Cover Image: The Lost Kings

The Lost Kings

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Jeanie and Jamie are twins as close as can be. They live in a cabin with their alcoholic father and find comfort in each other. Until her father goes missing after an incident, as well as Jamie. Twenty years later Jeanie is trying to live her life but wonders daily where her brother went.

This whole book is made for the ending. I won’t spoil anything, but damn I wasn’t expecting that twist and it changes your whole perspective of the story. This is a character driven mystery where we sit with the main character as she comes of age after tragedy. It’s real, genuine, and hard to watch but definitely worth a read.

“People go missing all the time, their names written forever in the great book of the lost souls. You never get to know where they’ve gone. You can only imagine.”

The Lost Kings comes out 8/2.

Was this review helpful?

Even though I wasn't Omg goodness amazed by this one, it was a solid read. Definitely a second purchase for collections

Was this review helpful?

Twins, inseparable until one night when they are 12 years old, their father comes home covered in blood and then he disappears along with Jamie who is Jeanie's twin brother. Jeanie is alone and has to struggle to survive that awful time in her young life. Forward 20 years and Jamie reappears and they both start looking for their father. By this time, Jeanie suffers from PTSD and has been sleeping around and drinking too much.
I found the storyline to be dragging a bit and was disappointed with the ending.
I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

An interesting read, not an absolute favorite, was not an “I can’t put this down” but drawn in enough to finish. I’ll have to read more of this author. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC opportunity!

Was this review helpful?

WOW! This book had many gut wrenching moments that happened in the MC childhood that affected her adulthood. Well written and definitely a suspense thriller when I have been reading some not so good one recently. This one redeems some of the prior thrillers I have read this year.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Tyrell Johnson and Knpf Doubleday Publishing Group Anchor for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 8/2/22

Was this review helpful?

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A heartbreaking novel about loss, finding oneself, and facing the truth about one's past.

Was this review helpful?

Jeanie and Jamie are twins. When their mother died there father comes home to parent them. Only dad has ptsd and is an alcoholic. Dad takes them to live in a run down cabin in the woods, with no one around other than Maddox. They become friends and all try to escape their family lives.
One night Jeanie and dad's "girlfriend" get into a fight. Dad breaks it up and takes the girlfriend for a ride. Only he comes home and he is covered in blood. The next morning Jeanie's dad and Jamie are gone.
Maddox finds Jeanie 20 years later. He has found her father. What will she do? Leave her past in the past or get information as to what happened 20 years ago

Was this review helpful?

The Lost Kings
by Tyrell Johnson
Pub Date: August 2, 2022
Anchor Books
Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
* Thriller * Mystery
Tyrell Johnson takes his readers along on an insightful journey into one woman’s life and psyche, as she works to overcome her demons and take back the control she thought she’d lost forever. I enjoyed this book and the characters are memorable. I liked the dark and riveting tone of the story which intrigued me from the beginning. The final twist is a little foreseeable but I still enjoyed it!
Overall: it’s a gripping, complex, well-executed thriller. Absolutely recommend it to the psychological thriller lovers!
4 stars

Was this review helpful?

The Lost Kings by Tyrell Johnson was an amazing read. Jeanie and Maddox had known each other since childhood but lost touch after the night her father came home covered in blood and disappeared the next day, along with twin brother Jamie. Jeanie has never recovered from the loss of her beloved brother and has had a tough life since that night, never able to forgive herself for not saving her brother, even though she was only 12 years old at the time.
When they meet up again twenty years later, Maddox and Jeanie rekindle their relationship, and he wants to help her find Jamie and even her father, a violent man who may have committed a murder that night long ago.

We follow them in their search and learn the truth in the end. Well done and an enjoyable read. Thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for my copy

Was this review helpful?

I really liked this and I couldn't wait to see the conclusion and how it all worked out, but I hated the ending! Ugh...the ending was just disappointing. I didn't see it coming at first, but when I realized where it was going I was disappointed, but overall it w an engaging story.

Was this review helpful?

This one was good. I didn't really like Jeanie at the beginning. She is just floating through life not really caring. I liked seeing her become herself again as she learns what happened and ties all the pieces of her past together.
Twisty family mystery that keeps you turning pages.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Was this review helpful?

The Lost Kings in a meandering tale of a woman trying to work through feelings of abandonment. Many years ago she and her brother lived with their father in a mountain cabin. One night the father appears with blood on his hands and clothing. The next morning she finds both the father and her brother gone and a note left for her indicating things are better left that way. Now as an adult she’s trying to deal with her residual pain by using others short term and then casting them off, but is it helping? The Lost Kings spends a lot of time covering her actions as she attempts to explain why her ways of dealing are better. The problem comes as the main character is not a really like able sort. She does get some resolution but still has the wreckage she left behind. The main message is that you can’t really run from your problems when they live in your heart of hearts.

Was this review helpful?

This is a deep psychological story of growing with abuse and loss and growing beyond it. Very well written. It was told in multiple timelines, at least three and sometimes they seem to overlap which worked well for the story. On one hand, she was looking for her father who left her alone after murdering someone, looking for her twin brother who may or may not still be alive. On the other hand, she was looking for a way to find herself back to love. She was damaged but strong and resilent. A well written, beautifully written at times, story that ultimately was about hope and dicotomies we live with.

Was this review helpful?

Okay I LOVED this book. The characters were all so lovable (for the most part) and the story was honestly beautiful. I knew from the first few chapters that this would be great and I was not disappointed.

Jeanie and Maddox are two childhood friends who reconnect in adulthood to try to solve the disappearance of her father and twin brother, Jamie.

This book is classified as a psychological thriller and I think that’s accurate. I wouldn’t say I was on edge the whole time like some expect out of a thriller but I was completely and totally captivated by the story. Definitely worth a read!!

This book comes out August 2, 2022. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for providing me this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I am sad to say, I could not finish this one. It just was not what I was expecting, and after multiple tries, I had to throw in the towel. I believe others will like this one, but it just wasn't for me. I do not think it'd be fair for me to post a bad review.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own!

Was this review helpful?

Let’s start with the likes! I like that it was super captivating. The writing was superb and Tyrell Johnson made you absolutely feel for these characters. Heart cut wide open. Absolutely loved that Jeanie King wasn’t a pretty princess. She wasn’t butterflies and cupcakes. She loved through trauma and still pulled up her big girl panties in a way and made it through. I truly loved all of it until the end. The big twist the big reveal left me thinking nooo you didn’t go with THAT one! It all felt so different so alive and then bam I got smacked in the face with a sort of cliche ending. It was a surprise, sure, but it’s been done before and I really wanted something a little more revealing and edgier.

The story: Jeanie King has no f’s to give in her adult life. She’s a very intelligent woman who just doesn’t have the energy or care to apply herself. She battled demons with her PTSD alcoholic father leaving her one night all by herself and double bummer it was also the night her twin brother disappears. Twenty years later her childhood bestie shows up and tells her he thinks he found her father. You spend the story reliving her childhood and what happened back and forth to the present.

It really is such an entertaining read I just wished for a different whacky ending.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

"I just got chills"

That's what a reader will say after reading this book. You won't be able to put it down. It is completely captivating, just wow. This book is really just perfect.

Was this review helpful?

The Lost Kings is a thriller that saps the imagination with a cast of psychotic characters that leave you wanting to read more. It has many twists and secrets that are cleverly revealed but not solved to the mind's satisfaction--thus, an unforgettable tale.

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

The extensive blurb gives a pretty good description of the plot, although the 'killer twist' was something I suspected on and off throughout. I found this well-written, but depressing: the heroine was so unkind to every one (why do that to Holly?) and so self-destructive. The ending seemed hopeful, but if I were Maddox's friend I would advise him to run a mile.

Was this review helpful?

Tyrell Johnson takes his readers along on an insightful journey into one woman’s life and psyche, as she works to overcome her demons and take back the control she thought she’d lost forever.

Jeanie King lost her mother very young, when a car accident claimed her life while Jeanie watched on helplessly from the back seat. She’s only twelve when tragedy strikes again, and her father disappears – and takes her beloved twin brother Jamie with him. Suddenly abandoned, she finds herself falling into a spiral of impulse decisions and self-isolation, until a visitor from her past appears and offers her the chance to confront and conquer her darkest fears.

I had a slightly rocky start with this book – it took me a while to warm up to Jeanie, as she’s an intentionally confronting character. But when I settled into the story and got to know her better, I was pleasantly surprised; Tyrell Johnson has written a wonderfully complex character and takes a thoughtful approach to telling the story of the trauma and experiences that shaped her. Side characters were equally three dimensional and realistic, and The Lost Kings grew on me quickly.

Despite the title, this is really Jeanie’s story, told in alternating timelines between her present self and the child who went through so much. The author takes his time, and before long the journey overtook the destination as the important part in my eyes. I did want to see Jeanie have the chance to find the brother and father whose absence so shaped her life – but I was also happy just to enjoy the process of getting there, as Tyrell Johnson worked his magic and created a story that completely captivated me.

I came away from this book uplifted, and more than a little bit emotional. The Lost Kings is an excellent thriller, but it’s those memorable characters who will really stay with me.

Was this review helpful?