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Lost Sister

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Recovered physically but not emotionally from an accident which cost the life of his fiancée, followed by a downward spiral which led to his breaking of a superior officer's nose, J McNee has wisely left the CID and has been working as a private investigator in his home town of Dundee, Scotland. Morose and cynical, he suffers from agonizing psychosomatic injuries which sometimes nearly paralyze him as a result of the violence of his past life. When he is asked to investigate a missing person by reporter Cameron Connolly, McNee takes the job, "off the books," working in parallel with the Dundee CID. The missing person is Mary Furst, a fourteen-year-old girl, who is also the god-daughter of David Burns, a thug who is "knuckle deep in drug money, extortion, rackets, underground deals, and blackmail." Detective Constable Ernie Bright, a man who had trained McNee at CID and who still hopes he will return to the force, is his contact there, though he will work most closely with Susan Bright, Ernie's daughter.

As he investigates the circumstances surrounding Mary's disappearance, McNee concentrates first on her home life, then her room, and finally her computer. He soon discovers the name of her boyfriend and an unusually large number of e-mails to and from Deborah Brown, her art teacher. Hints about a strange relationship between these two are rampant at their school. Eventually, McNee becomes embroiled in every aspect of Mary's family life, the relationship of her parents, her early childhood, her closeness to her crime lord/godfather, and her mother's emotional problems. An investigation of Deborah Brown also reveals that she, too, suffers from severe emotional issues. When McNee repeatedly fails to obey his better judgment that certain aspects of the case would be better investigated by the police, he sets up the circumstances that lead to a dark and bloody conclusion.

Written in a straightforward, almost hard-boiled style, McNee tells his own story in a first person narrative which is much more psychological in approach than most other noir novels. McNee has to deal with his own problems and then apply his insights to the problems of other characters in the novel. As one of his colleagues tells him, "You're a man with a conscience and a code and all that other bollocks, but you're also a man who drags his own disaster around with him like a wrecking ball." Coincidence plays a role here in the developing action, while the backgrounds of all the characters unfold through interviews, which are efficient in giving a great deal of pertinent information, though they create numerous situations in which the author/narrator is "telling about" things that have happened instead of revealing information through the action. Some information about Dundee itself provides a bit of local color and atmosphere, though the story does not depend on it for interest.

The action that does occur, though violent and unexpected, is consistent with the black-and-white issues that underlie the plot, and though the use of psychological angles provides some depth, the novel itself is straightforward and uncomplicated--clever and compressed, rather than elegant or subtle. The grand finale, which is easy to imagine as an action film, takes place at an atmosphere-filled location in the Scottish countryside, and should satisfy all readers of noir fiction. Mary Whipple

Welcome to Dundee, Scotland, where past actions affect the lives of today. Where a teenage girl goes missing and a private investigator is reluctantly drawn into the case. Where lies and secrets abound and personalities clash. This the second book by McLean, who has written numerous shorts stories for magazines in both America and Great Britain.
Private investigator J. McNee deals with each case on a personal level, maybe too much. He is dealing with an incident the previous year where he was manipulated into exposing his dark side and killing another man. Mary Furst, a teenager, is missing and McNee can't help but be more than a police observer and advisor. Suspects include a crime lord McNee hates, an ex boyfriend, and Mary's art teacher, Deborah. Enter Wickes, who claims to be an investigator from Glasgow. He tells McNee a story concerning Deborah, their relationship, and the fact Mary is actually Deborah's mother, given up through a surrogacy arrangement. However, McNee soon discovers Wickes has a violent side and may not be telling the truth. That truth, however, is complex and McNee finds himself struggling with finding Mary while battling internal demons threatening to rise again.
This is a fast-paced story spanning all of three days. It is character driven with nearly every character having troubled pasts. McNee has relationship problems with many of his `friends.' If McLean plans for future McNee books, he has a lot of room for more character development. Keep an eye for more good stuff from this acclaimed author.

Reviewed by Stephen L. Brayton, author of "Beta" for Suspense Magazine

Everyone in Dundee, Scotland is looking for the missing fourteen-year-old Mary Furst. The crippled Cameron Connolly, reporter for the "Dundee Herald," approaches PI J. McNee and asks him to help find the girl. Aided by a former coworker, Detective Constable Susan Bright, McNee soon learns that Mary is the grandniece of local mobster David Burns. McNee tries to end the investigation, but is drawn back when his office is vandalized and another PI, a huge, hulking man named Wickes, tells him he knows what has happened to Mary.

Russell D. McLean's "The Lost Sister" is a fast-paced, intriguing mystery of a young girl in peril. Where is Mary Furst? Did someone abduct her or did she leave home on her own free will? "The Lost Sister" is not as bloody as its more mob-riddled predecessor "The Good Son," but it is more psychologically horrifying. Once again, the themes of family secrets and perverse, twisted love dominant the plot. In "The Good Son," a man wants to find his brother's killer. In "The Lost Sister," a woman wants to find her missing daughter and another woman wants to find her sister who has been both physically and psychologically lost to her for many years.

The guilt-ridden McNee still feels responsible for the death of his fiancée Elaine. He also feels responsible for his office assistant Bill who was shot in the stomach. We learn that Bill has been permanently crippled. Returning in this sequel are Susan Bright; her father and McNee`s mentor, DCI Ernie Bright; McNee's enemy DI George Lindsay; and mobster boss David Burns who keeps reminding everyone how important his family is to him. Unfortunately, he won't hesitant to kill a member of someone else's family. Ever since Elaine's death, McNee has become reclusive; he probably feels he has lost his chance at having his own family. His soft heart makes him more susceptible to believing every heart luck story he's told.

David Burns has dark family secrets in regards to Mary. Ernie Bright has been keeping secrets from his daughter. Family life is far from perfect in "The Lost Sister." This novel also introduces one of the most possessive, dominating control freaks I have read about in a mystery. This villain's love is twisted, perverse and destructive; their words are very deceitful. Fortunately, McNee is a good PI; I would hire him to find someone I love.

"The Lost Sister" is a sad story of how one person spent their entire life searching for love and happiness and could never find it. The ending is a bloody, tragic one that was rather graphic, shocking and horrifying. Life doesn't always have happy endings.

I found the author's writing style unnerving. The story is told in the first person from McNee's point of view as though he has written it himself. The sentences are short and clipped. Most of the time, they are mere sentence fragments. Reading them is almost like watching a film that keeps freezing. I sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between McNee's thoughts and what he was actually speaking aloud. I had to carefully read each paragraph. Also, the editor failed to realize that there are many instances where a word is missing from a sentence. Furthermore, the novel is set in Dundee, Scotland but I felt that I never really got a true sense of its people, environs and culture.

If you enjoyed Russell D. McLean's "The Good Son," then "The Lost Sister" is a must read. Don't expect a bloody crime noir; "The Lost Sister" is more of a psychological suspense novel that plays on the reader's emotions. The reader will begin thinking about their own family and may want to reconnect with that parent, sibling, etc., that has disappeared from their life.


Joseph B. Hoyos

Hard-boiled Dundee PI McNee is called upon to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl. He's reluctant, since the girl is the god-daughter of David Burns - someone that McNee is not particularly fond of, and that's putting it lightly. McNee lets himself be beguiled by his dislike of Burns - as well as his desire to right some wrongs - as he investigates the secrets and lies that lead him to become more and more emotionally involved in the case. Brutal, chilling, pacy and dramatic, THE LOST SISTER is superb - but very sad. I felt melancholic from about half way through and burst into tears at the end. McNee is an excellent character - tough as nails on the outside, but much softer on the inside - something he does his best to hide. He is uncompromising about right and wrong, his moral compass is firmly set, and his prickly exterior hides a troubled and isolated person who just can't get close to people. You don't know whether to hug him or punch him. Russel McLean spins a fine and expertly told tale.

When we last saw J. (first name never given) McNee in author Russle McLean's debut, The Good Son, he was on a slow rebound after having lost his fiancée to a car crash and his job as a police officer to a violent outburst that left both his career and his boss' nose shattered. He's settled into life as a private investigator, more or less, and The Lost Sister kicks off with McNee taking a call with a request from a reporter he's worked for before: look into the disappearance of a missing fourteen-year-old girl. It seems like a simple enough request, but McNee should have known better.

For starters, the police are also actively working the case, and though he still has a few contacts on the force he's not the most popular guy around the precinct house anymore. Worse, it turns out the missing girl's godfather is none other than David Burns, the local crime boss and a seriously nasty piece of work. Given that his last run-in with Burns ended with McNee's assistant shot and in a wheelchair, and McNee nursing a severely broken hand and barely escaping a murder charge, McNee makes the decision to walk away from the case least his emotions get the better of him. And he almost makes it. Almost.

That is until an investigator from out of town named Wickes shows up and requests McNee's help looking into the case. He wants McNee's local expertise, and happens to have information the police don't seem to. Against all his instincts, including the feeling something's not quite right with Wickes, McNee wades back into the hunt for the missing girl. Their resulting investigation quickly spirals out of control, unearthing dark family secrets and hidden agendas. In too deep to back out, McNee finds himself following clues which lead down a road paved with love, hate, and obsession, ending at a house in the Scottish countryside and a night of devastating violence.

As with The Good Son, the writing in The Lost Sister is lean and to the point. Though quite skilled at painting a vivid picture of Dundee, Scotland for the reader, McLean doesn't get bogged down in excessive description. He also demonstrates a particularly deft touch with dialogue. The interactions between characters ring true of the way conversations actually flow in real life, often with what's not said being as important as the words exchanged.

And as interesting as the mystery of the missing girl is, it's the mystery of human nature, specifically the power of emotion and how it can drive and distort our actions, that is ultimately the backbone of The Lost Sister. Where is the fine line between devotion and obsession, and how do you know if you've crossed it? Do good intentions make up for bad outcomes? Can actions rooted in self-interest also be altruistic? These are questions that McLean poses, with which he has McNee struggle.

To that end, I was quite pleased to see McLean pick up where he left off with McNee's psychological recovery and really delve into that aspect of the character. Something of a tough nut to crack in The Good Son, McLean lets the reader a bit further into McNee's mind in this outing. And be it his desire to mete out some measure of revenge against Burns or his determination to hold himself to a certain code of conduct, McNee always seems to be balancing on a razor's edge of emotion. He knows who he wants to be, he's just still not quite sure who he is.

One thing I am quite sure of, Russel McLean is an incredibly talented writer. Long live J. McNee...maybe we'll even get his first name one of these days.

In Dundee, Scotland, fourteen year old Mary Furst vanishes. The family believes time is short as Mary is a great student and promising artist who would never have just run away. Not expecting the overworked police to rescue the teen alive, former Dundee cop turned private investigator J. McNee is hired to find and save the child. He agrees with the assessment that the child was snatched takes on the case; he barely conceals his ire and if he can get his hands on the culprit with no cops around the predator will regret abducting a kid.

McNee is not hampered by the restrictions placed on the cops as he follows leads. He wonders if Mary's criminal Godfather is the cause as an enemy could be behind the abduction. He finds that the child's mom is uncooperative so he bullies her trying to get her to tell him what she fearfully but obviously hides. Ignoring legal boundaries while working closely with Constable Susan Bright, McNee fears time has run out on Mary who he thinks is probably dead.

The second McNee raging out of control investigation is a super thriller as the hero's anger management issues remain a critical part of him, but provides insight into the causes of his emotional problems; something the exciting The Good Son lacked. Ironically the story line is fast-paced from the moment McNee does the favor, but in the protagonist's mind his pace is too slow. Readers will appreciate the traumatized hero who is apt to lead with his fists and ask questions later.

Harriet Klausner