About the Book
Jane Harper's new novel, The Survivors, now available for pre-order
A best crime fiction book of 2019 pick in The Times
A thriller of the year 2019 pick in the Observer
A bestselling Richard & Judy book club pick 2019 by the author of The Dry
WHY DID CAMERON BRIGHT DIE?
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...
PRAISE FOR THE LOST MAN
'Harper secures her place as queen of outback noir with this haunting family mystery' Sunday Times
'Her best book yet' Evening Standard
'A riveting, deeply atmospheric read' Mail on Sunday
'Harper's intricate, beautifully woven mystery...sucks you into a world where nothing is ever what it seems and everyone has secrets . . . Told with mesmerising skill' Daily Mail
About the Author :
Jane Harper is the author of the international bestsellers The Dry, Force of Nature and The Lost Man. Her books are published in more than forty territories worldwide, and The Dry has been released as a major film in Australia starring Eric Bana. Jane has won numerous top awards including the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year and the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year. Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK and now lives in Melbourne.
Review :
Harper's gripping third novel...is her most accomplished yet: a moving story of loneliness, grief and redemption
Harper secures her place as queen of outback noir with this haunting family mystery
Like its precursors, The Dry and Force of Nature, The Lost Man is a gripping mystery that drips with atmosphere (and sweat). This time, though, Harper has added an emotional heft that is deeply moving. It is her best book yet
Jane Harper writes beautifully and compellingly about the Australian Outback. Superb
In just a couple of years, Jane Harper has soared into the first rank of contemporary crime writers. The Lost Man... returns to the parched landscape she used to such powerful effect in her debut, The Dry... Three generations of women - the dead man's mother, wife and daughters - struggle to come to terms with terrible events, and the family's shocking history holds the key to this superb murder mystery
I read Jane Harper's The Lost Man in February, the height of Australia's summer but the depths of the English winter. The image at the heart of the novel, of a man who has perished in the punishing heat of Australia's outback, has stayed with me ever since. Just as good - perhaps even better - than Harper's excellent thrillers The Dry and Force of Nature
A riveting, deeply atmospheric read
Another splendid slice of outback noir...Fabulously atmospheric, the book starts slowly and gradually picks up pace towards a jaw-dropping denouement
Harper's debut, The Dry, centred on the horrific murder of a family in a hot, remote Australian town. Her follow-up, Force of Nature, moved the setting to the bushland, where a woman goes missing on a corporate retreat. The landscape of The Lost Man is even more hostile, even more alien and beautiful, as Harper deftly manipulates her small but fully realised cast to a conclusion
One of the best written and most accessible novels of its kind in years . . . utterly absorbing
A third superb novel from the author of bestseller The Dry . . . Harper's intricate, beautifully woven mystery...sucks you into a world where nothing is ever what it seems and everyone has secrets . . . Told with mesmerising skill, it is a compelling portrait of isolation and the strain it exerts on even the strongest character. A little masterpiece
Harper's writing creates a vivid sense of place . . . She tells a disturbing tale, not just of death but also of domestic violence, sexual abuse, hidden secrets and shattered families
Jane Harper certainly nails the Australian Outback - you can feel the heat come off the page in waves . . . Harper's crisp, evocative writing expertly reveals the secrets that have been festering too long in the scorching Australian sun
The very definition of a slow burn, this is much like the land in which it is set - spartan, atmospheric, and really quite beautiful
Harper's first novel, The Dry, won many awards, but this one is even better. Her depiction of the extraordinary landscape is superb, as is her account of the psychological and emotional burdens it imposes on the people who try to make a living within it
Having read Jane's other books I was expecting great things from this - nice to be proved right...Jane writes so convincingly about the oppressive heat of the outback that you feel you're there
I read it in 24 hours. It's gripping, atmospheric and ultimately deeply satisfying
I absolutely loved The Lost Man. I devoured it in a day. Her best yet!
I don't have words for how much I loved it. Her other two books were amazing, but this is in a different league. It totally transcends genre, and it should win all the prizes
The very definition of a slow burn, this is much like the land in which it is set - spartan, atmospheric, and really quite beautiful
Another splendid slice of outback noir . . . Fabulously atmospheric, the book starts slowly and gradually picks up pace towards a jaw-dropping denouement
An evocative, sharply written and expertly plotted novel, subtle in how it navigates its themes of misogyny, retribution and guilt
The Lost Man is her best yet; it's certainly one of the finest novels of any sort, not only within the genre, that I've read in many moons . . . The vivid descriptions really transplant the reader to the outback
Nothing about this novel is predictable. The characters are compelling, the plot is thrilling and the ending is so very satisfying. There's something special about getting to the end of a book and figuring out the mystery. You'll be left feeling content, a little shocked and desperate for more
A stunning read and Harper's best yet
Jane Harper's third novel seals her spot as one of the best...Like the country it describes, this is a "big" book, and one likely to cement Harper's place as one of the most interesting Australian crime writers to emerge in the past decade. Her sense of place is acute, but it is her attention to the relationships that are shaped by this unforgiving, magnificent landscape that will linger long after the mystery of stockman's grave is finally revealed
"f you liked The Dry, you'll love it. The Lost Man is an even better book, gripping right to the end. This terrific piece of outback noir opens with the discovery of a body...Harper...paints the menacing landscape brilliantly. The book's title could easily relate to several of the male characters. This engrossing novel will have you thinking long after you've turned the last page
The Lost Man, like The Dry, is a study in isolation and its psychological and physical effects
Harper's The Lost Man is storytelling at its finest
The fantastic Jane Harper's third novel marks a highly anticipated return to the intense setting of the Australian outback
A good crime writer creates a great sense of place and bestselling author Jane Harper is no exception. In her atmospheric third novel, the Australian outback is more than just a backdrop to the story, indeed it is the murder weapon itself
Against an unforgiving landscape, Harper's story has the qualities of an epic, its plot specific, its themes universal
In seemingly no time Jane Harper has gone from excellent debut to consistent brilliance
The fantastic Jane Harper's third novel marks a highly anticipated return to the intense setting of the Australian outback
Jane Harper has gone from excellent debut to consistent brilliant
The pace is frenetic, the landscape epic and the red herrings so cleverly placed that your prime suspect changes by the chapter
Harper's masterful narrative places readers right in the middle of a desolate landscape that's almost as alien as the moon's surface, where the effects of long-term isolation are always a concern. The mystery of Cam's death is at the dark heart of an unfolding family drama that will leave readers reeling, and the final reveal is a heartbreaker. A twisty slow burner by an author at the top of her game
Harper's sinewy prose and flinty characters compel . . . Jaw-dropping denouement
Jane Harper is at the top of the crime writing genre along with Attica Locke, Megan Abbott, and Tana French...[The Lost Man] slowly builds into one hell of a mystery! I will drop whatever I am doing to read a Jane Harper crime novel
The atmosphere is so thick you can taste the red-clay dust, and the folklore surrounding the mysterious stockman adds an additional edge to an already dark and intense narrative. The truth is revealed in a surprising ending that reveals how far someone will go to preserve a life worth living in a place at once loathed and loved
In its portrayal of heat and harshness, power and its abuse, you'll find a satisfying, page-turning account of wheat and tares growing up together
So satisfying. You're in the parched Australian outback from the first paragraph to the last
Jane Harper's gripping third novel - after The Dry and Force of Nature - is her most accomplished yet: a moving story of loneliness, grief and redemption
