The Edge of Lost

By: Kristina McMorris

Narrated by: Charlie Thurston

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard's only daughter - one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island - has gone missing. Tending the warden's greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl's whereabouts and that both of their lives depend on the search's outcome.

Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world.

Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to New York to the San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted characters discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell - and believe - in order to survive.

©2015 Kristina McMorris (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The story will grab your heart on page one and won't let go until the end - and if you're like me, not even then." (Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants)

interesting and entertaining

The story flowed and I was entertained. It was a good read/listen. The author did her research.

one of the most heart wrenching books ever written

Tossed back between pure joy and desperate heartbreak . A pure joy for sure.

A comforting story read when you need a lift!

I am surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. I liked the character and the warmth of his willingness to trust and trust again. Not a deep story but a very nice one. Narrator was great!

The Description is Deceptive

When I purchased this book, I guess I expected a mystery thriller type of story. It was not that at all. It is the journey of a young boy from Ireland who land in America with no family and fends for himself, finding a way to survive. The description really only happens in the last 2 hours of the book. Loved it, but don't buy it if you re expecting a fast paced, taut thriller!

Less about alcAtraz more about a boy from Ireland

This was a story of a boy coming to America. An ok read, but never an emotional nor exciting read.

A fine story

I won't sure at first if I woukd like it. That quickly changed. I was riveted by the story with its twists and turns. The characters were described so well I was fully engaged with them, and cared deeply about their outcomes. This was a fine audiobook, with a great narrator. my sister, who read the paper version, loved it as well.

Compelling and entertaining historical thriller!

The Edge of Lost is a wonderful story that follows Shanley Keagan from his early Irish boyhood to a new family and a new name of Tommy Capello in New York. Then comes vaudeville and conviction for bank robbery(he's innocent), imprisonment in Kansas, and on to Alcatraz island prison in San Francisco Bay where he meets the abused 10 year old daughter of a prison guard who was taken from her mother. Then come the surprise twists. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

wonderful, well written and captivating.

this book was wonderful well written and captivating. I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter. a very good read

thoroughly enjoyable story

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this book. it was a very well-written story and the narrator kept it very interesting.

Amazing Narrator, engaging storyline.

I cats about the main character, his struggles were my struggles,his joy my joy. The ending was great, and I didn't see it coming though some might have.