Book Review: The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal

The Lost Ones

The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal, June 26, 2018; William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: thriller set in Vancouver

My review: Nora Watts is an interesting and unusual main character who gets our sympathy because of the violence in her background as a mixed race young woman who grew up in the foster care system. 

She is asked to find  Bonnie, the child she gave up for adoption fifteen years earlier, whom she thought she would never see again.  The adoptive parents have approached her, asking for her help to locate the missing teen. Nora is reluctant at first, but many characters help her, many others get in her way. The plot is complex, as are the characters, and I got to see a side of Vancouver and British Columbia I never knew. The writing is fluid and well executed. Five stars. The Lost Ones was just awarded Best New Novel at the Macavity Awards

Book beginning: The call comes in just after five in the morning.  I am immediately on guard because everyone knows nothing good ever happens this early. Not with a phone call, anyway. You never get word that a wealthy relative has passed and is leaving you his inheritance before 9 A.M. It's fortunate, then, that I'm awake and on my second cup of coffee so I'm at least moderately prepared.   Page 56: Everything is in order, which means that the girl is at least too smart to leave clues behind.  I received this book as an ARC from the publisher Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader  Also, the 12th Annual Canadian Book Challenge by The Indextrious Reader.

Sunday Salon: Contemporary and Historical Fiction

New books on my shelf:

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon
Publication: September 4, 2018, William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: contemporary fiction, romance

When fashion boutique worker Amber Green is mistakenly offered a job as assistant to infamous, jet-setting 'stylist to the stars' Mona Armstrong, she hits the ground running, helping to style some of Hollywood's hottest (and craziest) starlets.

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash
Published June 5, 2018, William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: historical fiction, literary fiction

... set in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina in 1929 and inspired by actual events. The chronicle of an ordinary woman’s struggle for dignity and her rights in a textile mill, 

The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal
Published July 25, 2017; William Morrow
Genre: thriller, suspense

A woman is told the baby she gave up for adoption years ago has gone missing. Nora Watts must decide if she wants to get involved in a past she thought she would not face again.

Just finished:

Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson, published July 11, 2017, William Morrow
Genre: contemporary fiction, Southern fiction
I am enjoying the unusual plot. I haven't found any stereotypes so far among the characters, who are complex and interesting.

Finished review: A realistic look at the South, through the eyes of a Southern writer from Georgia, this novel shows the people, towns, and culture as it is, as it could be, as she would hope it will be in the future. The good and the not so good, or what she calls, the Second South. Eye opening novel that tackles history, race relations, and a hope for the future. Excellent plot and character development.

A Hero in France by Alan Furst, published June 2016
Genre: historical fiction, spy fiction

I found the book suspenseful and informative. A novel that shows what it must have been like as a resistance fighter during the WWII Occupation of France by Germany. The French heroes, some of them unsung men and women who made sacrifices and risked their lives to help save downed British airmen and others hiding from the Germans.

Next on the reading list:

The Guests on South Battery by Karen White
Publication Jan. 10, 2018, Berkley Books

What books are you reading this week?
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. Also, Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews