Ah Reading. Love it, can’t seem to focus on it. Pandemic, amiright? Something about staring at the same walls all day, and the same computer, and then needing to stare at this computer more to do reviews just doesn’t jive. I’m getting caught up with 3 books that I read…in the past few months. 9 books behind on my Cannonball. What I’m saying is, it’s a bit dire. But what I’m ALSO saying, is here I am, trying anyway. Hip hooray.*
*I started this draft in August and am NOW finally finishing this review. Now I’m books behind with reviews and 15 behind in my Cannonball. Nevertheless, she wrote her reviews.
So! The book! (Searches the far recesses of her mind). Ah Yes: The Lost Man. (More like lost woman…amiright?) Anyhoodle, what’s it about? Well, the tagline on the cover says “three brothers, one death, no answers.” This book is about family, estrangement, and the mysterious death of one of the brothers where they call home: a piece of the stark and underpopulated Australian outback. As far as my favorite pandemic reads go, this one gets to the top of the list. I either want to read things that will bring me laughter and joy OR things that fill me with schadenfreude, i.e., pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. So I get the opportunity to say, “well, at least I’m not a) murdered in the outback, b) live in a remote village where everyone is mad at me c) in love with my sibling’s partner d) a young widow e) an older widow, who was married to an abusive a**hole. And the list goes on!
Behind my personal pandemic needs, this was a juicy page-turner, definitely one of those books when you look up, you have to shake your head to reorient yourself with the real world, as you had become so consumed with the written word.
I dug how Harper sloooowly revealed both pieces of the mystery, and secrets of all the characters. Plus, any day I can support a lady author who writes layered female characters, I’m all in. If you are looking for a good crime/mystery novel, look no further! Unless you are going to look for one of her other two books.
I immediately grabbed her first book from the library to read soon (Lost Man being the most recent, with her newest book to come out in February). The Dry, the one I have in my queue to read, was adapted as a film which was to be released in August but got the ol-covid delay, so I’ll be on the lookout for that too.