This book takes you for a RIDE! Be prepared to be whirling at the end because of everything revealed. Definitely recommend.

After finishing The Lost Kings, there is no doubt that Tyrell Johnson is a very talented writer. Although sometimes the story bogged into wordiness, I never saw what could easily be cut. The writer used words like a painter, broadening the readers picture of his characters and painting the scene.

I read an ARC of this book, and thought it was going to be a thriller of sorts. In truth, it is much more an engrossing family drama with a slight mystery in the background. The bigger part of the story is addressing whethr Jeanie, the main character, will be able to overcome all the obstacles of her past and move forward happily in life, without her self sabotaging ways.

It is a complex story, and I will admit, I got slightly bogged down in the middle, but ultimately I cared enough for the characters to keep going. The ultimate twist at the end maybe shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, but it was interesting.

This book had some of the underlying themes that I found in the book Educated. How does someone from such a hard background go on to succeed in life? And what is the damage they bring with them? After I finished this book I wished I could discuss some of it, so for that reason I think this would make a good book club pick. There are some dark themes and big issues presented.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NETGALLEY for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Everything changed when her mother died. Jeanie and her twin, Jamie, were taken in by their aunt and uncle since her father was off in the war. When he was discharged, it was to take them off without any warning to a remote cabin in the woods of Washington, near the coast. There he disappeared every day into the woods, drinking and shooting his guns. Jeanie and Jamie were free to explore the woods and seashore and there they met Maddox who became their best friend.

Then came the night when Jeanie awoke to find her father coming through the door with blood on his hands. He sent her to bed but the next morning he was gone along with Jamie. Jeanie holed up in the cabin, anxiously waiting for them to return but they didn't. Eventually her situation was discovered and she was returned to her aunt and uncle. Her friendship and budding romance with Maddox was cut off although they tried to keep it alive.

Now Jeanie is living in Oxford, England, where her mother lived. She left money so Jeanie is able to buy a house, but that's the only stable thing in her life. Ignoring her intellectual gifts, she drops out of Oxford and works in a pedestrian job, drinking too much, having an affair with a married man and sleeping with other men to have some semblance of closeness. Then Maddox appears telling her he has found her father. Will Jeanie finally get answers?

Tyrell Johnson burst on the literary scene a few years ago with his book, The Wolves Of Winter. This book has that same strong writing that pulls the reader along and makes them care about the characters Johnson has created. Jeanie has never gotten over her childhood, pushing away everyone who cares for her, rejecting them before they can reject her. She has a hole in her heart for Jamie and a longing to know what happened that night he and her father disappeared. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

The Lost Kings...

This was a powerful one.

Let me try to take a deep breath to power through this review and give it the words it deserves.

Tyrell Johnson is a powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with. If this is the kind of sophomore novel he drops then I can not wait to see what the future holds.

I was first introduced to Johnson by a good friend of mine who recommended The Wolves Of Winter (if you haven't read it yet- you must!) Right then I became curious. If you can publish a debut that can send tingles up my spine, we have just become a courtship of sorts. Lets call it a "book-ship"

Then came the Lost Kings.

This book is incredible. It's twisted, it's deceitful, it has a storyline that left me wondering what the heck goes through this mans head to think of such things. Incredibly well done and a book I will be recommending for years to come.

Here is a bit of a teaser :

Jeanie’s whole world is turned upside down. Not only has she lost her beloved brother, but with no family left in Washington, she is ripped from everything she knows, including Maddox, the boy she could be learning to love.

Twenty years later, Jeanie is in England. She keeps her demons at bay by drinking too much, sleeping with a married man, and speaking to a therapist she doesn’t respect. But her old life catches up to her when Maddox reappears, claiming to have tracked down her dad. Stunned, Jeanie must decide whether to continue running from her past or to confront her father and finally find out what really happened that night, where her brother is, and why she was the one left behind.

At once a propulsive, heart-pounding mystery and an affecting exploration of love and the familial ties that bind us, The Lost Kings will transport, move, and shock you.

It was an okay read. I didn't like the main character which made it hard to read as I didn't really care about her. I also figured out the "surprise" so the ending wasn't the surprise it was supposed to be. I did like the writing and how the story unfolded. It has a lot of emotions in it and deals with some tough subjects. I think it is worth reading.

A dark psychological thriller with a damaged heroine trying to come to terms with her past. I enjoyed this, and there were a few things that surprised me in the plot, but the whole way through I had trouble forgetting that a male author was writing a female main character.

The Lost Kings was a heavy one. There's a lot of tough topics explored in it and the main character is deeply flawed. I didn't connect with her and her life was very depressing since childhood. There's almost a coming of age tale within the thriller as Jeanie deals with her past trauma. The suspense elements were the strongest parts of The Lost Kings and I did feel very invested in unraveling the mysteries of Jeanie's family and her childhood friend Maddox. The writing and character development was excellent, I really felt drawn into Jeanie's complicated world.

This story follows two twins who grow up in rural Washington, near the ocean with their father. Their mother died in a car wreck and they are learning how to survive with an alcoholic, abusive parent. When both her father and her brother disappear, Jeanie is moved back with her aunt and uncle. As she grows older and moves to England to go to college, an old friend contacts her with possible answers. I like that she finds closure, but I don't like how melancholy she is, thinking she never deserves to be happy when it's staring her right in the face after all this time. I found this book a little too depressing for my taste, but it was an okay read.

What a great book! I love everything by this author and this book was no different! I couldn't put this down and was up all night waiting to see how it ended!

What a jaw dropping ending; I wasn't expecting the ending at all. It's thrilling, disturbing but also has some funny parts but be prepared for some vulgar language and a few sex scenes.

Overall, this was a good read.

Oh my this was a dark and twisted read!!! Highly recommend, but also be so warned that you will feel the effects of this novel days after you finish it. Character driven, this story really shares the story of broken voices and suffering.

This is the year of the twin thriller and this a great entry into the genre, Thank you to Knopf for the gifted ARC my honest review.

Well, this one surprised me. I wasn't a fan of Jeanie, at all. She was very unlikeable, at least in the beginning. As the story continued to unfold, I couldn't help but feel a litle more compassion towards her. She went through a lot during her childhood and it lead to her spiraling out of control. I would definitely would read more from this author.

I can very easily see the audience for this book! It's not my type--I think I've read too many like it (self-destructive narrator, family mystery) and the twist at the end I called in the first quarter of the book. But I do think there's absolutely an audience for this and I appreciated that it was more of a character study than an actual psychological thriller.

Jeanie is a mess and I really liked her. I enjoyed following along with her story. I do wish we could have gotten there a little faster, but it still kept me interested. The characterization was excellent, even the peripheral characters were fairly well-drawn. I also appreciated the atmosphere. Both Washington and England. Overall, a good read, just a little slow and a bit more of a literary story than a thriller to me, but that was just me.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Tyrell Johnson and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Anchor Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was not my cup of tea. Sadly, I did not finish it. I couldn’t get into it. I appreciate the opportunity to read it since the premise seemed interesting enough.

The Lost Kings by Tyrell Johnson was a mystery unraveling a lot of childhood trauma, a murder, a missing twin, and finding that missing part of oneself.

I didn't particularly like the plot at first, but I gotta be honest, the writing was so accessible that I couldn't stop turning the pages. The pace significantly got better too in part II, by which I was already so enamored by the mystery.

Something that I relate with in this novel is how Jeanie couldn't really form honest relationships or commit to a lifetime with another person. I think this is because she still had a long way to go on understanding herself as a person.

The conclusion kind of was lacking for me. I do hope we get to have that reveal at 70% then spend the last pages seeing her get in terms with her mental condition.

I don't have a wide knowledge about DID or dissociative identity disorder, so I couldn't really judge whether this is a good representation and exploration of how trauma can cause it, so taking that out of consideration, I'm giving this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this novel. There are obvious aspects that render it a thriller, but it's also equally as much grief, childhood trauma and it's subsequent effects. It never fully engaged me, but I was curious enough to see how things eventually panned out. I just can't say that it rocked my world or can think of anyone that I would recommend it to.

I am normally such a high fan of slow burn thrillers, but this one didn’t do it at all for me.

I felt the storyline was intriguing and capitulating at the beginning, but the pacing immediately grinded to a halt after. the middle of the book was intensely slow, and I feel like a bunch of the chapters could have been cut out.

that being said, this was a heart stopping and pounding thriller!!! I was flipping through my kindle so fast at the end of the book because I wanted to see if my predictions were right

sadly, they were.

sometimes I enjoy knowing that I was able to thwart the writer, but this was kind of a let down, in my opinion.

if you’re new to thrillers, I’d definitely recommend this one to you.

rating: 2.5 stars
wine pairing: california zinfandel

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. What a great psychological thriller .... with side coming of age notes. This book grabbed my attention and kept me until the end. I will be recommending this novel to my patrons that love thrillers.