Lost

By: Michael Robotham

Narrated by: Ray Lonnen

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

Michael Robotham's Suspect, hailed as "a lightning-paced debut" by Entertainment Weekly, was an international best seller that raised the bar for thrillers. Now two characters from that acclaimed novel, Detective Vincent Ruiz and psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, return for the electrifying Lost. When Detective Ruiz is pulled from the Thames, he has a bullet in his leg, a photograph of a missing (and presumed dead) girl in his pocket, and absolutely no memory of what happened.

©2006 Michael Robotham (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic Reviews

"A thoughtful and subtle thriller, with convincing, three-dimensional characters." (Publishers Weekly)

EXCELLENT

I have been an Audible subscriber for several years and I stumbled on this title after navigating around authors who I enjoy like James Lee Burke, Robert Ludlum (Paris Option; Hades Factor; Janson Directive; Sigma Protocol), Ian Fleming (From Russia With Love), Scott Turow (Ordinary Heros), and this ranks at the top. The plot is intriguing, characters are colorful, and narration is fantastic. This is a very stylish departure from the standard modern detective / mystery, and a fine specimen of raw storytelling.

17 of 17 people found this review helpful

Couldnt put it down

I enjoyed this book; perhaps in part because it was a bit "slow" in spots -- the violence was not over done. I found it an intriguing story, liked the characters, and loved the narrator. I looked at it as sort of a hard boiled version of Adam Dalgliesh; there are lots of descriptive passages, which to some are dull, but to me, bring the scene alive. The narrator, Ray Lonnen, has a voice and a tone for each character, which really was masterfully done. I couldn't put it down.

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

Good enough story, but not entirely to my liking

I was looking forward to following psychologist Joseph O'Loughlin again as he cracks another case, this time involving none other that DI Vincent Ruiz, his sworn enemy in the first book, who has been fished out of the Thames with a grave leg shot wound and a missing finger, but no memory whatsoever of the events that got him in that situation. But I was sorely disappointed that the narration this time had been handed over to Ruiz telling the events from his perspective, with O'Loughlin only playing a secondary role. The story that emerges is a good one and held my attention all along: a little girl has gone missing without a trace while making her way from the fifth floor of her apartment building to the ground floor where a friend was waiting to meet her.

There are mean gangsters and a huge cache of diamonds thrown in the mix which also held my interest, but I could have done without the pedophile who is suspected of having killed the girl—a story element I thoroughly dislike in any book, no matter how well put together. I still may continue with this series, if only to see where Robotham takes it next, now that he's gotten the pedophile out of his system.

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Excellent stor

Until I listend to Lost "Lincoln Lawyer" was my listen of the year. But Lost has moved into the number one spot. Yes, the story was a little far fetched but it was fast paced, amusing, intense and different. The reader was perfect and in general this was a great book.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Just when you think the well's gone dry!

Michael Robotham can just plain write. His character vibrate with plausibility as the work their way into credibility and resonance with the reader. Flawed but tenacious as a terrier, DI Lewis will not cease his journey for justice no matter how formidable the resistance or nagging his occasional self-doubt. The tension in this plot was particularly meaningful to me as I once suffered Temporary Global Amnesia and could relate to this scary predicament. Dauntless, though fired, publicly shamed and admonished, he, with his pal Joe, unravel this tightly woven suspense filled story with the grace of a Maestro.

I rarely give 5 stars and felt I had run out of quality writers in this genre. Robotham is a winner!

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Five plusses

Accolades to Mr. Robotham for this crime novel that deserved to be the Ned Kelly Award (Australia). Unlike his first book "suspect", which was narrated in first person by the clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, this time it is DI Vincent Ruiz'z turn to narrate. There is appropriateness in the choice of the title "Lost" since the book not only delve into the story of the lost chld but into the complex and intertwined lives of the main characters. Again, Mr. Robothan's knowlege of the underground sewer system of London added "suspensful flavor" to an already complicated plot. I somehow got lost midway in my listening (although much amused by the British accent of the narrated) that I have to backtrack a few times.

This is a must read to those who love detective/crime stories with some historical/geographical background like the way Caled Carr does and I highly recommend this book.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Pleasant Surprise

I downloaded this one because it had some good reviews and was on sale.

This was definitely a nice surprise. The story is very good and the author brings things together very well.

I can't imagine anyone panning this book. Anyone giving this one a bad review must not have been paying attention and got "Lost" (heehee). At times, the story is a bit hard to follow due to the flashbacks.

The narrator does a good job; however, fails to change tone or transition between flashbacks causing the "hard to follow" moments.

HIGHLY recommended! I teetered between 4 and 5 stars and decided to round up.

17 of 18 people found this review helpful

Lost

Extremely interesting and full of suspense from start to finish. I couldn't have enjoyed it more!

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Lost in Lost

Michael Robotham keeps the story going fuelling the plot with new details from the first chapter right through to the last. So often does the conclusion fall short, but not in this case. The case or plot is not far fetched and the characters are well developed. For me the narrator Ray Lonnen made the book all the better he does a superb job you can almost see and feel Vincent Ruiz as he works through his predicament. On the strength of this book I am very keen to read more Michael Robotham.

15 of 16 people found this review helpful

Get lost in a great mystery!

This is 2nd in a series, but I followed this volume fine as a stand-alone. I liked the protagonist, Detective Ruiz, whose background adds depth to the story. The book has an intriguing array of characters and a gripping mystery -- a fun ride as Ruiz unravels his memory loss and crime simultaneously.

Wanted to download the first in the series (Suspect), but none of Robotham's books are available currently. I hope this a temporary situation!

Narrator does a good job with the varying accents and characters.

13 of 14 people found this review helpful