Julie's Review: The Edge of Lost

Author: Kristina McMorris
Series: None
Publication Date: November 24, 2015
Publisher: Kensington Books
Pages: 352
Obtained: via author
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Enthralling
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary: On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard's only daughter--one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island--has gone missing. Tending the warden's greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl's whereabouts, and that both of their lives depend on the search's outcome. Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world. Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to New York to San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted characters discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell--and believe--in order to survive. ~amazon.com

Review: The Edge of Lost is a novel to get lost in and to explore. It is a novel that you won't want to put down until you know how the opening prologue relates to the events that Ms. McMorris unfolds in the beginning of the novel. It isn't hard to put the names together but what you long to figure out is how they got to where they are.

It is so easy to get caught up in Shan's story and adventure. Luckily for him he happens upon the Capello family that takes him in and treat him as their own. He slowly begins to form a bond with Mr. and Mrs. Capella, Lina and Nick become the siblings he never had in Ireland. He's a studious young man and ingratiates himself to the family by working with Mr. Capello. Nick on the other hand isn't particularly studious and would rather work at a club making money. Of course you know that the club Nick works in isn't on the up and up and will get him into trouble eventually.

What Ms. McMorris does is an excellent job of demonstrating how family is who we deem it to be at times. Shan's immediate family was lost to him and his extended family wasn't kind to him, so the Capello's ended up being the family he always wanted. He gave up the search for his father shortly after coming to America.

Even though it's pretty clear to the reader early on how things are related, there are a few twists and turns that were not expected by me. I closed the book completely happy with how she deftly weaved everything together! It isn't often an author can take me by surprise, especially when I thought I had figured it out. I had but not fully put all the pieces together.

The Edge of Lost is a novel that will have you turning the pages until the very end and as you close the book you will be wholly satisfied. I wish my review was longer but honestly if I talk more about the book, I'll ruin it for you. You don't want to miss out on this one though.


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