by Jane Harper
Flatiron Books, 2019, 340 pages, Mystery
Nathan Bright lives alone on a remote ranch in the Australian Outback. Ostracized by the local community years ago, Nathan prefers to live apart, even from his family, who live on the next ranch over, a four hour drive away. When Nathan’s brother, Cameron, is found dead, Nathan is forced to reconnect with the people who shunned him years ago. As he puts together the pieces of Cameron’s life in the weeks before his death, Nathan begins to question if he knew his brother at all, and if the same fate awaits him as well.
Jane Harper excels at writing stories that make you feel like you’re actually there. You can feel the scorching sun bearing down on you, and your mind’s eye can see the endless stretch of wilderness in front of you. I love picking up her books because of this, and listening to them is even better since the narrator’s Australian accent enhances this sense of place even more. The mystery of the novel unfolds slowly, and takes a bit of a side seat to the story of Nathan’s past, but Harper’s writing is so good that I spent the entire time listening to this novel absolutely gripped, and feeling slightly parched.
Although not mysteries, readers who enjoy The Lost Man will likely also enjoy the atmospheric elements and pacing of authors like Cormac McCarthy and Peter Heller.
MB
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