The Lost Man – Jane Harper
He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him, and his skin was cracked. Whatever had been going through Cameron’s mind when he was alive, he didn’t look peaceful in death.
Two brothers meet at the remote border of their vast cattle properties under the unrelenting sun of the outback. In an isolated part of Australia, they are each other’s nearest neighbour, their homes hours apart.
They are at the stockman’s grave, a landmark so old that no one can remember who is buried there. But today, the scant shadow it casts was the last hope for their middle brother, Cameron. The Bright family’s quiet existence is thrown into grief and anguish.
Something had been troubling Cameron. Did he choose to walk to his death? Because if he didn’t, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects…
My thanks to Caolinn at Little,Brown Group who provided me with a review copy through Netgalley so that I may join the blog tour.
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.
The Lost Man is available in Hardback, Digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Man-Jane-Harper-ebook/dp/B07DX23VP3/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1549238946&sr=8-1