“At night, when the sky felt even bigger, he could almost imagine it was a million years ago and he was walking on the bottom of the sea. A million years ago when a million natural events still needed to occur, one after the other, to form this land as it lay in front of him now. A place where rivers flooded without rain and seashells fossilized a thousand miles from water and men who left their cars found themselves walking to their deaths. “
-The Lost Man, Jane Harper
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$14.99 Kindle | $19 Audible | $16 Hardcover
Published: February 9, 2019
Pages: 352
My Copy Came From: NetGalley
Read Via: Kindle
My Like Level: 3 out of 5
Genre: Small town & rural, International Mystery & Crime, Crime, Family Drama
Book Synopsis from Amazon:
Two brothers meet in the remote Australian outback when the third brother is found dead, in this stunning new standalone novel from New York Times bestseller Jane Harper
Brothers Nathan and Bub Bright meet for the first time in months at the remote fence line separating their cattle ranches in the lonely outback.
Their third brother, Cameron, lies dead at their feet.
In an isolated belt of Australia, their homes a three-hour drive apart, the brothers were one another’s nearest neighbors. Cameron was the middle child, the one who ran the family homestead. But something made him head out alone under the unrelenting sun.
Nathan, Bub and Nathan’s son return to Cameron’s ranch and to those left behind by his passing: his wife, his daughters, and his mother, as well as their long-time employee and two recently hired seasonal workers.
While they grieve Cameron’s loss, suspicion starts to take hold, and Nathan is forced to examine secrets the family would rather leave in the past. Because if someone forced Cameron to his death, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects.
A powerful and brutal story of suspense set against a formidable landscape, The Lost Man confirms Jane Harper, author of The Dry and Force of Nature, is one of the best new voices in writing today.
My Thoughts:
The Lost Man by Jane Harper is the follow up novel to Force of Nature, which is the follow up to her smash hit The Dry. (The movie adaptation for The Dry starring Eric Bana is filming now!) For those of you who were hoping this was a new Agent Aaron Falk novel, I am sorry to say it isn’t. This is a stand-alone book.
If I am being completely honest, I enjoyed The Lost Man, but didn’t love it. I just didn’t connect with the story as much as her previous two novels. It is a mysterious, slow burning book that some may find hits all of the right spots for them. But for me, I didn’t find the story speedy enough for my brain. There wasn’t a ton of action, or BIG “holy crap” moments to keep my attention.
The Lost Man is very easy to read. I didn’t do a ton of highlighting, or spend much time re-reading passages to understand them. As always though, the descriptive language Jane Harper uses to describe the Australian Outback as in her previous novels, is extremely detailed. I truly could picture myself out in the stifling heat, amongst the tumbleweeds and cracked, dry Earth. Jane has a way of painting a picture with her words, and this book is no different. This is one of the main reasons I will ALWAYS pick up a Jane Harper novel.
The end of the book wraps up the story very well. We aren’t left with any questions which is something I always appreciate. I am not a huge fan of open-ended novels. So, if I had to guess why I didn’t love this book, I think it’s because I didn’t connect with the characters. I thought they were well written, and had intriguing stories, but there was just something about it that I didn’t love. The slow pacing as I mentioned above also wasn’t my jam.
I realize this review is super vague and isn’t really giving a detailed reason why I only rated the book 3 stars. As a reviewer, I can only tell you how I felt reading a book. My thoughts and opinions will likely vary from yours, so give this a shot with or without my recommendation.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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