The Lost Ones: A Novel by Sheena Kamal

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

Recommended for summer reading by TIME magazine

“A brave, unflinching heroine and brave, unflinching writing add up to an extraordinary debut–highly recommended.”–Lee Child

A dark, compulsively readable psychological suspense debut, the first in a new series featuring the brilliant, fearless, chaotic, and deeply flawed Nora Watts—a character as heartbreakingly troubled, emotionally complex, and irresistibly compelling as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole.

It begins with a phone call that Nora Watts has dreaded for fifteen years—since the day she gave her newborn daughter up for adoption. Bonnie has vanished. The police consider her a chronic runaway and aren’t looking, leaving her desperate adoptive parents to reach out to her birth mother as a last hope.

A biracial product of the foster system, transient, homeless, scarred by a past filled with pain and violence, Nora knows intimately what happens to vulnerable girls on the streets. Caring despite herself, she sets out to find Bonnie with her only companion, her mutt Whisper, knowing she risks reopening wounds that have never really healed—and plunging into the darkness with little to protect her but her instincts and a freakish ability to detect truth from lies.

The search uncovers a puzzling conspiracy that leads Nora on a harrowing journey of deception and violence, from the gloomy rain-soaked streets of Vancouver, to the icy white mountains of the Canadian interior, to the beautiful and dangerous island where she will face her most terrifying demon. All to save a girl she wishes had never been born.

my thoughts:

Mystery-thrillers chock full of suspense are my go-to this summer.  Especially the page-turners that haunt you for days after. I just love those books to bits. So, I was definitely excited to get my hands on a copy of Sheena Kamal's debut novel, The Lost Ones.  I'd read the blurb about it and thought it sounded right up my alley.  Plus, it has been getting nothing but rave reviews.  How could I not want to read it, right?

I settled down with a huge cuppa, ignored the rain and howling winds, and read all day long.  I found myself in Canada with Nora, a strong and very flawed woman who is on a mission to forget her past.  Except, her past won't let her go.  One day, out of the blue, Nora receives a phone call.  The caller asks for her help.  Bonnie has gone missing and they need Nora to help find her.  Who's Bonnie?  Well, Bonnie is Nora's daughter.  Fifteen years ago, Nora gave up her baby and now she's being asked by the adoptive parents to help look for her. What's Nora to do?  She could ignore the phone call and keep on trying to forget about her past.  Or, she could choose to help look for Bonnie and face her past head-on.  Hmm...talk about a tough decision...or not.  Nora knows that she has to look for Bonnie and she knows that her past will definitely be haunting her all throughout her search.  And so, the story begins.  Where is Bonnie?  What happened to her? Why has she gone missing?  What dreadful things from Nora's past is she keen to forget?  How does her past connect with Bonnie's disappearance?  Will Nora find Bonnie?  Ack! So many questions and so many twists and turns to get through. And I loved every minute of it!

The Lost Ones is a terrific story that will grab you from the start.  Its slow-going, but feels fast-paced at the same time (if that makes any sense).  Nora is a great character - complicated and messy - the kind that you want to keep reading about.  And the story lines are captivating - you can't help but want more.  I absolutely enjoyed this book. It was such a thrilling read - perfect for summer!

I would happily recommend The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal to fans of suspense/mystery novels - you will LOVE this book!!  I know that I can't wait to read more of Kamal's books.

Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour schedule for: The Lost Ones

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!