I first read Jane Harper when I stumbled across The Dry, which is aptly described as “an atmospheric thriller.” Set in Australia, it features Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk in a nifty crime mystery with possibly the most vividly described environment I can remember reading. EVER. Seriously, I could feel the heat and the dust. I loved that book, and was an instant fan. In her next book, Force of Nature, Aaron Falk is back, and I was sort of expecting a third in a series when I received a copy of The Lost Man (thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley, who provided it in exchange for this honest review).
Alas, it was not to be…this is a standalone and it turned out just fine! While I hope we get more adventures of Aaron Falk, this novel convinced me that I will read pretty much anything Ms. Harper writes.
The protagonist is Nathan Bright, one of three brothers living in an incredibly isolated location in Queensland. Nathan’s brother Cameron (the brother who sort of took the lead in managing the family cattle operation) has been found dead, his body ravaged by the elements in a location far from his possibly abandoned vehicle. In his car were supplies including water, and no one can understand how he got where he was found or why he is nowhere near his car.
Nathan has a somewhat testy relationship with his other brother Bub, but they work together to try to help Cam’s widow figure out the future of the land – and the family. As it turns out, the widow and Nathan have a past, but everyone’s future is uncertain.
What I love most about this book is the way things are revealed gradually. We aren’t slammed with the details of Nathan’s messy divorce, the reasons the townspeople basically shunned him ten years ago, or the mystery surrounding the transient workers who showed up as backpackers looking for jobs.) It just gets spooled out bit by bit, each detail providing a bit more clarity to the story.
It isn’t action packed, but that’s not my thing anyway. It’s interesting to have a mystery where the protagonist is neither a detective nor a member of law enforcement, and I love the dark, atmospheric feeling, which reveals both character and plot. “Over the years, Nathan had discovered that his isolation was strangely easier to cope with when he was on his own for long stretches. Then the loneliness became routine, sometimes fading to barely more than a dull background ache…Other people’s company should have been a relief, but now just stirred up complicated emotions that he later had to deal with all on his own, long after they were gone.” He lives in a land were “Outside, the dingoes had started howling again.” Stunning writing!
Five stars.