Misleading Marketing
Disquieting. Uncomfortable. Honest.

Those are the three words I think best sum up this novel. I'd never read anything by Ketchum before and was hesitant to shell out [money] for an unknown quantity, but I'm very glad I did.

The book centers around the inhabitants of a sleepy New Jersey town in the summer of 1969. You've got Ray Pye, an unconvicted sociopathic murderer. There's Tim and Jennifer, his unhappy lackeys. There's Schilling, the cop who knows Ray killed two girls in a park four years ago, but can't prove it. And Katherine, the new girl in town, strangely fascinated by Ray.

The Lost is an especially apt title. Every character, from the afore-mentioned leading cast, right down to the supporting characters, is lacking one essential: happiness. Now, that makes the book seem like a tedious bore that you might use to prep yourself to commit suicide, but trust me, The Lost is excellent.

Ketchum makes you feel and understand every character's motivations and emotions, including Ray (one of the 'best' villains I've seen). Every character is well-drawn; while you may not like some of them much (I know I didn't), you'll definitely see where each one is coming from.

The ending is suitably bittersweet and has a well-measured dose of poetic justice. My only gripe with the book is the marketing. The Lost is not really a horror novel; the closest I can come to describing it is to call it a pyschological thriller, but even that doesn't sum it up. Despite a previous reviewer's comments, there is very little graphic description of violence or sex; what there is, is essential, in my opinion, to the telling of the story.

Highly recommended.

A melee of characters in 1969 are trying to cope with something horrible that happened five years ago; the cold-blooded murder of two young female campers. You have the murderer, Ray, his two accomplices, Jen and Tim, some of their friends, the cop on the case, Charlie, and a retired cop who helped Charlie with the case five years ago, Ed. All their lives are about to crumble together as the horrors of the past event resurface to haunt them once more. Ketchum has no remorse for any of these characters; he shows to us that no one, no matter how good, is safe from a twisted mind.

Ketchum is at his affecting best with this book. His prose grabs you by the guts and never intends to let go of you until the final page. The regular Ketchum reader will recognize all the trademarks that made this author such a cult phenomenon. But new readers beware; this tale is more slow moving and nostalgic than his other books (a lot of the book was obviously inspired by old 60s music, rock icons and films). Still, with its bloody finally and believable characters, The Lost is Ketchum's best in years, and that's saying a lot!

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