The Lost by Simon Beckett

Good morning, everyone! Today I’m a stop on the Compulsive Readers blog tour for Simon Beckett’s latest, The Lost!

It’s been ten years since Jonah Colley fell out with his friend and fellow officer Gavin McKinney. But when he receives a call from Gavin asking for help, he can’t say no. 

Jonah arrives at a remote warehouse only to find Gavin and a handful of others dead and wrapped in plastic. Except one person seems to have survived. Determined to save her, Jonah is distracted and attacked himself. He only barely survives and manages to connect a call before passing out. 

He wakes up in the hospital to find that he’s under suspicion. Of exactly what, he isn’t sure. What he does know is that the killer appears to have gotten away. Now, in order to clear his own name as well as find out the truth about what happened at the aptly named Slaughter Quay, he’ll have to dive into the investigation himself. All while facing the memories of the worst time in his life.

Ooh! I really hope this is the start of a new series from Beckett! I was a really big fan of his David Hunter books and have been looking forward to reading more from him!

Jonah Colley is a haunted man. Ten years ago, his four-year-old son disappeared while playing in the park. Jonah was with him that day but fell asleep.

Everything fell apart for him after that. But even after his wife has left and he’s fallen out with Gavin, the godfather of his son, he continued to work. But now, battered and trying to recover from the ordeal, even his job is threatened.

This is the first time Jonah finds himself a suspect. It’s usually his job to do the questioning. His job to put pressure on the suspects. But now the tables have definitely turned. That and the fact that it involves his once best friend, Jonah knows he won’t find peace until he solves the case. 

As the story unfolds, the reader is given glimpses of the events of a decade ago. His son’s disappearance and the investigation around that. And also the real reason he and McKinney haven’t spoken since. 

It’s been my experience that Beckett’s books tend to read at a propulsive pace and The Lost is no different! There is no easing into this story. To use a cliche phrase, we hit the ground running and the story never lets up!

And this is a dark read, to be truly honest! One that is quite difficult at times. Especially reading about Jonah’s son and watching how that affects Jonah and his life. 

I am so freaking glad that Beckett is back and expect that we’ll be seeing more of him and Jonah to come! I highly, highly recommend checking this one out if you’re a fan of dark thrillers and police procedurals. This is the best of both worlds and a character that’s perfect for a new series!

Huge, huge thanks to Tracy for inviting me to be part of the tour!

To find our more about Simon Beckett and his work you can check out his website here. The Lost is out this week!