What a brilliant start to a fantastic new series featuring officer Jonah Colley of the Met police! I was totally hooked from the first page with this excellent read. It's quite violent and the pace never lets up. Filled with tension and drama, definitely one of the best thrillers of 2021 and I highly recommend the read. I was so disappointed when i read the last page and am really looking forward to more from this character. A well written thriller which kept my pulse racing. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Really enjoyed this thriller. I thought Jonah suffering from the loss of his child many years previously was well written and formed a good and believable backstory to his character. His grief and the mystery of his son provided a compelling narrative even before the main plot of the killer targeting him came to the fore, A satisfying thriller, but really feel there's more in Jonah and would readily further books involving him.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing for the ARC of this book.
I’m sorry to say this book did absolutely nothing for me at all. I found it hard to warm to any of the characters and the subject line left me cold. I really wanted to like Jonah, and for a while I did, but as the book progressed I possibly got lost myself.
Not one for me I’m afraid.

I have been enjoying Simon Beckett’s books for several years after picking up The Chemistry of Death not long after it first came out. Beckett’s books always keep me hooked and I am not ashamed to admit he hoodwinks me every time with his clever plotting. Needless to say I had been looking forward to starting The Lost.

Read in just two sittings it’s safe to say I loved this book. It had the feel of a race-against-time thriller where the protagonist only has 24 hours to avert a disaster. But it’s not that type of plot, I believe the “up against a deadline” feeling I got from The Lost may actually be a reflection on how events are spiralling out of control for Jonah Colley.

It begins when a friend from the past reaches out to Colley asking for help and for Colley to meet him late at night by the docks. Colley is confused to receive the message. Both he and the sender are police but his old friend is no longer a friend, the two fell out many years ago during the aftermath of Colley’s son Theo disappearing while Colley was meant to be watching him.

Colley attends the meet to find out why, after all this time, his former friend feels he needs Colley’s help. But he walks into a horror show. His friend lies dead, three more victims are on the scene too wrapped in plastic having suffered before Colley’s arrival. Colley tries to escape buy is attacked by the killer and has to fight for his own survival. He manages to call the police for support but gets badly injured before they arrive.

Waking up in hospital two days later, knee rebuilt in surgery, Colley struggles to understand what has happened. To make things worse it seems he is a prime suspect in the murder of his friend.

The Lost is Colley’s story, trying to clear his name but there is also growing evidence the man suspected of abducting Colley’s son may be involved in the murder of Colley’s friend, the murder police suspect Colley committed.

Why, after ten years, is one man hell bent on ruining Colley’s life? He means to find out but there will be more deaths and innocent lives will be at risk before Colley begins to understand what’s happening around him.

I don’t think I have the words to tell you how much I enjoyed The Lost. It delivered everything I want from a thriller. It kept the pace up throughout the book and the action was coming thick and fast; at no point did I want to pause my reading. Terrific book, you should not miss out on this one.

Action packed from start to finish, this book had me thinking I’d worked it all out only for the plot to twist and turn in directions I hadn’t even thought of. With great, strong characters this book was a thrill ride that it was a pleasure to read

So I'm going to admit this is the first Simon Beckett book I've read, but after finishing The Lost, it certainly won't be my last!

Out of the blue, Jonah Colley gets a call from his old friend Gavin, who needs his help and wants to meet right away. When he gets to the warehouse, he's attacked and left for dead. When several bodies turn up, he becomes the number one suspect. Unable to leave it alone, he digs into the case. Could Gavin have discovered what happened to Jonah's son, Theo, who disappeared ten years earlier?

The Lost is one of those books that pulls you into the action from the very beginning, hitting with all sorts of twists and turns along the way.

My heart really went out to Jonah. He's still tortured by the loss of his four-year-old son Theo, followed by his marriage breaking down. It makes him a little reckless and driven by his emotions, but it makes you root for him even more.

I can't say too much more in case of spoilers, but I didn't see the ending coming at all and it was both satisfying and shocking.

If you're looking for a thrilling, tension packed novel I'd highly recommend you pick up The Lost!

The disappearance of Metropolitan police firearms officer, Jonah Colley's young son, Theo, just about finished him, particularly as he blamed himself for what had happened. He'd fallen asleep in the park whilst Theo was playing and when he woke, Theo had gone. It cost him his marriage and his home. Ten years later he's largely come through it and he's out with his team when he gets a phone call from DS Gavin McKinney. Gavin used to be his best friend but it's a long time since they've spoken. He's obviously in some difficulty now - Jonah can hear it in his voice - and he asks Jonah to meet him at Slaughter Quay. There's no one else I can trust, he says.

Slaughter Quay is aptly named. When Jonah gets there he finds four bodies wrapped in polythene sheeting. One is Gavin but there's movement from one of the other bundles and the girl, burning in quicklime, tells him that her name is Nadine. Then Colley is hit from behind and barely survives the attack. Worst of all, DI Fletcher and DS Bennet obviously see him as a suspect for the murders, but Jonah feels certain that Gavin had something to tell him about the disappearance of his son.

Like Simon Beckett's other stories, it's a dark tale, but not gratuitously so. The bodies pile high and it's difficult to see how Colley is going to come out of this with his freedom. He's blinkered by his obsession with Owen Stokes, who was at the park when Theo disappeared but was cleared by the police. Jonah's convinced that even if he wasn't responsible, he certainly knows what happened. Now it seems that Stokes is out to get Jonah. Or, if not Jonah, then his ex-wife, Chrissie and her twins, will do instead.

Struggling on crutches after the injury he suffered at Slaughter Quay, Jonah attends Gavin McKinney's memorial service and is shocked to find that he's the only uniformed officer who goes to the wake: there's a great deal about McKinney that he didn't know about and none of it's good.

It's a cracking story with a great plot. I read it far too quickly because I reached a point where I wasn't going to put the book down until I'd found out what happened. The ending is stunning: I didn't see it coming despite all the clues being there.

I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

For another standalone from Simon Beckett, try Stone Bruises.

The lost by Simon Beckett.
A MISSING CHILD

Ten years ago, the disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley's young son almost destroyed him.

A GRUESOME DISCOVERY

A plea for help from an old friend leads Jonah to Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies. Brutally attacked and left for dead, he is the only survivor.
A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH

Under suspicion himself, he uncovers a network of secrets and lies about the people he thought he knew - forcing him to question what really happened all those years ago...

A good read. Likeable characters. 4*.

Ten years ago firearms officer Jonah Colley's son goes missing. He has never been found and his loss has caused the break-up of Jonah's marriage and he is living alone in a rundown tower block. Jonah is haunted by his actions on the day his son disappeared.

In the present, Jonah receives a call from the man who used to be his best friend asking for his help at Slaughter Quay. When he arrives he finds four bodies. He is attacked suffering a head injury and a badly damaged knee. DI Fletcher and DS Bennet investigate the case and Jonah rapidly becomes their chief suspect.

This is a novel full of suspense, violence and tension. It is a compulsive read laced with clever misdirection and plenty of trails for the reader to follow. The characters are well developed and I found myself rooting for Jonah while loathing some of the other characters. The past and the present are smartly drawn together by Jonah's desperation to find out what happened to his son.

This is the first novel I have read by this author and it won't be the last.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orion Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A new author for me & the start of a new series too - a great place to begin.

Jonah Colley is a world-weary firearms officer who, out of the blue, receives a phone call from his former best friend, Gavin. Gavin is also police & they haven’t spoken for ten years.
This mundane act of accepting a phone call sends Jonah on a tumultuous & fast-paced journey. The dramatic opening in the present; several chapters are in the past. Ten years ago to be precise, when Jonah’s young son disappeared from the play park & was never seen again. Jonah was meant to be watching him. Jonah fell asleep.
Colley is a fantastic character. You cannot help but feel for this flawed man; always being in the wrong place at the wrong time & taking the blame for things that aren’t his fault. Throughout this book, he is hurting both physically & mentally. Seemingly with no respite forthcoming.
Jonah is under a spotlight of his own making & is joyously pursued by DI Fletcher - a pantomime villain if ever there was one!
A tight plot, well told with many twists & turns. Gritty & violent in places with ever-building suspense. At points, I really was holding breath.
Ready for the next one in the series. Recommended.

I found The Lost a gripping page turner of a book that I could not put down. There were plenty of twists and turns and I liked the main character Jonah Colley. This is the first book in a new series and I look forward to reading more books in this series in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

My Review
A new author for me and I'm so impressed.
Simon writes with huge confidence in his storyline, his characters and what his reader wants.
An explosive start that draws you into his story immediately, it's incredible.
We meet police officer Jonah Colley.
The disappearance of Jonah's son Theo almost ten years ago has left its mark on him.
But when he gets a distressed call from a friend and work colleage who he hasn't heard from in quite a while, Jonah leaps into action to help him.
He soon becomes embroiled in the situation however and he realises he may not have known his friend as well as he thought...
He can't help feeling that something is not quite adding up though.
He knows his friend Gavin, trusted him once and what is unfolding about him is about someone Jonah doesn't recognise anymore.
And he is wondering of course could it be connected to the disappearance of his son all those years ago.
The police are hot on Jonah's heels, eager to hold someone to account over the bodies found.
His friendship with an eager newspaper reporter isn't helping him either.
THE LOST is fast paced in its telling. I found it quite intense for sure and it kept me on my toes until I turned the last page.
Isn't that what you want when you find a good book.
The exciting part for me is that the author has plenty more books under his belt that I'm excited to get to.
Very well worth your time...
A great read Simon, well done...

The tension and excitement started on page one and continued until the last page. One of the most thrilling books I have read in a long time. There were so many twists and turns, I defy anyone to say they worked it out. A missing child, gangsters, people smugglers, kidnap, murder. This book had it all.

I was delighted to find out that this is the start of a new series and cannot wait to follow Jonah into his next adventure

Ten years after the disappearance of his young son, firearms officer Jonah Colley is summoned to the onimously named Slaughter Quay by an old friend. Not knowing what he is going to discover, he finds himself caught up in a huge murder enquiry and, with no other witnesses, is placed firmly on the suspect list. Questioning everything he thought he knew about the previous ten years, Jonah must revisit his past in order to help him make sense of the present.

This is one of those books that instantly grabs your attention and holds it right until the very last page. I have read one of Simon Beckett’s books before (The Scent of Death) and after reading The Lost, I really must read the rest as the story telling is superb and the whole plot is extremely well-written.

In Jonah Colley, the author has created a great lead character, tenacious yet damaged. We see how events in his past have made him the man he is today and I found it easy to feel sympathy towards him. Some of his actions were definitely questionable and he seems to have a knack of getting himself further into bother, but this only endeared him to me even more as I willed him to finally be able to exorcise his demons.

The Lost has an engrossing plot which, at times, has hints of violence. This is all integral to the plot, however, and helped to create tension which left me wanting to read ‘just one more chapter’ before putting the book down!

I am so pleased that this is the first in a series as I am eager to see where Simon Beckett takes onah Colley next.

The Lost

10 years ago, DS Jonah Colley fell asleep on a park bench and when he awoke, his 4-year-old son, Theo was missing. The only trace of him that was ever found was a shoe in a culvert. Jonah has never forgotten or stopping grieving for Theo. So, when he receives an enigmatic text message out of the blue from a man who was once his best friend, Gavin, to meet him at a desolate, derelict warehouse at Slaughterhouse Quay he feels that he has to go.
Never was a place more aptly named as Gavin is definitely there, but dead, and Jonah nearly ends up dead himself. Despite being a suspect, he becomes convinced that Gavin knows more about Theo’s disappearance and sets out to discover the truth at last. Along the way the reader discovers why Gavin and Jonah fell out in the first place and Jonah begins to suspect that Gavin was involved in dodgy dealings; he’d been suspended, was suspected of being on the take and his marriage broke up.
There are two storylines in the book; 10 years earlier when Theo disappeared and the present day as Jonah, injured at the quay, hobbles around on crutches while chasing gangland villains. Although, the action is fast-paced and it’s certainly a twisty plot, especially towards the end, ultimately it wasn’t for me. I found some of the plot unconvincing and there was one turn at the end which made me think ‘What?’ and not in a good way. Jonah’s ex-wife, Chrissie, seemed to always be wearing a bathrobe for some reason and I did wonder who on earth would call a child Jonah?
It is a dark tale and gory in parts and I wondered what would happen to Jonah in the next book as this is the first in the series. This is the first Simon Beckett book that I’ve read and I’m certainly willing to read another one.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

Really enjoyed this book and thought it was well written with great characters. It was quite graphic in parts but nothing that wasn’t pertinent to the story. I’m not going to give anything away in this review but hope to read more by this author featuring some of the characters and highly recommend this book.

Jonah Colley #1

Ten years ago, the disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley's young son almost destroyed him. A plea of help from old friends leads Jonah to Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies. Brutally attacked and left for dead, he is the only survivor. Under suspicion himself, he uncovers a network of secrets and lies about people he thought he knew - forcing him to question what really happened all those years ago.

I was pulled into this story after a few pages. I was hooked and I had to keep reading to find out all that had happened. The characters are well developed and believable. The plotline is gripping. Jonah's life fell apart when his son went missing. This is an intriguing and tense read. Jonah is a flawed but a likeable character. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #OrionPublishingGroup and the author #SimonBeckett for my ARC of #TheLost in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The way the scene is set, right from the first page, had me feeling tense and nervous about what was going to happen.

The story is based around firearms officer, Jonah Colley, and flits between the present and 10 years previous when his 4 year old son disappeared. The book is well written and the story was mysterious and intriguing, with plenty of twists and turns.

I wasn't 100% sure on Jonah as a character. He has a lot going for him, but several things bugged me a little about him - I mean surely no-one can be that unlucky?!

Overall, the book was highly enjoyable and one that I would recommend.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

The Lost is the first book I've read by Simon Beckett and is the introduction to the Jonah Colley series so the perfect time to become acquainted with both - and I'm very glad I did because this is a cracking thriller.
The opening sentence immediately drew me into this tense, exciting novel; it's obvious from the very start that Jonah Colley is in trouble but as the book progresses, his name is unfortunately apt; misery and misfortune is really piled onto the unfortunate police officer - and those around him. After surviving a terrifying, brutal attack, Jonah realises that the investigating detective has doubts about his true role in what happened. We're one step ahead of the police here as we follow the events in the ominously named Slaughter Quay as they happen but although DI Jack Fletcher isn't an easy character to warm to, the reasoning behind his suspicion of Jonah is entirely fathomable. Unfortunately Colley is unable to explain why he responded to an out-of-the-blue plea from his former best friend, Gavin; as the truth about why they lost touch comes to light, he might just have a motive for murder and his complex emotions tied up with the past complicate matters even more. It's no wonder Fletcher has doubts about him.
Jonah is clearly a decent man and a good police officer but it's his mistakes which drive the narrative. This isn't the first time he's ended up being on the outside of an investigation but while he is a suspect now, ten years ago he was a victim of child loss after his four-year-old son disappeared when he was supposed to be watching him. Despite having managed to somehow move on from such a devastating tragedy, his guilt and grief still inform his actions and although some of his decisions here are obviously risky, our sympathies for a father desperate to finally discover the truth ensure that we understand his motivations even as he finds himself in an increasingly dangerous situation.
As he begins to believe that Gavin's murder is somehow linked to his son's disappearance, Jonah risks life and limb on numerous occasions. Bruised, bloodied and broken after the initial attack, his body is subjected to further agonies throughout the book but he is not a hardened action thriller hero; he's a father looking for answers and The Lost is all the more believable because of it.
There are a number of surprising revelations which further convince him that he is right to assume that the two cases are intertwined and it all leads to a shockingly tense resolution which packs a real emotional punch. Not everything is answered here, cleverly setting up the series for an ongoing investigation but there is a resolution to at least some parts of the mystery, meaning Simon Beckett treads that fine line between giving readers a satisfying conclusion while leaving them eager for more, perfectly. The Lost is compulsively fast-paced, intriguing throughout and with a lead character I grew to care about very quickly - I look forward to seeing how Jonah Colley evolves as the series progresses.

A great mystery thriller about a firearms officer who's son disappears and ten years later is contacted by a fellow police officer who asks for help. What follows is twists and turns which leaves you wondering who is telling the truth.
Would recommend.