Rating: 
Summary: Very suspenseful, but a disappointing ending
Review: I enjoyed reading this book- it's one you can really sink you teeth into. It's scary, suspenseful, nail-biting and horrific. Most of all, I enjoyed the way Straub told the story, through different people's eyes.One complaint though: I didn't like the ending. For all that the story lead us up to, I was disappointed. Very weak ending in my opinion. I am still glad I read it though, so I'd recommend reading it, you might enjoy the ending more than me!
Rating: 
Summary: Unnervingly awesome
Review: Like the abandoned house in Michigan Street, there is a lot more to this story than first meets the eye. It has unnerving hidden passages and steep stairways that lead down into the darkest depths. Read it slowly, taste each morsel fully and allow time for it to digest. Then afterwards take a quiet walk along the beach, but beware the red sky. My spine is still tingling. This masterfully crafted work is one of the best books I have read in years, and I am in awe of Peter Straub.
Rating:
Summary: Horror with Soul
Review: Let it be said right now; lost boy lost girl might very well be Peter Straub's best effort since Floating Dragon. The book is pretty simple in itself and yet, it hits you as hard as a hammer on a nail. It's sweet and dark, affecting and touching, invigorating and a real page-turner. Known for his oversized novels (his Rose trilogy and Floating Dragon, as well as The Talisman and Black House with Stephen King), Straub comes back in full force with this very small effort that is full of soul and emotion. When Mark finds his mother's dead body in their bathtub - an obvious suicide - he knows that his life will never be the same again. He also knows that the old delapidated house behind their own had something to do with his mother's death. But what? When he begins investigating the house, he uncovers deep-buried secrets that are just waiting to resurface. Told through flashbacks, diary entries and e-mail conversations, the book meanders throught time in amazing ways. Not many authors can weave such an intricate plot together. The sections that are set in the present are told from Mark's uncle's point of view, an author of mystery novels who's never been close to his brother. But now that his nephew has disappeared, he has to tried and patch things up with his brother in order to be able to face the harsh reality of the situation. Is it a ghost story? Not really. A murder mystery? Not really. A romance? Not really. The book is more like a mix of all these things and more. You never really know where the book is headed or where it will take you. And saying that the book ends on just the right note would be an understatement. I've just finished the book and I'm tempted to start it again. Straub has a way with words that will take your breathe away. This is the kind of horror novel that will stand the test of time. I'm sure that, ten years from now, lost boy lost girl will be remembered as one of Straub's best, if not his best.
Rating:
Summary: This may well be Peter Straub's best book to date
Review: LOST BOY LOST GIRL is a novel that I fear is going to be lost, if not ignored, in the plethora of releases that greet the autumn season. This would be tragic, though not entirely without reason. Peter Straub attracted major audiences with novels such as GHOST STORY, SHADOWLAND and FLOATING DRAGON. He even co-wrote THE TALISMAN with Stephen King. Then, for some reason, his audience ... dwindled. Maybe it is due to the perception --- an erroneous one --- that Straub was not writing Peter Straub novels anymore. In fact, he was --- and is. But apart from a second collaboration with King on BLACK HOUSE, which is both a sequel of sorts to THE TALISMAN and a companion volume to King's DARK TOWER series, Straub has not been heard from recently. And greater is the pity that few, it seems, have noticed. This is disappointing, because LOST BOY LOST GIRL is a novel that succeeds on so many (occasionally) contradictory levels that it has the potential to quietly become a classic over time. It may well be one of those novels that "bubbles under" saleswise, never really breaking into the all-important "charts" yet sailing along for years and years without ever going out of print. In this age of categorization, it is difficult to comfortably place LOST BOY LOST GIRL. It is, possibly, a ghost story, or a romance, or a mystery, or a thriller, even a domestic novel. Certainly it touches all of those genres and perhaps others. It is so enigmatic a novel that one almost overlooks how beautifully, wonderfully and fearfully told it is. Much of LOST BOY LOST GIRL is told from the viewpoint of Timothy Underhill, a writer of some renown who leaves his home in New York City and returns to his hometown of Millhaven. Underhill's sister-in-law has committed suicide and his return to town for the funeral opens fresh wounds in his tenuous relationship with his brother, Philip. Philip is difficult at best, a man who seems to be, though not actively evil, wholly without redeeming social value. Mark, Philip's son and Timothy's nephew, is described as a beautiful boy, a fifteen-year-old on the cusp of adulthood and apparently unaware of the quiet magic his appearance and presence has upon people. Mark's disappearance a week after the funeral is like a second death. Timothy returns again to Millhaven to doggedly search for Mark, either to find him or to learn his ultimate fate. He quickly learns that other boys have disappeared from the area and that Mark had become obsessed with an abandoned house in his neighborhood, so Timothy is thinking that there is a connection between the house and the missing boys. There is also some indication that a mysterious figure, somehow connected to the abandoned house, had been quietly stalking Mark in the days preceding his disappearance. Timothy slowly but painstakingly learns that Mark was discovering a connection between the house and his own heritage, and that his obsession with the house is awakening dangers from the past and the present. LOST BOY LOST GIRL is a novel that needs to be read and reread. This may well be the best book of Straub's already brilliant career. The ending is an enigmatic one and, I think, very deliberately so. Straub has neatly crafted this tale so that any one of a number of conclusions may or may not be correct. LOST BOY LOST GIRL is a tale that will fascinate members of book discussion groups, college seminars and, most importantly, you. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating:
Summary: Straub does it again. Not a wasted word.
Review: There are certain writers I always look forward to their next work. Mr. Straub has never disappointed me. This novel is much shorter then his pass efforts but this is due to the fact that it was exceptionally edited where not one word is wasted. The way the story shift viewpoints from character to character using both first and third person perspectives is very well done. The story line move shiftly and the conclusion ties up all the loose ends, as well as leaving us a little unsure of Mark Underhill's fate.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor and shallow .
Review: Not a lot of depth to this one . Pretty boring . Expected more .
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: Like MrX, I was disappointed with how this novel ended. There was no real climax where the protagonist faces the antagonist. There's only a realization of sorts. I agree with a previous review - Straub has definitely done better. It was quick read. The characters were interesting. There were however some loose ends - like why did Lily who streamed with animosity towards Nancy then embrace Mark, Nancy's son, as Lucy Cleveland. And who was the "Dark Man"? Was it Ronnie, Kalendar or some supernatural combination of the two? Hearing that Straub had resurrected characters Tim Underhill and Tom Pasmore, I guess I expected a lot better than what Lost Boy Lost Girl delivered. If you're a Straub fan, I would recommend reading it (if you have nothing better to read). If you're new to Straub, stick with his better novels like Koko, Mystery, Throat, Ghost Story, Shadowland...
Rating: 
Summary: He can do better.
Review: I was expecting so much more out of Peter Straub's "Lost Boy Lost Girl", but it is basicly just a re-hash of his earlier, and far superior book "The Throat". Once again Tim Underhill is summoned home to Millhaven, this time to because of his sister in law's suicide. Tim's nephew, Mark, has become obsessed with a house that (of course) has an unusual history to it. There is also a serial killer roaming the city snatching children. It just meanders it's way to the idenitiy of the killer who comes out of left field. I am so dissappointed that it features two of the best charactors that Straub has ever created (Tim Underhill and Tom Pasmore), but he dose so little with them. There is no physical action at all, it all takes place else where and is only implied. It's dull and predictable, and that is a problem. It is a quick read, and that's about all there is going for it. It's dull, and he's done much, much better
Rating:
Summary: A Spooky Horror Story, Mystery, Thriller with Plenty Chills
Review: Tim Underhill writes horror stories and is working on an opera based on the killings of America's first serial killer, Dr. Herman Mudgett. Mulling over how to accomplish this task, he decides to visit a bookshop in the Village and browse. On the way he come across the words, "lost boy lost girl" stenciled on a high street gutter, on the way home the slogan is gone. His sister-in-law committees suicide and her teenage son Mark finds the body in the tub. Tim goes home to Millhaven, Illinois to attend the funeral. While all this is going on we find out that Mark's mother was first cousin to serial killer Joseph Kalendar, who'd been killed in prison. Mark, of course, doesn't know this, he also doesn't know that the spooky abandoned house behind his family home used to belong to Kalendar. Mark obsesses about the house in back, thinks he sees a girl hiding there. He's also seen a big guy lurking around the place. We learn that Kalender had a lot in common with that first serial killer, Herman Mudgett. So we have two dead serial killers, one dead long ago, one killed not so long ago, and now someone starts killing teenage boys in Millhaven. A three serial killer story. Then Mark disappears and Tim calls on his friend, Private Investigator Tom Passmore (back from Straub's "Mystery" and "The Throat") to help him find his nephew. Then Tim gets an e-mail from Mark with a link to a site called, lostboylostgirl.com. Tim goes to the site, sees Mark with a pretty girl on the screen, then his hard drive melts. Who is this girl? Will Tim and Tom find Mark before the serial killer does? And what about that house, just how haunted is it? Real haunted I think. This horror story-mystery-thriller will keep you thinking and that's pretty good, because you certainly won't want to be going to sleep anytime soon after reading this book. Review written by Devon Adams, the Cool Kid
Rating:
Summary: great horror novel
Review: Phillip Underhill doesn't have a clue what is going on in his own home. His wife Nancy, usually a cheerful person, is getting more withdrawn by the day and the only one who notices it is their son Mark. Phillip doesn't realize that she is remembering a time when her cousin by marriage asked for help for her and her daughter and she refused to give it. When Mark isn't worrying about his mother, he is obsessing about the house on 3323 North Michigan Street. His mother warns him to stay away from the house but neglects to tell him that once was owned by her cousin, a notorious serial killer. When Mark breaks into the house she senses it and commits suicide. Mark explores the house finding secret rooms, tunnels and staircases. He also senses the presence of someone in the house and tells his best friend before he disappears. The police think he's the victim of a serial killer but Mark's uncle Tim believes that he met with a different fate. From the very beginning LOST BOY LOST GIRL has an eerie gothic atmosphere and as the plot moves forward the tale becomes even spookier. There are two parallel sub-plots involving a serial killer and a ghost that never intersect, leaving readers to ponder Mark's fate throughout the novel. Timothy Underhill, who also appeared in KOKO AND THE THROAT, plays a vital role in this horror thriller. He is the one who puts together Mark's actions during his last days and comes to a conclusion that is emotionally satisfying his belief system. Peter Straub continues to write great horror novels that engage his myriad of fans. Harriet Klausner
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