Lost: A Novel

by: Michael Robotham

Published by: Vintage Books

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

In Suspect, the story unfolds from the perspective of Dr. Joseph O’Loughlin. In Lost, we ‘live’ the story through the eyes of Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz. Ruiz plays a supporting role in Robotham’s 2007 release The Night Ferry.

Ruiz is an ‘in-your-face,’ sometimes harsh character with a sly wit and good heart. He had been pulled from the Thames after being shot, and when he wakes from surgery, he has no memory of the shooting. To complicate matters, he has no memory of the days prior to the shooting.

Dr. O’Loughlin, a psychologist, works with Ruiz, who pieces together small details, memories just beyond his reach. Those remembered details and some pieces of physical items are enough to learn that he had been working on the disappearance of a young child, Mickey Carlyle. But Ruiz doesn’t know why. The Carlyle case was closed three years ago and a man is in prison for her murder. Ruiz is also aware that he’s working ‘independently’ of his job and that’s not sitting well with his superiors who eventually order him from the case under threat of suspension. It seems his amnesia is suspicious.

Ruiz, haunted by memories of his own childhood, defies his superiors and continues following the scant clues (including some flashes of memory). He believes that Mickey is alive and is determined to find her.

The journey to recover his memory and find Mickey is dangerous, both physically and career-wise. It sends him through the meanest streets of London on the trail of mobsters and pedophiles.

Robotham’s Lost is dark and gritty with some well-placed humor that breaks the tension when it becomes too much. The characters are well-developed, flawed humans that shout, ‘real people.’ His plot sizzles and takes the reader to the darkest side of humanity. But it’s the relationship between the characters in a Robotham novel that is so enjoyable.

Armchair Interviews says: Lost: A Novel is a page-turner and highly recommended.