the ending is one of the most satisfying I've encountered in a while. The Lost Man is now my favorite of Harper's work thus far.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I've read Ms Harper's previous books (the Aaron Falk books), and enjoyed them. Somehow I didn't notice that this was a standalone, so I kept waiting for Aaron Falk to appear - finally, I looked at the description and saw that this was not in the series. Just a note, so you won't feel that you have to read those books before reading this one!

Ms. Harper writes books that are very evocative, about the isolation and "feel" of living in the outback in Australia. I saw a number of themes running through her books, that continue here. First, a theme of ostracism - what happens to a person/family in a small isolated community who is ostracized by some or all of that community? Next, a strong theme of secrets and lies, both within a family and within the community. These themes were strong in her first book, The Dry, but are more developed here.

She does an excellent job of writing books with flawed characters, who you nonetheless feel empathy for and are rooting for. Yes, they create some of their own problems, but don't we all? I think the "who dun it" story line is really secondary to these themes of ostracism, isolation, and secrets, but the story line is an excellent vehicle for the character development and the themes.

This was my first Jane Harper book. I must have gone into it with incorrect expectations… I heard it was a mystery and was expecting more of a thriller. While there was a mystery involved, this is much more of a family drama than a thriller. Harper had excellent character development throughout the story. However, it was a slow read and hard for me to get into and connect with the characters. I am definitely intrigued by the author and would consider reading her earlier novels, but I am not rushing to read them right away.

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Man is a highly atmospheric mystery/suspense story featuring the beautiful yet deadly Australian landscape. Harper's descriptive writing style sets a grim, yet hauntingly beautiful scene as readers find themselves stranded in the remoteness of the Outback - a region where the people survive or perish from the elements based solely on their level of preparedness. So the big question is - why would a man born and raised in the Outback, fully aware of the danger posed by the brutal land and relentless sun, wander nine miles from his vehicle leaving his supplies and all means of survival behind? Why is cattleman Cam Bright lying dead in the shadow of the Stockman's Grave in the middle of nowhere? Did the well-liked middle Bright brother succumb to the elements in order to commit suicide? Or did someone leave him there knowing he would die? Why was he at the legendary Stockman's Grave?

The mystery of what happened to Cam and "who-done-it?" may be at the center of this story, but it's the many characters and relationships - people hoarding their own secrets and agendas - that fuel it. The Lost Man is very much a character-driven, suspenseful journey. The utter isolation of these families and their lack of quick help from authorities becomes apparent as the story progresses, as does the role played by the deadly, desolate landscape. Harper excels at drawing readers into the scene, allowing them to see, breathe, and smell the ominous threat bestowed on man and beast by the treacherous, unforgiving land. While the story unfolds slowly, by the halfway point I felt the pace and tension rising to another level, along with the increasing list of possible answers to the mystery. I'll admit to changing my mind about what had transpired and who was responsible several times as I filtered through the clues and examined each player more closely. I began to suspect the truth of it all near the end as various layers are peeled back and blanks are filled in. I'm still not completely sure how I feel about the ultimate resolution, but it in no way lessened my intense satisfaction in the delivery of this story. The Lost Man is truly a study of "nature" - both human and the land. And it's most certainly a story of survival - in more ways than one. Another stunning Must Read by Jane Harper! I'm already looking forward to her next book.

I was a huge fan of "The Dry" and The Lost Man did NOT disappoint. In true Jane Harper style, the book draws you in immediately and the story slowly unravels through a beautiful and vivid setting. This was hard to put down and possibly Jane Harper's best novel to date.

Jane Harper has found herself at the top of my Must Read Author's list. When I first requested The Lost Man I wasn't sure what I was going to get. I had read her other two books, part of the Aaron Falk mystery series, and I knew this was a standalone but I was expecting something completely different than what I got. And I was very satisfied. While this book does contain a mystery regarding "the lost man" it is so much more than that. It's about the Bright family, their pasts and their presents, and their relationships with each other, all set amid the Australian outback. At the beginning of the book Cameron Bright has been found dead, underneath the blazing Queensland sun. His brother Nathan, dealing with his own demons, begins to question and piece together what happened to Cameron. Was it an accident? Did he commit suicide? Or is someone among them a murderer? The slow reveal of what actually happened to Cameron is so well crafted, I did not have a guess at the outcome until the very end. The characters have chemistry and are all well developed, the plot is tight and flows well, but the true backbone of this book is the setting. Many reviewers call this book and Harper's other books "atmospheric" and I can't think of a more perfect way to describe her writing. It is atmospheric with just the right amount of creepy. If you love books with a strong sense of place this is definitely the book for you. But I recommend it for anyone who loves a good suspense novel or mystery and also people who just love their fiction with a focus on family dynamics. 5 stars.

Jane Harper's latest novel, The Lost Man is a story of intrigue and family drama. While a bit slow in spots the book provides the reader with good page-turning mystery. The whodunnit at the end made me pause and
think, really?? Possible?? Fans of Harper's previous books will definitely enjoy this one as well.

Two brothers are stunned at the discovery of their brother, Cameron Bright’s, death. Was it an accident or something much sinister?

Jane Harper has an incredible talent for writing very atmospheric stories! I was right there, in the outback, with the Bright family mourning Cameron’s death and wondering what happened to him. He was born and raised in the outback and knows how to handle the elements. It is dangerously hot, dusty, and very remote. Precautions are extremely important for one’s safety. The fact that Cameron wound up dead leaves everyone stunned and asking questions.

I thought many of the characters were pretty well developed and some of them have very interesting backstories. I did however struggle with the mystery itself. It dragged on a bit for me and I had trouble getting really invested into the story.

Even though this is not my one of my favorite Jane Harper books I am a fan for life and look forward to her next book!

I first read Jane Harper when I stumbled across The Dry, which is aptly described as “an atmospheric thriller.” Set in Australia, it features Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk in a nifty crime mystery with possibly the most vividly described environment I can remember reading. EVER. Seriously, I could feel the heat and the dust. I loved that book, and was an instant fan. In her next book, Force of Nature, Aaron Falk is back, and I was sort of expecting a third in a series when I received a copy of The Lost Man (thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley, who provided it in exchange for this honest review).

Alas, it was not to be…this is a standalone and it turned out just fine! While I hope we get more adventures of Aaron Falk, this novel convinced me that I will read pretty much anything Ms. Harper writes.

The protagonist is Nathan Bright, one of three brothers living in an incredibly isolated location in Queensland. Nathan’s brother Cameron (the brother who sort of took the lead in managing the family cattle operation) has been found dead, his body ravaged by the elements in a location far from his possibly abandoned vehicle. In his car were supplies including water, and no one can understand how he got where he was found or why he is nowhere near his car.

Nathan has a somewhat testy relationship with his other brother Bub, but they work together to try to help Cam’s widow figure out the future of the land – and the family. As it turns out, the widow and Nathan have a past, but everyone’s future is uncertain.

What I love most about this book is the way things are revealed gradually. We aren’t slammed with the details of Nathan’s messy divorce, the reasons the townspeople basically shunned him ten years ago, or the mystery surrounding the transient workers who showed up as backpackers looking for jobs.) It just gets spooled out bit by bit, each detail providing a bit more clarity to the story.

It isn’t action packed, but that’s not my thing anyway. It’s interesting to have a mystery where the protagonist is neither a detective nor a member of law enforcement, and I love the dark, atmospheric feeling, which reveals both character and plot. “Over the years, Nathan had discovered that his isolation was strangely easier to cope with when he was on his own for long stretches. Then the loneliness became routine, sometimes fading to barely more than a dull background ache…Other people’s company should have been a relief, but now just stirred up complicated emotions that he later had to deal with all on his own, long after they were gone.” He lives in a land were “Outside, the dingoes had started howling again.” Stunning writing!

Five stars.

Once upon a time there were 3 brothers. They all lived on the expansive outback of Australia.
Now two of the brothers find themselves standing over the body of the third, wondering… what happened?

Nathan - the oldest, struggling after being shunned by his community. Divorced, in debt and painfully alone.
Cameron - the middle child. The favorite. He learned early on that a charming smile will win over anyone he comes in contact with.
Bub - the youngest. Fumbling about in the shadows of his two brothers. Never able to Successfully strike out on his own.

Jane Harper writes a highly descriptive tale of life in the outback. The harshness of the terrain, the determination of those who choose to live there and work an unforgiving land. A daily struggle in the searing, relentless heat.
A slow, deliberate read that will draw you in, giving you a deep look inside the complexities of a family. Their struggles for success, love and ultimately acceptance.

This was my first read by Jane Harper, though I’ve got her two previous books in my TBR shelf that will be moving rapidly up my list!

A buddy read with Susanne! So glad we got to read this one together!!☃️

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books and Jane Harper for an ARC to read and review.

4.5 Stars* (rounded up)

A Character Driven Novel to be Cherished! Extremely Thought-Provoking.

Living is hard in Queensland. The dry, the heat, the financial hardship and the inability to make a living. Families attempt to live off the land, raising cattle, red dust swirling all around them. Most eventually leave and truthfully, few survive.

The Bright brothers grew up in a time of struggle. Nathan, a divorced dad to Xander, is the eldest son, who was shunned from town when he was young; Cameron, the middle son, is married with two children, and is also a very successful rancher and businessman; and Bub the youngest, has always felt like an outsider.

When Cameron’s body is found at the Stockman’s Grave, it seems unfathomable. Did Cam take his own life or did someone end it? If so, was it stranger or someone close to him?

For me, “The Lost Man” isn’t a suspense or a mystery novel, even though it begins with the death of Cameron Bright. It is a slow moving yet fascinating character study of a family in turmoil. My favorite characters are Nathan and his son, Xander. Every thought and action they take in this book are sheer perfection. Xander is extremely observant and is also wise beyond his years and as for Nathan, he just about broke my heart.

There are many questions that swirl around in “The Lost Man” by Jane Harper. What is survival about? In addition, what makes a life? Thinking about these answers, my heart is heavy. “The Lost Man” is such a thought provoking book. This was my first read by Jane Harper. Going into it, I was expecting it to be completely different - I was therefore pleasantly surprised as I love character driven novels and the character of Nathan made a huge impression. This is a book to savor, to think about for hours and days after and just revel in the beauty of.

This was a buddy read with Kaceey - it garnered much discussion. I think this would be a fantastic book for a book club discussion and I highly recommend this novel.

A huge thank you to Cathleen Kenney, Flatiron Books, NetGalley and Jane Harper for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 12.28.18.
*Will be published on Twitter and Amazon on release date of 2.5.18.

Having read the author's previous two mysteries, I was very pleased when NetGalley and Flatiron Books provided me access to the eARC of The Lost Man. I found the novel engrossing, and the descriptions of the Australian outback evocative. The sheer size, the depths of the country, largely empty of human inhabitants, would be overwhelming to most of us, and yet some hardy souls do live there. This story of the hardships of such a life, the family drama, and yes, the mystery of how one of three brothers came to be discovered dead on the fringes of his property, kept me reading long after I should have been asleep.