The Lost Man

By: Jane Harper

Narrated by: Steve Shanahan

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Three brothers, one death, a fenceline stretching to the horizon.

Two brothers meet at the border of their vast cattle properties under the unrelenting sun of outback Queensland. They are at the stockman's grave, a landmark so old, 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 Cam. Did he lose hope and walk to his death? Because if he didn't, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects....

For fans who loved The Dry and Force of Nature, Jane Harper has once again created a powerful story of suspense, set against a dazzling landscape.

©2018 Jane Harper (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

“I ask in earnest: How the hell does she do it? The Lost Man is Jane Harper's third consecutive marvel...and, against long odds, her most marvellous yet, pitting brother against brother, man against nature, reader against the clock. What an extraordinary novel: part family drama, part indelible ode to the Outback - a thriller as forceful and atmospheric as a brewing storm. Harper works miracles. We're lucky to witness them.” (A. J. FINN author of The Woman in the Window)

“I read this with the growing realisation that it was not only another superb thriller but a classic work of fiction by one of the finest novelists now working. Man Booker judges for 2019, are you listening?” (New Zealand Hearald Weekend Magazine)

"In The Lost Man, Jane Harper surpasses her achievement in The Dry, her multi-award winning first novel. A broad range of Australian and international readers will be engaged by the strong setting and mystery storyline of the new novel." (Weekend Australian)

The story is slowly peeled back

Another very good book from Jane Harper where she slowly peels back the story.

I didn't like Steve Shanahan's narration of this as much as his narration of Harper's book The Survivors. For a large part of the book the characters speak harshly to each other. I couldn't help but wonder if another narrator could have made the story more enjoyable with a different approach.

No Aaron Falk, but it doesn't matter :)

I started on The Lost Man with a lack of enthusiasm, as I'd fallen in love with Aaron Falk and wanted to read more of him.
As it turned out, Nathan Bright is also a winner: nothing like Falk, but just as interesting. Now I'm hoping that Harper might decide to follow up with more books featuring Bright !

Another winner by Harper!

Harper has delivered another winner, it's definitely up there with The Dry. I bet you won't guess the ending. I loved the various mythologies of the Stockman's threaded throughout the narrative, and that fact it centres around a family without the intermediary of a detective.

My only gripe is the narrator. I know that Harper herself raves about him, and he does do an excellent angry, menacing male Aussie voice, but neutral narration and petulance seem to exhaust the rest of his range. He's not a deal breaker, but definitely have a listen before you buy.

Harsh country, hard men.

Jane Harper has delivered again with this, her third book. The Lost Man does not feature Aaron Falk, her usual protagonist but the story doesn't suffer for that. Anyway, her main character is always the landscape. I've long admired this author's power of description but it was the dialogue - mostly between men- that intrigued and impressed me here.
I have to commend the narrator, Steve Shanahan - he's brilliant and provides the room for the characters to express their own identity. It's not an easy book, the main character has a hard time of it and I did find his life a bit emotionally hard to handle. But The Lost Man is so well written and narrated it deserves a recommendation.