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“The plot folds into a brilliant twist.”—The New York Times
“A novel in disguise. You could easily (and happily) mistake it for a stellar psychological thriller, bristling with surprises and packed with secrets; but listen closely and you’ll hear the beat of a dark, full heart, strong and loud. This is deeply moving fiction.” —A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
Twins Jeanie and Jamie King are inseparable. Stuck in a cabin in rural Washington with their alcoholic father, they cling to one another for safety and companionship. Until one night, when their father comes home covered in blood. The next day, he is gone ... and so is Jamie. 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.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 2, 2022 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780593466872
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780593466872
- File size: 1383 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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March 1, 2022
When 12-year-old Jeanie King's father appears one night soaked in blood and disappears the next morning with Jeanie's twin brother, Jeanie is taken by authorities from her Washington State home and separated from childhood crush Maddox. Two decades later, Maddox seeks out a still-troubled Jeanie in England to tell her that he's found her father. From the author of The Wolves of Winter, a Canadian best seller that got Indie Next, PopSugar, and Vogue.com attention.
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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June 6, 2022
Jeanie King—the narrator of this powerful if flawed psychological thriller from Johnson (The Wolves of Winter), who was hoping to put her traumatic childhood in Washington State behind her, including a father who may be a murderer and disappeared when she was 12—moves to her late mother’s native Britain, where she attends Oxford University. After graduation, she lands in a dead-end job and continues a dysfunctional relationship with a married professor that began at Oxford. Then investigative journalist Maddox, her first love in Washington, shows up. Maddox, who believes he has tracked down her dad in upstate New York, wants her to fly back to the U.S. Jeanie agrees to go, and as she wrestles with her roiling emotions—including the desire to punish her father for what she views as ruining her life and mistrust of Maddox’s motives—nightmarish but possibly suspect memories surge back. Suspenseful, surprising, and at times deeply disturbing, this portrait of a survivor who has yet to give herself permission to thrive climaxes with a devastating final twist, albeit one that will leave some readers feeling played. Tana French fans will find a lot to like. Agent: Michelle Brower, Trellis Literary Management. -
August 1, 2022
Blending a coming-of-age tale with a psychological thriller, Johnson's second novel (following The Wolves of Winter, 2019) begins in a cabin on the coast of Washington State, where 12-year-old Jeanie King and her twin brother, Jamie--grieving their mother's death--are enduring abuse from their alcoholic and PTSD-affected father. The story, narrated by Jeanie, jumps between what happened before and after her father returns to the cabin covered in blood and disappears with Jamie, and 20 years later, with Jeanie living in Oxford, England, mired in a destructive relationship with her professor. A sense of foreboding and unspecified menace hang over Jeanie's narration; we sense that something is distinctly off here, but we aren't sure whether Jeanie is simply withholding information or whether she is as uncertain as we are about her past. The clouds begin to part after Maddox, Jeanie's childhood friend, arrives in England with the news that he might know where her father has been hiding. The genuinely stunning twist at the end, as the chasm between internal and external worlds narrows, will leave readers reeling.COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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July 2, 2022
With one novel (The Wolves of Winter) already under his belt, Johnson's writing proves to be brilliant with this new psychological thriller about a girl named Jeanie. At 12 years old, Jeanie witnesses her father with blood on his hands. The next morning, she wakes to find that her twin brother, Jamie, and her father are both gone. All alone, she is forced to leave behind her life, including her childhood love, a boy named Maddox. Now, 20 years later, Jeanie has moved from the United States to Britain. Then, Maddox arrives in town with news that he has located Jeanie's father. Jeanie must decide whether or not to confront her father about the past and decide what to do with her future with Maddox. Johnson's use of psychological terminology and his personal love of poetry are sprinkled throughout the story, and the realistic characters are emotional and imperfect, which will leave readers feeling empathy and surprise at the same time. VERDICT This is a moving story about a woman coming to terms with her past childhood trauma so that ultimately, she can find happiness.--Lacey Webster
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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