10 years ago, Johan Colley’s son went missing while in the park and his life fell apart. In present time, he receives a call from an estranged friend to go to an industrial estate as needs his urgent help. Jonah discovers 4 dead bodies and is attacked himself. For a second time, life spirals out of control, he is framed for some serious crimes and then his ex-wife’s children are taken. Jonah does all he can to get them back, no matter the consequences.
A good introduction to what I can see will be a new series. Jonah is a true Good Cop but has plenty of life’s baggage to deal with at the same time. Looking forward to reading more instalments with Jonah!

The Lost is the latest thriller by Simon Beckett and the first book which I’ve read by this author.
In short, when Jonah Colley, a firearms officer, answers a plea for help from his old friend and colleague he makes a gruesome discovery which will put him directly under suspicion and turn his life upside down. Feeling desperate he uncovers a network of secrets which he suspects is connected to his 4 year old son who went missing 10 years ago, forcing him to question what really happened.
It’s a great start to this new series featuring Jonah Colley. I found it an extremely compulsive read, packed with action and some thumping good twists and turns. However, I do feel that it was a tad far fetched to believe that Colley was able to survive many a brutal beating, whilst on crutches in some incidents!
I did like Colley’s character…I desperately rooted for him during this dark and tense thriller. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Big thanks to Simon Beckett, Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

It’s been ten years since Jonah Colley fell out with his friend and fellow officer Gavin McKinney. But when he receives a call from Gavin asking for help, he can’t say no.

Jonah arrives at a remote warehouse only to find Gavin and a handful of others dead and wrapped in plastic. Except one person seems to have survived. Determined to save her, Jonah is distracted and attacked himself. He only barely survives and manages to connect a call before passing out.

He wakes up in the hospital to find that he’s under suspicion. Of exactly what, he isn’t sure. What he does know is that the killer appears to have gotten away. Now, in order to clear his own name as well as find out the truth about what happened at the aptly named Slaughter Quay, he’ll have to dive into the investigation himself. All while facing the memories of the worst time in his life.

Ooh! I really hope this is the start of a new series from Beckett! I was a really big fan of his David Hunter books and have been looking forward to reading more from him!

Jonah Colley is a haunted man. Ten years ago, his four-year-old son disappeared while playing in the park. Jonah was with him that day but fell asleep.

Everything fell apart for him after that. But even after his wife has left and he’s fallen out with Gavin, the godfather of his son, he continued to work. But now, battered and trying to recover from the ordeal, even his job is threatened.

This is the first time Jonah finds himself a suspect. It’s usually his job to do the questioning. His job to put pressure on the suspects. But now the tables have definitely turned. That and the fact that it involves his once best friend, Jonah knows he won’t find peace until he solves the case.

As the story unfolds, the reader is given glimpses of the events of a decade ago. His son’s disappearance and the investigation around that. And also the real reason he and McKinney haven’t spoken since.

It’s been my experience that Beckett’s books tend to read at a propulsive pace and The Lost is no different! There is no easing into this story. To use a cliche phrase, we hit the ground running and the story never lets up!

And this is a dark read, to be truly honest! One that is quite difficult at times. Especially reading about Jonah’s son and watching how that affects Jonah and his life.

I am so freaking glad that Beckett is back and expect that we’ll be seeing more of him and Jonah to come! I highly, highly recommend checking this one out if you’re a fan of dark thrillers and police procedurals. This is the best of both worlds and a character that’s perfect for a new series!

The Lost is the first book I’ve read by Simon Beckett but it most definitely won’t be my last. Wow, what a rollercoaster of a read this was! Fast paced, exciting and full of enough twists and turns to make your head spin, this was a read I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.

Ten years ago the disappearance of Jonah Colley’s four year old son tore his life apart and almost destroyed him. Still haunted by his loss and the consequent break down of his marriage, Jonah is slowly trying to put the pieces of his life back together again. But then a plea for help from an old friend sets him on a path that will see him brutally attacked and left for dead. Now under suspicion himself, he begins to uncover a network of secrets and lies that make him question everything he thought he knew… including what really happened to his little boy all those years ago.

What follows is a fast paced and gripping thriller that really does keep you on your toes throughout. Jonah himself is a brilliantly written and complex character who I couldn’t help but root for. Still troubled by the loss of his family, he is a man who is very much ruled by his emotions, behaving recklessly and leaving himself open to danger. He is a flawed but fascinating character whose story kept me riveted from beginning to end.

Tense and exciting, The Lost is a multilayered and intricately woven thriller that’s filled to the brim with twists, turns, shocks and surprises that will keep you guessing right up until the final page has been turned. I loved every word of this fantastic thriller! And I think it’s very safe to say that Simon Beckett has gained himself a new fan.

Highly recommended.

And breathe….. that was me after finishing The Lost at 2.30 am having promised myself an early night and completely unable to put the book down until I had finished it.

The Lost is the first in a new series by Simon Beckett. I haven’t read any of Simon’s previous books, but the cover and the description really appealed to me and I was thrilled to be able to organise this “epic blogtour” full of amazing bloggers who also wanted to read and review the book.

If you have followed the tour already, you will see that every blogger loved the book, awarding it 4 or 5 stars and generally agreeing that The Lost is a brilliant, action packed, page turner so I started the book with high expectations late one evening.

I had intended to only read the opening chapter to guage my initial thoughts, however an hour later and on Chapter 20 I looked up and realised it was way past my bedtime. There aren’t many books that keep my attention but I was absolutely engrossed in The Lost from the opening chapter until the climatic ending and as I only read at night-time, I am exhausted, sleep depraved, but still buzzing from the storyline.

The story is narrated by Jonah Colley, a serving fire-arms police officer, who gets a call one night from a very old friend who needs his help. Despite his instincts, Jonah goes to meet Gavin in a dark, derelict warehouse aptly named “Slaughterhouse Quay” and discovers absolute carnage, barely escaping with his life, he finds himself at the centre of a police investigation.

This is a really fast-paced thriller with a fascinating and flawed protaganist. Jonah Colley has experienced so much tragedy in his past, that the reader can’t help but feel compassion and sympathy towards him.

The author takes us on a real rollercoaster of emotions, the plot is full of action and the twists and turns kept me glued to the pages.

If you are looking for a new series, then I can’t recommend THE LOST enough.

The book opens with the ten year old disappearance of Jonah Colley's young son Theo. Jonah, a police firearms specialist, blames himself as he fell asleep while they were at the park. His wife also blames him and the marriage fails. His closest friend and colleague Gavin is little help, and the two become estranged.

Ten years later Colley is contacted by Gavin and asked to meet him at Slaughter Quay. He does so, and on finding four bodies he is brutally attacked and left crippled. The police suspect Colley has murdered his friend, but there is no body to confirm this.

The reader is then taken on a roller coaster as suspicion mounts against Colley as he tries to find what happened when he visited Slaughter Quay, as well as what happened to his son Theo. The bodies pile up with frightening speed! A great read, I really enjoyed the clever plot.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and Trapeze for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tense thriller which was action packed and kept me hooked from beginning to end. I'm looking forward to reading more from the author.

I enjoyed this first book featuring Jonah Colley. It was very well written, suspenseful and good characterisations. Great story with good twists and turns. Brillian5 from start to finish, relly enjoyed it

A terrific thriller! Simon Beckett has delivered a tense, claustrophobic crime novel, a dark mystery in which the central character, and the reader, do not know what to believe or who to trust. It is a gripping story, a breathless page turner with believable and engaging characters. This was my first exposure to Simon Beckett and I really enjoyed it. It will be interesting to see where he takes the character next, THE LOST being the first in a series, and I look forward to discovering his previous series.

A really great thriller that had me hooked from the first page … until the very last one. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to netgalley and Simon Beckett for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

I absolutely loved this book, it was enthralling from the start and I was dissapointed when it finished, I would definitely recommend this book, one of the best thrillers I have read this year

This was a solid crime thriller - nothing ground-breaking but certainly very nicely done.
I liked how the narrative of the back-story was intertwined with that of the current - you didn't get lost with either, which is not a given in recent books I've read that have filled in the characters' back-story in a similar way. Also it didn't feel like you were only interested in finding out what was going on in the current story either - genuine interest was created to fill in the gaps of what happened before - again this skilfully done by the author!
It feels like you certainly got to know the main character pretty well from this book, so it'll be interesting to see where the story goes next time - whatever happens I'll be seeking out the next book to find out.
Many thanks for the ARC

I wasn't too sure if I would enjoy this book as I generally prefer police procedurals to action type thrillers but how wrong I was.
The book grabs you from the beginning and keeps you engaged all the way through. The pace never falters, the characters are very well described and believable although the main character must have amazing resilience given what is thrown at him.
The storyline develops well as events unfold and there were a few things that I never saw coming.
I have not read any books by this author before but I intend to read more after this.

If you like violence in your book this is for you, unfortunately not for me.
Jonah lost his son ten year ago while he was in the local park and Jonah had fell asleep his marriage didn`t survive and he never got over it.
A plea for help from Gavin who he hadn`t seen for ten years sends him to an old warehouse where he sees dead bodies included his friend Gavin, he is hit on the head and when he awakes they are gone.

Kept you reading till the end which was a bit of a let-down .and didn`t like the violence so scored it down to 3*

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

This was absolutely brilliant. I really wasn’t expecting it to be as good and I don’t know why. But once I started it I was completely hooked. A fantastic plot full of twists and turns.

I enjoyed this book and really got into this. I found the story really grips you from the beginning and did not want to let go until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Trapeze for an advance copy of #TheLost by #SimonBeckett
Brilliant. Superb. Thrilling.
From the first page you will be hooked.
Jonah takes his adored 4 year old Theo to the park and closes his eyes for two minutes. That is all it takes for Theo to disappear.
And for his life to fall apart. 10 years later he gets a call and everything goes haywire.
A fantastic read with twists I didn’t see coming.
Don’t miss this one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was intrigued by this book after seeing it all over social media and was keen to support this author with this release. It seemed a great opportunity to try out his style as this is the first in a new thriller series.

This has definitely been an explosive and addictive first installment of the new series. Jonah is a complex, brave, sympathetic and yet at times infuriating character. I enjoyed following his journey as he deals with mysteries and danger from the past and present.

The background characters are very shady and it is very difficult to know who to trust in this story, and this alone with a storyline that feels original despite the familiar tropes, and some twists and turns, makes for a very dramatic and gripping read.

I was definitely shocked by the explosive ending and felt that it left the story open for further thrills in this series.

This is a story and series perfect for fans of Stuart Macbride and Peter James. Far darker than my usual reads, but I still absolutely loved it.

Never read any of this author's books before and I do confess that I got the name mixed up with another author so this wasn't what I expected! Having said that , I did enjoy this book and will read more from this author. The book has a dual timeline. 10 years ago when the protagonist lost his son and the current day where he tries to figure out what happened then and why his best friend who he hasn't spoken to for around the same length of time . suddenly contacts him and asks for his help. The storyline was clear and well written , the characters believable and three dimensional. I did like Jonah and I was invested enough to really want to know how it all ended
What was less good was the way the pace was slowed down by too much detail of fights.
Given his injuries, our hero seems to be pretty indestructible , a la Rasputin. Even if he did have a high level of fitness I seriously doubt that he could sustain all those injuries and go tally ho! onwards.. A number of books have a hero who practically dies in every fight but somehow miraculously they are completely unscathed in the subsequent book/s only to get almost killed again and I feel this series will be similar
Fletcher is not really accurate or believable as a senior police officer and the interview bits are ropey to say the least (although the main point of the book is our hero getting almost killed yet still sallying forth in search of "the truth") Chrissie , the ex wife should be allowed to wear something other than a bathrobe
A few factual errors but I guess they weren't the point either.. Note to author- your book doesn't have to read like a film score to get chosen for one

Overall I think a good 3.5/5 stars and I will likely read the next one

Mammoth blog tour, like I said. You’ve probably seen a ton of positive reviews about ‘The Lost‘ since the beginning of the month. That’s because it’s good, you guys. (Also, check out that cover! 😏) You should buy it right now. I wouldn’t mind at all if you skipped right to the bottom of this review and clicked the “buy” links.

Ten years ago, Jonah Colley’s son disappeared. While a suspect’s name was offered up at the time, lack of proof meant nothing ever came of it and the circumstances surrounding four year old Theo’s disappearance remain a big mystery to this day. A desperate plea from an old friend might just lead to some answers but the path to get there is strewn with secrets, lies and danger.

When Jonah decides to answer the old friend’s call for help, he finds himself in a place that is quite aptly called Slaughter Quay. At the end of the night, there will be four dead bodies and Jonah will be the sole survivor. The name of the person Jonah suspected of taking his son all those years ago will pop up again. But Jonah will have bigger fish to fry when he realises the police suspect him of four brutal murders and it seems as if every move he makes just gets him into more trouble.

‘The Lost‘ is the first instalment in a brand-new series featuring Jonah Colley and I dare say you’ll be left wanting more. Talk about a book grabbing you by the collar and not letting go. The opening chapter of ‘The Lost‘ starts the story off with a bang and it’s pretty much all systems go from there. Fast-paced doesn’t even come close to describing this one. There’s something somewhat relentless about it, as if time is of the essence, and if Jonah doesn’t get to sit down for a breather, then neither can you.

Jonah is a fabulous main character. Flawed and damaged, yet also determined and despite everything there is still some fight left in him. As the reader you want to warn him for whatever lies ahead, you root for him, you feel for him, you desperately want him to succeed and you are just as desperate for answers as he is. But will he find any? If so, will they be satisfactory?

Of course there are plenty of twists and turns and there is a lot to keep you guessing throughout as the reveals come bit by bit. Even though I managed to figure a little something out all by myself (proud moment 😉), that never ruined my enjoyment because there were many more questions that needed solving and I was never really able to see the bigger picture. Jonah’s search for answers takes him down a path he isn’t at all prepared for and neither was I. Gripping, compelling and exciting, ‘The Lost‘ managed to hold my attention throughout and in a year where my reading mojo took an enormous dive, that’s saying something.

Simon Beckett has somehow evaded my radar until now. An error I will endeavour to rectify as ‘The Lost‘ has definitely left me feeling like I’ve been missing out and I look forward to the second book in this series.