Customer Reviews

Lost: A Novel of Suspense

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After delivering a pulsating debut thriller with The Suspect and introducing us to a couple of characters in Dr Joseph O'Loughlin and DI Vincent Ruiz , who are as opposite to one another as you would want to meet, Michael Robotham has followed up with Lost another riveting thriller.

Lost carries on with O'Loughlin and Ruiz again featuring very prominently. But Robotham has performed a sneaky little switch. In The Suspect, the story was told from the first person perspective of Joe O'Loughlin, a clinical psychologist who had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The first person perspective is again used in Lost, but this time, the story is being told by Vincent Ruiz and Ruiz is a much more abrasive, in your face character with a very dry sense of humour, as evidenced by the following observation:

"My stepfather died at a bus stop in Bradford in October 1995. He had a stroke on his way to see a heart specialist. See what happens when buses don't run on time?"

The story opens as Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz is being pulled out of the Thames. He is in a pretty bad way thanks in large part to the bullet that had passed through his leg. He wakes from surgery to find that he has no memory of the incident or of the week leading up to it.

With the help of friend and clinical psychologist Dr Joseph O'Loughlin, Ruiz can piece together enough details to work out that he was working on the disappearance of 8 year old Mickey Carlyle and he was on the Thames to make a kidnapping payoff. The problem with this scenario is that the Mickey Carlyle case was closed 3 years ago and a man is already in prison for the young girl's murder. From what he can gather he has been working the case alone, independent of the police department, a fact that has made him extremely unpopular with his superiors.

The moment Ruiz is capable of walking he checks himself out of the hospital, anxious to begin retracing his own steps in a bid to recall the circumstances leading up to his accident. Thanks to a couple of memory flashes, Ruiz is almost certain that Mickey is still alive and being held by her captors. But Chief Superintendent Campbell Smith is having none of it, ordering Ruiz to drop the case of face suspension from the force.

As Ruiz retraces his steps he tends to replay some old and significant memories of his life, some of them painful, bringing together a more complete awareness of himself. In effect, losing his memory has helped him find himself. Meanwhile, his hunt for answers takes him: into the sewers of London deep below the city streets; into the Thames; onto the trail of a dangerous mobster, and; into the life of a pedophile.

Set at a reasonably moderate pace, Lost is shrouded in mystery as the majority of the storyline focuses on the frustration of Ruiz as he struggles with memories that lie just out of reach. Bit by bit he retraces his steps with the excitement provided by unsuccessful attempts made on his life.

Robotham writes with an easy, practiced style that combines the intensity of extreme danger with a witty, dry delivery. It's intense and relentless providing an engrossing story with an unknown element that remains in place right up until the final few chapters.

A strong rapport is enjoyed , antagonists in the earlier book, The Suspect. Ruiz's rough demeanor is counterbalanced by the more composed O'Loughlin who has a talent for reading other people's unconscious mannerisms to gain intimate insights that make for some fascinating reading. When Ruiz enlists the help of DC Alisha Barba, a young police officer who has been overlooked for promotion too often, a further solid partnership is created with the presence of the young female police officer providing a sounding board for Ruiz's theories.

Where the story falls down is in the area of plausibility. The gunshot wound sustained by Vincent Ruiz in the opening scene would be enough to cripple a man for months, yet not only is Ruiz back on his feet in days but he is in vigorous pursuit of assailants followed by grueling trips through sewers thrown in with barely a though given to his ruined leg. The only concession made to the pain was the occasional popping of a morphine pill which appeared to be enough to grant superhuman powers of recovery.

Lost won the 2005 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel (the Australian equivalent the Edgar Awards) and delivers an outstanding thriller with complex characters, pressure coming from both within the police force and from a dangerous unknown assailant and a strong unexpected ending. This is a very satisfying novel that I found compulsive reading and would recommend it to all psychological thriller fans.

Both this book, Lost, and a previous book, Suspect, are written in first person. The main difference between the central characters are their values, viewpoints and outlooks on life. I liked Suspect better than Lost - but only marginally.

In Lost, Robotham seems to be a more mature, focused writer, finally revealing the full strength of the promise he showed in his debut novel. This time around, a detective (Inspector Ruiz) suffers from amnesia, not sure how he survived a near drowning and with only brief traces of memories at the edge of his consciousness. The truth emerges in bits and pieces.

If you like mysteries which have strong psychological components, you'll like this one. It has both action and suspense and characters that draw you in.

However, I think you'll get the most out of it if you read Suspect first. The two books really do deserve to be read as a set. Each CAN stand on its own but why miss out on the chance to get even more from each book? They truly complement one another.

Those familiar with Mr Robotham's first novel will recognise some of the key characters in this one. While Joe O'Loughlin has a supporting role in 'Lost', I found his character far more likeable in this novel.

The race against time as Vincent Ruiz recovers his memory and tries to make sense of a number of different events while solving what appears to be a closed investigation makes for an absorbing page turner.

Mr Robotham writes well. His primary characters are well developed, if not always likeable, and the story moves at a rapid pace. I am looking forward to his third novel!

Recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Michael Robotham is definitely an author who bears watching!

DI Vincent Ruiz, debuted as a supporting cast member in Robotham's first novel, "Suspect", is rescued from the Thames wounded, bleeding, hypothermic and a good deal more dead than alive. Suffering from transient global amnesia brought on by the trauma of the night's events, Ruiz is initially unable to recall anything at all about what he was doing on a motor launch cruising the Thames in the middle of the night. But it's clear that something very important was going down as he is immediately harassed by Internal Affairs who are treating him more like a criminal than a police officer wounded in the line of duty. With what few clues are available about the shooting and with the help of psychiatrist Joe O'Loughlin, Ruiz begins to painstakingly reconstruct his memories and to pick up the threads of his search for the truth about the kidnapping of seven year old Mickey Carlyle.

Ruiz quickly discovers he is the only detective who believes in the possibility that Mickey Carlyle is still alive despite the conviction and imprisonment of Harlan Wavell, a sexual predator convicted three years earlier for the kidnapping and murder. A blue wall of official obstruction is erected in the path of Ruiz's investigation as the department believes that Ruiz's efforts may lead to the possibility of the killer's release on a technicality. The painful Byzantine process of re-constructing the investigation and filling in the blanks of his memory loss piece by painful piece leads Ruiz on a tortuous path through London and Europe - down through the sewers of London and back into the river Thames; into the repulsive thoughts of a "grooming pedophile"; into a confrontation with Russian crime-lord, Alexei Kuznet, who is looking to recover a cache of diamonds worth over two million pounds; and even to London and Thailand's drug and sex sub-cultures.

Despite a plot with lots of twists and turns and a surprise ending that very few readers will suspect before it actually arrives, much of the quality of Robotham's "Lost" is cerebral - atmosphere, characterization, dialogue and psychology - the scion of a loving marriage between a police procedural and a psychological thriller. Those readers searching for comparisons need look no further than Michael Connelly's successful Harry Bosch novels. Like Bosch, Ruiz is a dark, brooding, mature hero with an in-your-face attitude who's toting lots of mental baggage! But I was also pleased to find that Robotham did not neglect to fill in the story with some very interesting technical asides - transient global amnesia; the complex engineering of London's vast and ancient sewer system; the police treatment of kidnapping and ransom demands; some peeks into Sikh family culture, and more.

Most enjoyable and definitely recommended. One tiny tip - if you haven't yet read "Suspect", go find it first and enjoy both!

Paul Weiss

This is an absolute dazzler. Robotham is one of the most exciting new voices in crime fiction. LOST has it all--a superb plot, engaging characters, pitch-perfect writing, some memorable bon mots and a magnificent sense of setting.

This is noir, London style. We're on the docks and in the sewers, and dodging the city's many underground rivers. The subterranean scenes are brilliantly executed and they manage to be intense without being too claustrophobic. The characters who guide Ruiz through this dark, watery, rat-infested London are straight out of Dickens.

Robotham lives in Australia, but he knows his London like a native and he has a perfect feel for the Russian underworld there. I don't want to inject any spoilers, but he has a scene at a dacha outside Moscow which is also authentic to the point of being painful.

I finished this book and purchased Robotham's next a few moments later. Do not miss this writer or this book. He understands the genre and his prose is exquisite. This is the real deal.

The title applies so well in different respects. The main character has "lost" part of his memory. He has also "lost" the time he should have had with his children. Others have "lost" the desire to rectify what may be a wrong. And, in many ways, there is the "lost" opportunity that the characters and all of us face. Like other reviewers, I found the main character in the book to be flawed, interesting and totally believable. If you like characters such as Jane Tennison and Inspector Morse, you will like Det. Ruiz. I read the author's previous book, "Suspect" and liked the continuation of the characters from that book to this. You may want to read that book as well, however this book stands on its own quite well. If you like reading P.D. James or other crime authors who delve into the psychology of characters, this is a good book for you. The author is also adept at writing excellent action sequences within a cogently written, well-paced plot. Totally worth your time!

I am not at all a fan of English mysteries usually and if I had known Lost was an English mystery before I checked it out from my library, I wouldn't have read it. I'm sure glad I was low on reading material and made myself read it.

The story was told very well and again (as in other books I've liked), the "hero" is very flawed and damaged. You can read the above reviews for the story, but just let me say that a child's death in an accident, even when the survivor is a child himself, can turn a life into a constant emotional battle. I liked the filling in of the background of the character.

When it gets to the parts about crawling through sewers, I happened to have been eating my supper. I pushed my plate away rather than stop reading. (Can I give it a higher recommendation!?)

I can't put the author on the same level as Connelly or James Lee Burke, but I have to say his characters felt to me like they were real people. The ending, in one way, surprised me but I have to say it was thrown at me too fast. I had to think a minute to remember who a particular man was...

This book kept my attention, it made me laugh and be uneasy as well, and entertained me for more than a few hours. I can't imagine being a taken child or the parent of that child....what a living nightmare, but Mr. Robotham gave me a taste.

There's quite a bit of graphic violence too...not as much as McKinty, but more than normal. FYI.

Good book.

Robotham has put some thought into his second novel (after Suspect). The main plot device--a first-person protagonist with amnesia--is its main stumbling point. It's just too easy to have our hero "remember" a new bit of information when the plot is flagging or our hero isn't making progress in his quest.

DI Vincent Ruiz is a renegade cop who was searching for a missing girl, even though this child has been missing for three years. Ruiz believes she could still be alive, despite the fact that a known neighborhood pedophile was sent to prison for her death. As he was closing in on a solution to this crime, he has a violent showdown with the bad guys, and he is rendered amnestic.

Ruiz remembers, bit by bit, about how he started the hunt for this girl. He is aided by a very unbelievable character, the protagonist from Robotham's first novel. This guy ("the Professor") has nothing to do but amazingly draw out key facts from Ruiz using Jedi mind tricks. The ending of this story is a bit sappy, but that is not a major concern. I just found myself getting bored with Ruiz's smacking his forehead saying "If only I could REMEMBER!!" It was tiring after a while...

This well-written thriller keeps its action rolling and the pages turning from start to finish. It's especially fun for those of us who enjoy yarns set in London, as it travels from one end of that city to another -- and under it as well, where the author gives an evocative depiction of the sewer system. If the leading character, Detective Inspector Ruiz, is in fact 60 years old, he is the hardiest old bird on the force for sure. But his age is of no particular significance here.

From the moment Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz was fished out of the Thames he knew he was in trouble as he has no memory how he got there or how he was shot in the leg. Adding to his woes is that a drifting nearby boat contains his blood and that of three other people.

The Met's Anti-Corruption Group, fondly disdained by other cops as the Ghost Squad, John Keebal assumes that Ruiz is using amnesia to cover up wrong doing including murder and plans to break the DI. Meanwhile friend clinical psychologist Professor Joseph O'Loughlin shows Ruiz a picture of seven years old Mickey Carlyle that the beleaguered cop had on him; Mickey, daughter of Russian crime lord Aleksei Kuznet, was kidnapped three years ago and general wisdom is she is dead, but the amnesiac thinks otherwise. Though still injured, Ruiz and his partner, Detective Constable Alisha "Ali" Kauer Barba, begin to retrace what he LOST.

This powerful gritty police procedural grips the audience from the moment that Ruiz introduces Maggie the nurse to Johnnie One-Eye in the hospital and never slows down as he tracks his path with his Sikh partner to two diverse nasty scenarios. The investigative story line is dark and gloomy though superbly written with a shrewd counterpace in the hero's personal relationships with for instance his friendship with Joe, a Parkinson's victim. The return of some of the cast including Joe and Vincent from SUSPECT add to the fun time readers will have with this taut thriller.

Harriet Klausner