The Lost Man is exceptionally good, excellently flawed characters, claustrophobic small town and landscape that feels like a character in it's own right. Despite the fact that there are not a huge number of characters it is hard to predict the ending. If The Dry was one of your favourite books in recent years -it was one of mine- then I think you will be similarly wowed by this. A book that will satisfy different genre readers and give friends and book groups much to talk about. The cover and strapline are a great enticement to read and very representative of the content. Thank you very much to to the Publisher Little Brown and Netgalley for the ARC.

Another winner from the pen of the talented Jane Harper. I have been singing her praises since reading her debut, The Dry, and the follow-up, Force of Nature, earlier this year, and this book is even better.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about the lack of Aaron Falk in this book, but the characters in the Lost Man are every bit as good. I really enjoyed the references to the events of The Dry too - very clever!

I was glad that this book is set in the baking Outback again, as Jane manages to convey the searing heat so well that you almost feel you are there. I love that she carries you along with the characters, in her books, as they discover clues along the way, and you experience every twist and turn that they do.

I absolutely adored this book and cannot wait for more, with or without Aaron Falk.

I love this author - she writes so beautifully and has a rare ability to conjure up a landscape/atmosphere so vividly that you feel like you're breathing in the heat and the dust. Her characters are always well developed and fully rounded - you really feel drawn into their lives and their circumstances. On top of that there's the mystery at the heart of this novel - how did the man come to be at the stockman's grave, in the middle of nowhere. An excellent book which I would definitely recommend - and which I preferred I think to her previous book ('Force of Nature').

Jane Harper's The Dry was the best crime debut I've read for many years, transcending the genre in many ways and functioning equally as well as literary family drama. The Lost Man does something very similar; while superficially concerned with the mystery of how outback farmer Cameron came to die of dehydration and exposure in the unforgiving Australian summer, the book is much more the story of his older brother, Nathan, returning to the family home as a result of Cameron's death. As in The Dry, Harper is more interested in the tensions of small rural communities, where a single mistake or whisper of gossip can lead to years of suffering, than in telling a simple whodunnit, and the book is all the better for it. And again, the harsh desert landscape of the outback plays a central role in the story. I loved The Lost Man, and although some may feel things are tied up too neatly at the end, I felt reassured that some good had come out of the bleakness and misery.

Excellent. I really enjoyed The Dry and this story was very good. It captured the remoteness of Australian Outback life and the characters were believable. I would recommend this book.

This is an intricate mystery thriller that slowly unravels to real how Cam really died.
The book begins with the discovery of his body, left out in the open by an old gravestone. People think he either killed himself or found himself stranded, but his family suspect there was someone else involved.
Cam’s two brothers, Nathan and Bub are helping out at the house as Cam used to run everything, and his wife and children are struggling to come to terms with what’s happened.
As the story progresses the family’s secrets are uncovered and we soon learn that all the family are struggling with their own lives.
I liked the build up to the end of the book and I really liked the way it ended.
Thanks to Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the third Jane Harper book I have read and without doubt her best, high praise when you consider the previous two books were the Wonderful 'The Dry' & the engaging 'Force of Nature '.
I hate giving away details of plots, so suffice to say the plot line of the book is a simple but engrossing detection story which will keep you guessing right to the very end.
However the the real star of the book is the magical, descriptive iconography of the Australian outback, at times in the book you believe that you're really there.
I cannot praise this book highly enough, the author just gets better and better, and I'm eagerly looking forward to her new novel.

The Lost Man. Jane Harper.

Absorbing and atmospheric this novel draws us in slowly but surely to the vortex that is the emotions and dynamics of the Bright family becoming an unputdownable read.

Cameron Bright is found dead in the desert miles from his vehicle. He had no business being alone and without water in this arid, unforgiving landscape; a fact he well knew as a Queensland stockman. So why had he walked into the unremitting heat and died there at the Stockman’s Grave? This is the mystery we have to unravel but there is much more to this book than a straightforward crime story.

Nathan, the central character is as isolated as the landscape itself. Ostracised by what little community there is for a past sin we have yet to discover, he feels something is not right about the circumstances of his brother’s death. Was it suicide or something more sinister? An engaging and sympathetic character, as he unravels the truth we are gradually exposed to the secrets of his past and the nature of his family and upbringing. Nothing is as it seems.

There is at times a beauty about the landscape of this novel but more often an unforgiving harshness which is reflected in the people who inhabit it. For all that this is not a bleak story. Thoughtful and powerful, The Lost Man is a gripping narrative. Another great book from Jane Harper.

From time to time you come across a book that just grabs you and when you start reading it all of a sudden your hooked and end up finishing it in one sitting.
This is one of those books.
*Fantastic writing
*A story that grips you
*You just don’t know how this book is going to end which is what I loved. So unpredictable
Thanks to both NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for my ARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Loved Jane Harper's The Dry and Force of Nature, so could not wait to start reading The Lost Man.

What a rollercoaster
The book starts at a slow pace - introducing the characters, building up the suspense of what has happened and why, which keeps you gripped and guessing. The secrets and lies then start to emerge which then unfold with an unexpected ending.

Brilliant writing again.

Thank you netgalley, Little Brown Book group and Jane Harper for allowing me to read and review this book.

I enjoyed the last two books by Jane Harper and was pleased to receive an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest opinion of the book.It is a standalone boook,so there is no Aaron Falk this time.
This is more of a slow burner than the other books,but the author skilfully depicts the aftermath of the death of Cameron Bright,one of three brothers ,after his body is found at an isolated stockman's grave in the middle of the outback.The death seems to be suicide but gradually facts emerge and we realise that Cameron was maybe not the model son,husband and father he seemed to be. The suspense builds throughout and the reader is kept guessing as to why Cameron was found in such a remote place. and what might have caused his death.
The picture of life at a cattle farm in the Australian outback is well portrayed,and it's obvious that the author must have done a lot of research,as you really feel as if you are there..The characters are well drawn,especially Nathan ,Cameron's older brother,who might also be the lost man of the title.
If you,enjoyed. Jane Harper's last two books,I would recommend this too.

After reading and enjoying The Dry and Force of Nature, I was delighted to receive a copy of Jane Harper's new book The Lost Man.
This is a stand alone story and was every bit as good as her previous books. I was hooked from the first page and felt that I was stuck in the Australia Outback in the blistering heat. The tension just built chapter by chapter and I did not guess the ending.
Nathan brother Cameron is found dead on his ranch in the outback. Nobody knows how he got there as his jeep was found in another location. It seems like foul play but who would have wanted to hurt his brother?
A story full of secrets and lies and a family trying to come to terms with their loss.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought Jane Harper's third book could not possibly be as good as the first two. I was wrong. There is something about the setting in the Australian outback that gives these stories a chill factor that is unique to them. Add to that lonely mix a family struggling with isolation and unfulfilled hopes,than you have an unprecedented context. The writing is excellent and the characters totally believable. This story has unexpected turns which make the ending unexpected,thrilling and just right.

I have previously read The Dry and Force of Nature by Jane Harper so, when offered the opportunity by Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley to read The Lost Man, I jumped in. And this book is different. A great family drama set against the backdrop of the Queensland outback, 1500 kms west of Brisbane, where cattle stations cover several thousand square kilometers. Like that of the Bright family. Territory where temperatures regularly reach 45⁰C and to be left stranded means certain death. As Cameron Bright was to find out. Found dead and sprawled out in front of the Stockman's grave. Since the father Carl Bright had died, three brothers had shared the responsibility of managing the spread: Nathan, Cameron and Bub - the youngest. They all knew the peril of being stranded in the outback, so just what happened to Cameron? Is this a sinister occurrence or a stupid mistake? He leaves behind his wife Ilse and two daughters...

The Bright family have many skeletons in the cupboard - not the least - Nathan, with a troubled background. And Bub is no saint. And as various truths begin to emerge the family are faced with events that hold dire consequences.

The Lost Man is a fabulous mystery/drama that gets under your skin. Slow paced and relentless with reveals that are breathtaking in scope. Highly recommended. Another ripper from Downunder!

#TheLostMan is very different to The Dry but equally compelling. Atmospheric, clever and utterly absorbing. #JaneHarper's characters are always three dimensional and you are left saddened the book has ended but sated that the right loose ends are tied up. Another great read thanks to #NetGalley

I love the descriptive way Harper has of describing the colours of the outback desert, it's really evocative.

The novel builds from the discovery of the body of Cameron, a popular family man. However as questions start to be asked, a different picture forms of his character and marriage.

I read this in a weekend. Terrific.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of The Lost Man, a stand alone novel set in the Queensland outback.

When Cameron Bright dies of exposure neat the stockman’s grave in the middle of the outback, miles from anywhere his two brothers don’t know what to think - why he was there when he was supposed to be somewhere else and what or who brought him there.

Wow, what a read. I must admit that this is the first of Ms Harper’s novels I have read but I can now understand the buzz around her writing. The novel is told from Cam’s older brother Nathan’s perspective and it is so utterly compulsive I couldn’t put it down. It is listed under mystery and thrillers and while there is a mystery as in what happened to Cam and initially why Nathan is ostracised by the”local”community it is much more about the dysfunction in the Bright household and the unravelling of Cam’s life. It is absolutely fascinating and so well paced that my attention didn’t wander for a minute.

I love the descriptions of the outback and its cruel splendour. It is a hard life for the inhabitants- hours of driving to reach the closest neighbour and an environment so unforgiving you have to be well prepared every time you set foot over the door. Ms Harper really reinforces this with Cam’s death with initial suspicions pointing to suicide because an experienced man like him would not be so ill prepared. It’s a whole other life to my comfortable town existence.

Living in tough conditions breeds tough characters and it may be my imagination but the slightly offhand tone at the beginning of the novel seems to reflect Nathan’s character who holds himself apart from the rest of the world. As the novel progresses and the reader gets to know Nathan the tone seems more intimate. He, as are all the characters, is well drawn and becomes more likeable as more information becomes available. He is a tough, solitary man and seems to fit the environment.

The Lost Man is an excellent read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

The Lost Man begins with the discovery of the body of a man who died of heat, below an old grave in the outback of Australia. Like Jane Harper's other two novels the unique Australian landscape is as strong a character in this novel as any of the other protagonists - the lives of those who live in extreme heat, often hundreds of miles from their nearest neighbours is well described. The plot is strong, and I was kept guessing until the end as clues and details of the background of Cameron, the dead man, emerge.
Occasionally the device of keeping the readers dangling was overused - particularly I thought in the many growing hints about the central character and the secret in his past that meant he was especially isolated within the widespread community, but overall this is a gripping page turner, with a real sense of place. It sits well alongside Harper's other work and I can't wait for the next novel.

This was exactly what the doctor ordered as a compelling, creepy murder mystery that was brilliantly set in a powerfully conjured Australian outback. Two brothers discover a third dead, in inexplicable circumstances. Why did he leave his car in conditions that meant death from exposure?
I loved The Dry and this book similarly had a strong sense of an otherworldly place, along with the people who have adapted to live in it.

You know you really like a book when you simultaneously can't wait to finish it to find out what happens and at the same time you're dreading finishing it because it's so good.

Set in the harsh Australian outback, a family with three adult sons is sent into turmoil with the unexplained death of one of those sons. Was it murder? Was it suicide? Was it an accident?

This book is incredibly well-written - an absolutely riveting page-turner. Having read The Dry and Force of Nature, I had expected Inspector Aaron Falk to make a reappearance but that would probably have stretched his jurisdiction a little too wide. Instead, the land is the judge and jury out here, deciding who gets to live or die.

Set in the plausibly-named Balamara (based on Birdsville, a remote town on the border of the Simpson Desert) the blistering heat is palpable in Harper's book. Everything is nuanced and authentic and that's just the setting. She has also adroitly captured the way men speak to each other in rural Australia. Harper's real skill is understanding human behaviour: what makes each of us tick and what we do under pressure.

Nathan the lead narrator is given a sensitive internal monologue that only the reader is privy to as he is, in practice, a man of few words. I loved that distinction - hearing how different the thoughts and the words were.

I would highly recommend this novel to those who enjoy a fantastic literary thriller... Who doesn't?

Many thanks to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK and Jane Harper for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.