Customer Reviews

Lost & Found

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I hope that Jacqueline Sheehan has LOTS more stories and characters and novels in her. What could have been a mawkish or heavyhanded story about how to survive the death of your husband, was an artful depiction of psychological truths. A variety of parent-child relationships are overlapped and contrasted. While the characters try to manage their feelings and behaviors, the author gives them free reign, leaving room for laughter, tears, romance and shock.
I am philosophically opposed to giving any book 5 stars, but I can find nothing "wrong" with this. I loved the characters and was perfectly happy to stay up til 3 am finding out what happened to them all.
I hope this makes it to the big screen.

This bittersweet story of a widow coming to grips with her loss and her life is a truly wonderful read. The widow, a psychologist named Rocky, is described as being annoying and blunt, and I did find her behavior and method of dealing with her grief somewhat over the top. Especially for a woman trained as a psychologist. Nevertheless, readers will empathize with Rocky and fall in love with Cooper, the injured black Lab she rescues. I came to respect Rocky for her tenacity and courage, but I absolutely adored Cooper whose loyalty, devotion and intelligence grabbed me firmly by the heart. And I'm not even a dog owner. This is without a doubt the best book I've read in years.

Grief comes in many forms and has many obsessions as people [and dogs] work though the loss of loved ones. This very special book tells a story of the helplessness of sorrow, the determination to live with/through it, and the transforming power of living with a broken heart. Broken hearts heal in amazing and simple ways. We don't ever get over the loss of a loved one, but we do manage to get used to it. This is one of those stories. You love the characters, understand them and suffer with them. And then you smile through the tears. This is a consoling and comforting as hugging a big black labrador retriever......

I am a HUGE animal person and own a black lab, so I was really excited about this book. However, I had a lot of trouble getting into it. I had trouble really identifying with the characters and I thought some parts of the book were just plain weird.

Then, about halfway through the book, it really picked up and I enjoyed it a lot. It became much more of a page-turner after that.

I thought Sheehan's writing was just OK. Nothing spectacular, but it wasn't bad either. Like I said, I had trouble with the characters at first, but eventually fell to love them. And of course, she did a great job making the reader fall in love with the dog. I would like to have read more about the dog and things that he did.

Overall, this was just an average book. I would not necessarily recommend it to someone out of the blue, but I also would not flat-out discourage them from reading it.

What a wonderful book! I couldn't put it down. The characters were constantly evolving and wonderful.

Any animal lover will completely gobble up this book, but even those not so familiar with our furry friend's charms will find nothing but gems within the 278 pages of this book.

The main character, Rocky, as she is appropriately nicknamed, is dealing with a devastating loss. Her husband dies suddenly and she takes a leave of absense from her job to move to a coastal Maine island to work as an animal control warden---a far cry from her normal career as a psychologist. It proves to be one of the best moves she has ever made. As a result, she grows both emotionally, psychologically and even spiritually due to the loving good-naturedness of a lost black lab who is suffering a loss of his own.

This beautiful creature pulls at least 10 people together and splendidly puts them exactly where they should have been a long time ago: on track.

I really wish the book had no ending as I could have continued to read it indefinitely.

I really hope Ms. Sheehan will write a sequel, it was simply that good. I literally cried and was so moved during some of its chapters and I found myself feeling so fulfilled in the end....yet wanting more information of what was to come.

Highly recommended!!!!!

Rarely do I get so excited over a book that I buy extra copies and pass them out but that was my reaction to "Lost and Found". Author Jacqueline Sheehan wrote a beautiful, sensitive, and insightful book about loss, grief, and letting go. When a psychologist's life is shattered in one moment, she escapes to the solitude of an island off the coast of Maine in a desperate attempt to hide from her pain.

When Rocky (short for Roxanne) takes the job of animal control officer, she gets involved with a lovable dog who begins to melt her frozen heart. Rocky becomes embroiled in a young girl's silent agony, a new friend's personal challenges, and the mystery that could endanger her own life.

I absolutely devoured this book from start to finish. The characters were so real, the writing precise, and the story riveting. In a couple of chapters, Sheehan writes from the dog's perspective, delivering a new insight into the human-canine friendship.

After finishing this book at 2 a.m., I wrote the author and begged her to continue the journey of these characters (and she responded that she is considering it). Then I ordered three more copies to pass along to a dog lover, a mystery fan, and a hopeless romantic. They will each love "Lost and Found" because each will "find" something to make them smile.

LOST AND FOUND tells the story of a young widow in agony and denial who rescues a wounded Labrador retriever with separation anxiety of his own. It is a novel of contradictions --- just enough coincidence to be realistic, but with characters a bit too contrived. However, anyone who has taken care of or been healed by an animal can appreciate the theme and identify with the miracle of instant bonding.

Fortunately, the ending was not tragic and left enough of our protagonist's fate to the reader's imagination. After finishing this book, you will either want to hug your dog immediately or adopt one at the local animal shelter.

Lost and Found hits a bittersweet note with every human heart. When her caring husband dies suddenly from a massive heart attack, Rocky, a psychologist in her late 30's is stricken with grief. To gain a sense of anonymity, she moves to an island off the coast of Maine. Determined to leave her past and her pain, she takes on a new job and encounters a host of islanders.
Yes, Rocky has a rebellious, blunt and brash side. Yes, she pulls some incredible stunts, but she is a young woman full of the bile of grief. Some of the secondary characters, like the old woman with synthesia and the track running teenager with anoxeria, are intriguing.
Then there is the dog, who becomes the focal point of the story. This dog's personality and soul are conveyed so beautifully and warmly that it is delightful and rewarding to read a portion of the story from his perspective.
Looking for a heartful story? Love human stories intertwined with dogs and a bit of odd adventure? Grab a copy and a cup of tea. ENJOY!

My father died on February 27 2008. I'm inclined towards reading a lot of vampiric chic lit at this point in my life and just randomly picked this book up at a local bookstore. I had a doctor's appointment last week and didn't want to be reading Kim Harrison's The Outlaw Demon Wails sitting in the doctor's office (it is a very, very fun book but seemed somewhat undignified under the circumstances) so I took Lost and Found with me instead and then almost burst into tears in my gynecologist's office reading the first chapter since my own grief over my father's death is still so close to the surface.

As a dog trainer, I am extremely picky about reading anything written in a dog's voice, always holding it up to my two perfect examples of Watership Down (yeah they're bunnies but for speaking from an animal's POV it just cannot be beaten) and Donald McCaig's Eminent Dogs and Dangerous Men (about dogs in heaven.) The pieces of Lost And Found written from the dog, Loyd's, POV are honestly that good.

I finished the novel as quickly as possible so that I could give it to my mother to read but I cautioned her about the first chapter and put a bookmark at Chapter 2 for her and gave her a brief summary of the events of Chapter 1 so that she didn't wind up crying in her own doctor's office or at the pool or wherever.

Lost And Found is truly an extraordinary book. The characters are very real and well drawn (both human and canine!) and there is true growth for all of them throughout the novel. I know that it spoke to me specifically because of my recent loss and because of my lifetime obsession with dogs but both my mother and I already have people in mind to whom we want to lend or give this book.

I am a big animal lover and often go by recommendations that Amazon lays out for me when I sign on to my account. This book popped up as a recommendation because I usually buy literature that has to do with animals. In comparison with other books I have read in the same genre, I would rate it as "ok." The sport of archery comes along as a big role of the movie, which to tell you the truth, I have no interest in reading. There is also a character of a confused teenage anorexic girl that seems out of place in the plot.

I would save this one for a rental at the library or find it cheap at a used book store, it isn't worth the full price.