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    The Lost Ones: A Novel
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    The Lost Ones: A Novel
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    The Lost Ones: A Novel
    Ebook376 pages6 hours

    The Lost Ones: A Novel

    By Sheena Kamal

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

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    About this ebook

    A dark, compulsively readable psychological suspense debut, the first in a new series featuring the brilliant, fearless, chaotic, and deeply flawed Nora Watts—a character as heartbreakingly troubled, emotionally complex, and irresistibly compelling as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole.

    It begins with a phone call that Nora Watts has dreaded for fifteen years—since the day she gave her newborn daughter up for adoption. Bonnie has vanished. The police consider her a chronic runaway and aren’t looking, leaving her desperate adoptive parents to reach out to her birth mother as a last hope.

    A biracial product of the foster system, transient, homeless, scarred by a past filled with pain and violence, Nora knows intimately what happens to vulnerable girls on the streets. Caring despite herself, she sets out to find Bonnie with her only companion, her mutt Whisper, knowing she risks reopening wounds that have never really healed—and plunging into the darkness with little to protect her but her instincts and a freakish ability to detect truth from lies.

    The search uncovers a puzzling conspiracy that leads Nora on a harrowing journey of deception and violence, from the gloomy rain-soaked streets of Vancouver, to the icy white mountains of the Canadian interior, to the beautiful and dangerous island where she will face her most terrifying demon. All to save a girl she wishes had never been born.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJul 25, 2017
    ISBN9780062565761
    Author

    Sheena Kamal

    Sheena Kamal holds an HBA in political science from the University of Toronto, and was awarded a TD Canada Trust scholarship for community leadership and activism around the issue of homelessness. Kamal has also worked as a crime and investigative journalism researcher for the film and television industry—academic knowledge and experience that inspired this debut novel. She lives in Vancouver, Canada.

    Read more from Sheena Kamal

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    Reviews for The Lost Ones

    3.5/5

    48 ratings6 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Fifteen years after she gave her daughter up for adoption, Nora Watts receives an upsetting phone call. Her daughter, Bonnie, has vanished. The police aren’t particularly concerned; the girl, after all, is a chronic runaway. But her adoptive father has approached Nora, asking for her help in finding the teenager. Despite her own issues, Nora and her dog, Whisper, set out in search of the daughter she’s never known. But her search yields puzzling information that leads to a tortuous journey that may cost Nora everything.“The Lost Ones” is misery with a capital “M.” The character of loner Nora is well-drawn, but almost impossible to admire. She’s endured a horrific, tragic past; her life is raw and gritty. But Nora’s actions don’t endear the reader to the character; instead of rising above the gruesomeness of her past, she’s assimilated it and allowed it to make her self-destructive, cold, and insensitive. She’s nasty to everyone who tries to help her; she lies, she steals. She deliberately pushes everyone away. There’s nothing admirable about her behavior or her choices. At the end of the day, she embraces her mean-spiritedness as a reward for having survived. It makes for dark, ponderous reading. Secondary characters are less defined than Nora; the mystery surrounding the missing girl is a bit convoluted and, in the end, hardly seems worthy of all the hoopla that went before. There are some preposterous, outlandish moments, capped by a denizen of the sea serving as a sort of a deus ex machina that may cause readers to flinch at the absurdity. However, it’s the continual unnecessary use of an offensive expletive that earns this book a one star deduction in its rating.
    • 4/5
      Nora is a survivor. As a child she saw something no child should ever have to see, raised in foster homes, she has seen and done things, using whatever she could just to survive. As a young adult a senseless act of violence was perpetuated against her, a horrible incident that she has tried to put behind her. Unfortunately, there is a lasting effect of this violence that she will struggle with, something that though she tries, cannot be forgotten. She is an alcoholic, does not trust many, though now she feels she is in a better mental place. She has gone to AA, getting her drinking under control, a mangy dog has adopted her, named Whisper. She is working as an unofficial investigator for a pair of men, whom she has also let into her limited group of friends. Then the phone rings, and she finds her past has come to call.Taking place in Vancouver, this is a start of a new series featuring a gritty, tough and very flawed character. The phone call will derail her plans for a stable life, plunging her into danger, pitting her against a formidable for. I quite liked Nora, felt for her and admired her never give up attitude. Her ability to care against all odds. The first person narration allows us to see how she thinks, how she follows one thread to another. Some interesting supporting character as well. There is plenty of action, especially near the end. Plenty of suspense and some solid writing. A very good start to what should be a great series.
    • 3/5
      Mystery suspense thriller that sets the stage for an upcoming series about a woman, Nora Watts, who suffers from past traumas, working for an investigative agency. Nora is an assistant to the two owners but serves the role of investigator in the storyline. The plot revolves around the search for a missing teenage girl with personal connections to Nora.

      Nora spends a good deal of time informing the reader of her background and experiences. It’s almost as if she is talking directly to the reader. I thought it was an entertaining, easy-to-read story that suffers from several of the usual difficulties with mystery-thrillers. There are a couple of large holes in the plot, key breaks in the case conveniently provided, and a series of extremely unlikely events. It requires a massive suspension of disbelief. It reminded me of one of those “detective shows” on television, where the mystery is explained and wrapped up in a half hour time slot. On the plus side, the author touches on several environmental and immigration issues in Canada (with parallels in the U.S.), and has attempted to give her protagonist an unusual voice, which I thought it was somewhat effective in transcending the usual tropes of this genre.

      Contains sex and violence, including rape. If you don’t mind unlikeable characters and enjoy thrillers, you may like this book.
    • 4/5
      Listened to the audiobook and LOVED the narration. Also enjoyed the book because I’ve visited Vancouver and could appreciate the description of places. Have this book a 5 because I love Nora’s character. She’s authentically flawed and honest about it.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.
      The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal is a rather gritty but surprisingly humorous mystery about recovering alcoholic and somewhat troubled Nora Watts' efforts to locate missing Vancouver teenager Bonnie Walsh.

      With an uncanny ability to tell when someone is lying, Nora's job as a research assistant and receptionist for a journalist and private investigator is the perfect fit for her. She initially believes Everett Walsh is reaching out to her for assistance in locating fifteen year old Bonnie due to her employer.  Needless to say, she is shocked when Lynn Walsh blurts out the truth-Bonnie is the daughter Nora gave up for adoption immediately after giving birth. Her first instinct is to refuse their request, but given her firsthand experience as someone who has been easily overlooked due to her heritage and bad decisions, she knows all too well that the police will not take the Walsh's concern seriously.  The discovery that someone has the Walsh home under surveillance is Nora's first inkling that Bonnie's disappearance might be more than just a troubled teenager running away from an unhappy home. She is also very concerned when someone from her own dark past starts immediately tries to make contact with her.  Not knowing whom to trust, Nora continues investigating Bonnie's disappearance but it soon becomes quite clear that someone is willing to go to any lengths to ensure that she does not locate the missing teenager.

      Nora  survived an incredibly violent and horrific ordeal and her scars run deep. A rough around the edges loner with trust issues, she does not like being in the limelight and she is most comfortable in the underbelly of society. She is long estranged from her sister Lorelei who does not temper her contempt for Nora or the mistakes she has made. Nora's sobriety is hard won but the temptation to blunt her emotions is a daily battle that she wins only because of her beloved canine companion, Whisper. When Nora hits a brick wall in her investigation, she turns to her former AA sponsor and police detective Jon Brazura for assistance but she has plenty of misgivings about trusting him.

      The Lost Ones is a dark mystery with an engaging and unpredictable storyline that is quite compelling. Despite her gruff exterior and dubious choices, Nora is a surprisingly sympathetic protagonist that is very easy to root for. Her investigation into Bonnie's disappearance takes some very unexpected twists and turns and Sheena Kamal brings the novel to an adrenaline filled, nail biting conclusion.  A stunning debut fans of the genre are going to thoroughly enjoy.
    • 3/5
      After finishing this novel, I have to really think about my feelings about it. I really liked Nora Watts, although she is an alcoholic, a loner, a rough girl. Yet something about Nora has you rooting for her. She is a survivor with a BS meter and a love for a stray dog, Whisper. She is loyal and hates abusing a trust.
      15 years ago, Nora was drugged, raped, beaten, and left for dead. The consequences of that night have haunted her for years. When Nora receives a desperate call, the nightmare of that event returns full force.
      Nora takes on a search for a missing teenager, and her world is turned upside down. People aren't to be trusted, and her faith in them is shaken. The trail to find the girl uncovers corruption, greed, and danger in Vancouver, Canada. Some of the details and the characters became confusing as it uncovered a web of corruption. Nora is a force- and her character will stay with me. If there is another Nora Watts book, I will try it.
      #TheLostOnes #SheenaKamal

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