There’s nothing wrong with the car and no reason for him to abandon it.
Cam’s vehicle is parked nine kilometres away, stuffed to the gunnels with enough food, water and fuel to keep a man alive for a week. Nathan and his brother Bub are in shock when they meet at the stockman’s grave where their middle brother Cameron lies dead under a tarp at their feet. Harper’s prose conveys the terrifying environment and horrific death as the man fries, before the more pedestrian dialogue of the brothers kicks in. The grave is so remote that a year could have passed since the last visitor was there. A man lies scorched to death in 45-degree heat after crawling around the sundial-style shadow of the headstone at the grave of a stockman who died many decades ago.
The cinematic prologue is a stunning opener. This time the mystery is a domestic thriller told from the perspective of Nathan Bright, whose family are at the heart of it. Unlike the first two novels, detective Aaron Falk is absent and there is no central cop. We are already on to Harper’s third novel with The Lost Man, returning to the Outback setting after a trip to the rain forest in her second, Force of Nature. This meteoric success has echoes of that of Paula Hawkins with The Girl on the Train, the resultant Hollywood movie and the spawning of a new round of thrillers with ‘the girl’ in their titles. The Australian author’s novel went on to win awards, sell zillions and see the film rights sold to Reece Witherspoon. Written by Jane Harper – It was only last year that Val McDermid highlighted Jane Harper’s debut The Dry during her New Blood session at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Festival in Harrogate.
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