It's been awhile since I picked up a Decker novel - I missed it and I missed Faye Kellerman's unique writing style.

THIS BOOK IS #26 IN A SERIES AND IS NOT REALLY SUITED TO BEING READ AS A STANDALONE.

This is a long one folks, and I felt like it was at a minimum, two separate stories that could have been written as two different novels. As I mentioned earlier, this is book 26 in a series and with the major role that Gabe and his story played in this one, I definitely think this should be read after the previous books in order to get a feel for everything that is going on.

I was a mixed bag on this one and in reading the other reviews and seeing the ratings, i think I landed squarely in the middle. I love the recurring characters. Decker and Rina feel like friends. McAdams is endearing. This just felt like two stories and it didn't keep me engaged. The ending felt rushed, the cliffhanger felt lackluster, and I was left feeling like the whole long book was a dang to be continued that I wasn't adequately prepared for.

3 1/2 stars rounded up simply because I'm attached to Decker.

Thank you for Netgalley, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5453145764

You would think that the 26th book in a series might start getting redundant but Faye Kellerman changed things up brilliantly a few years ago by moving LAPD detective Peter Decker to a small town in upstate New York. A current missing persons case intersecting with a 10 year old cold case, plus family drama keeps this book interesting from cover to cover. Well written with great characters. The only reason it isn't 5 stars is that too many loose ends were left hanging for the next book. I like my mysteries to wrap up at the end. Strongly recommended

Faye Kellerman is back with another mystery novel in the continuing series featuring Detective Inspector, now semi retired, Peter Decker and his lovely wife, Rina Lazarus Along the way they have left the mean streets of Los Angeles and are settled down in a small town in upstate New York.

Though Peter wanted something to keep him busy in retirement, he has found the this sleepy college town is anything but sleepy. This time as he and his sidekick, Tyler McAdams are called in to helps search for a missing young man from a group home, they also stumble across a body from a cold case. The body buried in the woods is the remains of a student from the local college who went missing ten years prior to being dug up.

Keeping true to the original theme of these mysteries, with Rina, religiously observant, sharing the lessons and practices of Orthodox Judaism with her husband who has converted to Judaism and practices the faith as much as his work will allow. Sprinkled with non Jewish associates who always seem to enjoy sharing in a Shabbat dinner or helping Peter stick to the rules of no work on the Sabbath. Peter and Rina have surrounded themselves with children, grandchildren and a foster son and his girlfriend and Decker's partner, McAdams, who are always ready to learn about a Jewish practice or share in a celebration.

In this novel, we follow Decker and McAdams as they travel to interview family members of the boys who went missing ten years ago, trying to determine what happened in the woods that fateful weekend.

At the same time they are visiting the group home and finally the parents of a girl who also has disappeared with the young man missing. The parents are all devastated about what is happening to their children. But they all also realize that once your children leave home you can worry but you really cannot protect them anymore.

Kellerman has many balls balanced in the air at one time through this novel. Two cases and also some family drama. Bringing back the subject of their foster son, Gabriel, and reminding us how he came to be apart of their lives. Gabe's mother who gave him up, is back in his life and in trouble again.

Another fast paced entertaining mystery with some of my favorite characters. It is nice to catch up and Kellerman leaves a few dangling thread at the end to keep us hanging on until she can write and publish the next novel in this series. I can hardly wait to find out what happens next.

Another hit. Interesting cases to be solved. One is over but the other may be the start of the next book. Looking forward to it. Good to visit with the extended family and law enforcement regulars. Interesting set up for another chapter in the lives of the Deckers.

An interesting,engaging, fast paced mystery. Interesting characters, well plotted. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I enjoyed it and look forward to more from this author

There is a client missing from the Loving Care facility and Pete Decker is on the job. Then we have problems with Gabe's mother wanting to make contact. There is an issue of getting hold of parents in Germany. The problems keep mounting up for Decker and McAdams and Decker's wife Rina.
I have heard of Faye Kellerman for years but never read one of her books. I have been missing out. This book was so good I couldn't put it down. A wonderful author.

"The Lost Boys" is Faye Kellerman’s latest Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mystery, number 26 in the series to be exact. Peter Decker and his newly-minted-lawyer sidekick are tasked to find several “lost” individuals, some during the current time of the book, and three boys from a 10-year-old cold case. As the two investigations interweave, we also have the level-headed Rina Lazarus tackling the problems of their extended family. As always, the three main characters are well-fleshed out and entirely likeable. Although the books in this series are generally not fast-paced thrillers, I have always enjoyed them because of the well-written character interactions and dialogue. All that said, I did like the book, but without giving anything away, I don’t really care about the “missing” adults [spoiler alert] whose stories are not quite resolved yet. Time will tell, but hopefully the wait won’t be another three years.

This is the 26th in Faye Kellerman's long running police procedural series starring detective Peter Decker and his supportive wife Rina Lazarus. They now live in the sleepy college town of Greenbury in upstate New York.

Now Decker seeks a missing person. Bertram Lanz, 35 years old and with cognitive disabilities, disappeared from a local diner while on an outing with fellow residents of the Loving Care Home.

Though the mystery is engaging, what I enjoyed most in this novel were Decker's musings, his conversations with Rina, and bantering with his partner Tyler - they all come across as good and very real people.

WOW is all I can say. I knew I would like this book. But I think this is best yet of this series. MS. Kellerman just keeps getting better and better. Love this series. Can't wait for the next book. I want to thank netgalley for the advanced version so I could leave a honest opinion.

"The Lost Boys"by Faye Kellerman, William Morrow, 352 pages, Jan. 12, 2021.

Bertram Telemann, 35, a developmentally disabled man, is on a field trip with staff and fellow residents of the Loving Care Home when he vanishes from a small diner.

People in the community of Greenbury, a small upstate New York town, volunteer to search the surrounding woods. When Bertram isn't found, the disappearance becomes a missing persons case and is assigned to detectives Peter Decker and Tyler McAdams. As their investigation deepens, Decker becomes convinced that Bertram left with someone he knew.

Soon detectives learn that Elsie Schulung, a nurse who had worked at the home until two weeks earlier, seemed to be interested in Bertram. But Elsie disappears and blood is found in her kitchen. 

Then there are more complications. While searching the woods, police discover the remains of one of three young men who had vanished during a camping trip. The college students have been missing for 10 years.

Decker's wife, Rina, is a volunteer searcher. Their foster son, Gabe, 24, shows up unexpectedly. Terry, his biological mother, called him recently. She wants to see him. She was married and living in India for 11 years, but the marriage is breaking up. She has two other children. Gabe wants Rina to be with him when he visits Terry.

Kellerman successfully juggles multiple plot lines and has several cliff-hangers at the end. The characters are excellent.

This is the 26th in the series. One of the pleasures in reading a long-running series is to see the change in the characters. The Decker series changed dramatically with the move from Los Angeles to upstate New York and their children becoming adults. The earlier novels explained various Orthodox Judaism beliefs and customs, which was fascinating.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this fast paced mystery that kept the pages turning! There are twists and turns on every page. The story starts out with a search for a missing man, but then remains are found and the mystery begins. The book never once got boring, and the ending was amazing as well. This was my first book in this series and I still had no trouble following along with the characters and story. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it for fans of any thrillers!

I haven't read a Decker/Lazarus book in quite awhile and had forgotten how good they are! I also was surprised to find Detective Peter Decker now working in upstate NY instead of Los Angeles. I have to go through my bookcase to see if I have any other books. The latest installment in the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series starts with a missing person, a developmentally challenged adult who disappears while on a field trip with his residential facility. While searching for him in the nearby woods, a set of buried remains are discovered. I read this book so quick on my reader and I know that I missed a alot so I am definitely buying it when it comes out so that I can get the full impact of the book. The best part of these books I enjoy is Rina's faith.

Peter Decker, along with partner Tyler McAdams, returns for another case which turns into more than one. It starts as a search for a missing developmentally-disabled man, and then the recovery of two skeletons from years ago.

There is also the fact of Decker and his wife aging, and thoughts of living in Israel. There is plenty to keep your interest. Maybe the next one will be set in Israel. I look forward to it.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Boys is the latest in a series starring Detective Peter Decker - formerly LAPD, now in upstate NY. I've not read any other books in this series, and I did feel like I was missing some information although the book was able to stand on its own. There were a few storylines going: a missing mentally disabled man, the discovery of buried bones in the woods, and Decker's foster son's bio mom showing up and having some drama with her current husband.

Out of the three story lines I enjoyed the one about the buried bones the most. I didn't care for the way the missing man line wrapped up, and I felt like I was missing a ton of info on the foster son story.

All in all, it was a page turner, but probably better if read as part of the series.

The Lost Boys
A Decker/Lazarus Novel
by Faye Kellerman
William Morrow and Custom House
You Are Auto-Approved
William Morrow
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 12 Jan 2021 | Archive Date 09 Mar 2021

It's been a while since I have read a Decker/Lazarus novel and now I remember how much I enjoy them. Faye Kellerman does not disappoint. I also enjoyed that the characters aged as well. Eager to see more in this series. It was an enjoyable read and kept me guessing. Thanks to William Morrow and Custom House for the ARC. I prefer print books but really enjoyed this ebook from Netgalley. I will recommend it.

4 star

I haven't read a Decker/Lazarus book in quite awhile and had forgotten how good they are! I also was surprised to find Detective Peter Decker now working in upstate NY instead of Los Angeles. The book begins with Bertram Lanz, a 35 year old man with cognitive disabilities disappearing from a field trip by the Loving Care Facility where he had been living. He wasn't lost on the hike in the woods, but from the diner where the bus stopped on the way home. The whole community has been searching the woods, and Decker doesn't get home until 2:28am. Meanwhile, Peter and Rina's foster son has visited Rina and asked her to go with him to see his mother in New York City. Decker gradually finds out that Bertram came from Germany, had been in another Facility in Connecticut (his parents moved him to get him away from his girlfriend Kathrine when they wanted to marry. He had a few friends at the new place, including a nurse who spoke German and had left a few weeks before.

While continuing to look for Bernard, a dog finds a burial site where the bones of a young man are found. Ten years prior, three college boys had gone camping and never came home. They soon found this was one of the boys and he had been hit by an explosion of some kind as well as being shot. Now in addition, Decker, and his young partner Tyler McAdams not only have the Bertram's case, but the cold case from before they both came to New York. Decker soon convinced that Bertram has left with someone he knew. They find that the German nurse was away (after cleaning up a lot of blood in the kitchen), and Kathrine has left her facility.

There's a lot going on in Decker's life in addition to the two cases which gradually yield some answers. Although there's still a lot unlearned at the end of the book, the cold case is actually figured out. The characters are very well portrayed, and the story line keeps moving.

4.5 Stars

I haven't read this author or this series in years sod I jumped at the chance to read this ARC. I remembered how much I loved the earlier books in this series. With this book, I swear I'm going to re-read the ones I own and buy the rest!

It is nice to see an author who has written 26 books in a series show that her characters age. So with this book, Peter is (I think) 70. His character has slowed down, but that doesn't mean the mysteries have become less complicated. I was amazed at how much went on in this book. It was more footwork and questioning and less action, but that is okay with me.

This book deals with one ten-year-old killing, one missing person case, and an issue with Peter and Rina's foster son and his mother.

I thought for sure that this would be the last book in this series, for reasons I won't go into because they would be spoilers. But the last few pages make me think this is not so, and this book actually ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Because I've been away from this series for so long, this may be the norm for Ms.Kellerman now.

I really enjoyed this book, and as I said at the beginning of this review, I am now going to take the time to read the books I have and buy and read the ones I don't have.

Detective Peter Decker and his partner Tyler McAdams are tasked with finding an adult male who is developmentally disabled who either walked away or was taken away while on a field trip near the woods. Lots of issues get in the detectives way; like a missing former nurse from the facility, and the skelatal remains of two college students who have been missing for ten years. It takes lots of searching and good detective work, as well as some help from Decker's wife Rina, to sort out these cases; one new and one very cold.

A little older and grayer than in his years as an L. A. homicide detective, Player Decker has eased into the slow lane in upstate New York in a quiet town where not much happens that Decker and his young partner Tyler can't handle. When a developmentally disabled man named Bertram disappears from his expensive private facility, Decker marshals the available resources and organizes a search, which doesn't lead to Bertram,but does unearth the bones of one of three campers who went missing from the same woods many years ago. But there's another, more contemporaneous disappearance to contend with - Bertram 's girlfriend Kathrin, who' s also missing from a similar institution. A nurse at Living Care who knew both Bertram and Kathrin is the missing link between them, but the bloodstains found in her home increase the danger that foul play is involved in all the disappearances.
This is a popular series, and Peter Decker is a protagonist readers have come to love, but Kellerman has written better books about him and Rima, his long - suffering but equally resourceful wife, who makes a brief but welcome appearance in a secondary plot line featuring her grown son and his flamboyant stepmother.

Bertram has gotten "lost". While searching for Bertram, an older set of bones are found. They Belong to a ten year old cold case. Decker is now responsible for finding Bertram and solving this cold case that involved three lost boys. With one dead what has happened to the other boys. Thanks netgalley.