Customer Reviews

Lost Girls

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Bart Crane is a criminal defense attorney with moral values equvialent to the average serial killer. Cocaine addicted and having an unseemly attraction to teenage girls, this character is the embodiment of a thousand lawyer jokes. He is sent to a burnt out little town in Northern Ontario to defend a man accused of killing two teenage girls. Then the atmosphere grows eerie as the bad dreams and hallucinations begin.This novel owes as much to Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol' as it does to the works of Stephen King. The lead character at first seems to be an anti-hero, but by the novels end the reader believes he has transformed into a halfway decent human being.I would recommend this horror legal thriller hybird to fans of John Grisham, Stephen King, or Ruth Rendell.Also Recommmended: 'Julian's House' by Judith Hawkes and 'Something Dangerous' by Patrick Redmond

Having lived in small-town Ontario (cottage country) for 15 years of my life, Pyper's depiction of Murdoch is bang-on, particularly the hotel (where he spends most of his time), from his description of the bar right down to the telephone ringing in the middle of the night. As he rightly puts it, every Ontario town has a Queen's Hotel or an Arlington. His accurate descriptiveness aside, Pyper's interaction with his two law partners is side-splitting in its own right and, as such, it is easy to see where our Bartholomew comes by his cynical attitudes towards both his profession, his clients and practically everyone else he comes in contact with.

The plot (sometimes) stretches, but on balance is a fine mystery and more than deserves the awards it has won in Canada. If I'm not mistaken, it's the authors first novel. A brilliant start.

I'm a bit disappointed in the other reader reviews I've seen here. After all, this is a FIRST novel by the author and I was amazed by the great writing in so much of this book, leaving me with a desire to read more books by Mr. Pyper, who I expect to get better and better as time goes on. To be honest, this book has some of the flaws of a first book written by an author who needs more practice tightening and sharpening his sense of pacing and drama but even so, there is much to recommend here. The first chapter, where a young girl is dragged to the bottom of a lake by an inexplicable force, is truly gripping. After that first chapter, there was some lack of tension here and there and things dragged a bit at time, but I still could NOT put this book down. There is an original voice at work here, one that deserves to be heard again and I, for one, am looking forward to reading another of this author's books in the future.

Barth Crane is a high powered Toronto attorney who relishes the rush he receives when he wins a case. Ethics are not a problem, as Barth will do anything to triumph, including lying under oath, cheating, and tampering with witnesses.

The tightly focused lawyer travels to Murdoch, Ontario on his first murder case. Local high school teacher Thomas Tripp is accused of killing two students. Barth expects an easy victory because the bodies of the victims were never recovered nor are there any witnesses that Tripp committed a crime. Circumstantial evidence links the suspect to the murder. The barrister settles in at the local hotel and begins to immerse himself in the life of the town in an effort to gain an edge for his client. Gradually, the legend of the Lady in the Lake begins to haunt him; changing him and making him take actions that will effect Barth for the rest of his life.

LOST GIRLS is an atmospheric work that seems gothic in tone. The story line gradually builds up the tension level until the reader feels, like Barth, overwhelmed and anxious. Barth is a loathsome person, yet the audience will feel drawn to him, especially as he travels down a road nobody could have foreseen he would take. Andrew Pyper's ability to bring his story to life is brilliant and will leave readers clamoring for more works as soon as possible. Don't be surprised if this book hits the charts.

Harriet Klausner

A combination murder mystery, "lawyer book", and supernatural thriller, featuring (initially) a throughly despicable protagonist. Not your ordinary mystery, and not your ordinary first novel. Mr Pyper is one helluva writer. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You won't be disappointed.

There's an interesting premise, a potentially fascinating set of characters, and a grisly set of deaths all based in an atmospheric town. It should have been a good read. And, it almost was. But...

The atmosphere and foreshadowing overwhelm the characters and the story. The tension and the mood is laid in so heavy-handed a manner that it's distracting. It became a chore to plow through this novel to make it to the end (though I did, for whatever reason...). The few 'mysteries' were incredibly predictable. The descriptions were so dense that it was tough to remember what happening in the story, and the caricaturization was so distracting that it was impossible to care at all for the characters.

I really thought I'd love this one, the story sounded so good. But I'm sorry I just couldn't connect with the main characters, and the writing was too self-consciously literary and that got in the way as well. The writer does have talent but it might be better if next time he doesn't concentrate so much on the special effects. It reminded me a little of that book by Steven Dobyn (I think) called The Church of Lost Girls--not just because of the title! However I believe that Dobyn did it better. A disappointing book.

Lost Girls exists at a curious intersection of genres: a Scott Turow courtroom drama twisted about a Martin Amis comic amorality play, a Stephen King ghost story messing with a Thomas Harris psycho thriller. This conjunction of story types is mostly compelling -- to Pyper's credit there are few moments where the disparate elements collide rather than collude.

Despite the solid sense of place (Canada certainly an underutilized thriller locale) and dank, gothic atmosphere, the ghost story elements are the least effective (and I'm a big fan of ghosts popping up in genres where the don't belong) because its awfully tough to credit Pyper's amoral, cokefiend, stripclubbing protagonist having such a freakout at a few odds and ends going bump in the night -- and because the book has to decelerate its cocaine-driven prose and pacing to to whip up the requisite dark and stormy lake atmosphere.

So after an appallingly funny kick off the book drags a bit in the middle -- stay with it. The story takes an obvious twist I didn't see coming and stays particular and curious all the way to the end. The only caveat for genre-only readers -- despite the thriller drag Pyper's concerns are more those of Turow & Amis than King & Harris -- is a plus for everyone else.

Incorporating the best of Scott Turow and Stephen King, Andrew Pyper has created an unusual and compulsively readable novel in LOST GIRLS. Attorney Batholomew Crane is a young, coke addicted attorney assigned his first murder case. It's Barth's job to get a teacher accused of killing two of his female students off. No matter what the cost, Barth intends to get his client an acquittal. As Crane digs deeper into the case, pieces of which may be tied to the town's history and to a long forgotten, shameful episode in his own past, Barth spirals further and further away from reality. With prose so beautiful it brings to life the desperation of Bartholomew Crane as he slowly suffers a personal breakdown and redemption, and the cold, white desolation of Northern Canada, LOST GIRLS has a creepy atmosphere that compels you to keep turning pages.

This book has a border-line personality. Nothing about it is full blown. The hero,the setting,the plot and the secondary characters are all vaguely creepy.Suggestions of the existence of Evil are hinted at but there is no proof of anything save for life's pitiful relentlessness and its ability to drown you under unless you can outlast, outwit,outdo or simply bow out. The writing is wonderful,but dont expect any easy or neat answers. Read it on a hot and humid day, and then think a long time before you go in for a swim.