Excerpt from The Lost Man by Jane Harper, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Where's all his stuff?"

"His hat's under the tarp. He didn't have anything else."

"What, nothing?"

"Pilot said not. He was told to check, take some pics. Reckoned he couldn't see anything else."

"But—" Nathan scanned the ground again. "Not anything? Not even an empty water bottle?"

"Don't think so."

"Did you have a proper look?"

"You can see for yourself, mate. You've got eyes."

"But—"

"I don't know, all right? I don't have any answers. Stop asking me."

"Yeah, okay." Nathan took a deep breath. "But I thought the pilot found the car?"

"He did."

"So where is it?" He didn't bother to hide his frustration now. Get more sense from the cows than from bloody Bub, as their dad used to say.

"Near the road."

Nathan stared at him. "Which road?"

"How many roads are there? Our one. This side of the boundary, a bit north of your cattle grid. Jesus, this was all on the radio, mate."

"It can't be. That's ten kilometers away."

"Eight, I reckon, but yeah."

There was a long silence. The sun was high, and the slice of shade thrown by the headstone had shrunk to almost nothing.

"So Cam left his car?" Beneath Nathan's feet, the earth tilted very slightly on its axis. He saw the look on his younger brother's face and shook his head. "Sorry, I know you don't know, it's just—"

He looked past his brother, to where the horizon lay long and still. The only movement he could see was Bub's chest, expanding in and out as he breathed.

"Have you been out to the car?" Nathan said, finally.

"No."

Telling the truth this time, Nathan thought. He glanced over his shoulder. Xander was a dark shape hunched forward in his seat.

"Let's go."

Excerpted from The Lost Man by Jane Harper. Copyright © 2019 by Jane Harper. Excerpted by permission of Flatiron Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.