Rating: 
Summary: Slow-going at first, but ultimately it revs up into Ketchum
Review: I have to scratch my head at reviews that call this a mindless beach read or disappointing drivel. Did those people read the same book I did? This wasn't as fast-moving and chockful of mayhem as some of the other books by Ketchum that I've read, but ultimately, it is just as horrifying, if not more so, because we've come to understand and sympathize with his characters, many of whom meet with violent ends.You can't pick up a Jack Ketchum novel and expect light reading. Ketchum specializes in realistic horror and he will not flinch or turn away or cop-out. This doesn't always make his books very easy to read. But if you know what you're getting into and are prepared to hold on for the ride, you'll be subjected to a level of horror that just does not exist elsewhere in the publishing world right now. I'd liken the experience of a Ketchum novel to riding a rollercoaster--once you're strapped in and climbing that first hill, it's too late to do much but go along for the ride. This is a good book--it is slow-moving to begin with, but there's a reason for that, as Ketchum develops and creates a cast of believable, realistic, human characters. We see their motivations and their thoughts/feelings, which makes what happens later on that much more affecting. Regardless of this slow start, I was held riveted to the book and could not stop reading until it was finished. It isn't quite up there in the same league as _The Girl Next Door_ or _Stranglehold_, Ketchum's most appalling books, but it is certainly one of his best novels and deserves to be read. Just be careful and know what it is you're getting yourself into.
Rating: 
Summary: Cool book
Review: I read this book in 2 nights, it was very fast paced and well thought out. Its twist and turns kept me on my toes. Its a good read if you're into these types of books
Rating: 
Summary: Uneven Thriller
Review: I was excited to read this Bram Stoker Nominee by Jack Ketchum. This is my first time reading this author and although I was slightly disappointed, I will give his work another chance. I have no idea why this book takes place in the 60's. Except for the rare mention of the Vietnam war and the Sharon Tate murders, it could have easily taken place in modern times. I never got the sense of nostalgia or flavor for that era. Also, I felt some of the chapters were uneven, some quickly racing through the plot while others dragged on endlessly without any payoff (ie... the New York City dinner with Katherine). The novel is peppered with some akward sentence structure and very few, if any, likable characters. However, it has it's moments of tension and suspense. I compare it to a good television movie.
Rating:
Summary: Better than it sounds
Review: I won't go into the plot or story line , there are plenty of other reviews that do that, I'll just say that this is a very good book. After reading the discription of the book I was't thrilled to get it. Being a Ketchum fan I finally got around to reading it and was suprised. Jack Ketchum has a great flow in this book, the way he weaves the characters togeather throughout the story with little snippits of history and the time and feel of the lated 60's was well done. This is billed as a horror story but came acorss to me as more of a slice-of-life in small town story with a murder (ok multiple murders)involved. THIS IS A GOOD BOOK - READ IT.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I'd like to give this book 3 1/2 stars (but sadly, Amazon doesn't work on the half-star system).
My only previous exposure to Jack Ketchum was two amazing stories he'd had published in a collection from the magazine Cemetery Dance. Both were written in a hard-biting, striped down style - no excess description or fluff, nearly all drama and action. And both stories dealt with psychological and philosophical horror at a gut deep level, and left me hungry for more ("The Box" and "The Rifle," if you're curious - I think both are in Ketchum's short story collection "Peaceable Kingdom").
So I was pretty excited to read a Jack Ketchum novel and I've got to say ... I was a little let down to discover that it was a fairly by-the-numbers (although at times, graphically violent) hard crime novel. Ketchum's spare style is intact - he rarely pauses to paint a scene but instead focuses on dialogue and action. But the deep, yawning chilliness that attracted me to his short stories is pretty much gone from this novel.
Instead, we're treated to Ray Pye, the 60s-era drug-dealing sociopath and murderer who propels "The Lost" along. Pye is an interesting and believable character - charismatic but repulsive, arrogant but cripplingly insecure - the kind of guy I loved to hate from Page 1. Unfortunately, Pye is also far more interesting than the two cookie cutter cops who serve as protagonists to the book - Schilling the alcoholic divorcee and Anderson the retiree in late-life crisis.
Neither of these two gents are one iota different from hundreds of hard-bitten cops I've read in hundreds of (often inferior) crime novels, and it was a disappointment to see Ketchum let his villain overshadow the supposed "heroes" for so much of the book. Equally disappointing was the total lack of any 60s feel in the book. As other reviewers mentioned, apart from the tossed off mention of Nam or Sharon Tate or Nixon, this book could have been set in modern times. It felt more like Ketchum reaching for some deeper significance than any necessary period detail.
That said ... if you like crime fiction and have a stomach for some pretty visceral violence, "The Lost" delivers the goods. While most of the characters individually are not that engaging, watching their relationships complicate and unravel was downright fascinating. I also appreciate Ketchum's prose - he moves the story along at such a breakneck pace that I read the first 250 pages in the first night. Nearly every (short - another nice move) chapter ends in a dramatic cliffhanger that kept me reading right up until the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed "The Lost," but I've got a feeling it's not Jack Ketchum's best novel and I'm looking forward to reading more.
Rating: 
Summary: Huge Let-down
Review: I've heard so much about Ketchum over the years, and even met him at a l999 Horror Convention. His classic book OFF SEASON is hard to get, and I've been dying to read (and find)it for under the crazy prices that are charged for it. Leisure has finally put this much acclaimed author's work (THE LOST) on their roster, so I snatched it up the day it was released. Let's see: The prologue was intense, and then there was close to 300 pages of NOTHING. Yes. I said NOTHING but character development and graphic details of oral sex. For the amazing blurb written all over this book's cover (by the likes of Stephen King and Fangoria magazine), I expected much more. Hopefully this was just one of Ketchum's slow moments, because I know that he is highly respected in the genre. I wish Leisure would re-release OFF SEASON and THE GIRL NEXT DOOR so us poor people can see what all the fuss is about.....because THE LOST certainly is nothing to brag about.
Rating:
Summary: Lock the doors and keep the lights on at night
Review: I've read Jack Ketchum before and looked forward to this new book, THE LOST. When I started it I couldn't put it down until it was finished. It's a tense and edgy ride with Ray and those attracted to and repulsed by his relentless hunger. Years after the opening Bad incident we travel through the town Ray lives in, drawn by his non-PC life, waiting for the next Bad thing to happen. Ketchum doesn't disappoint in THE LOST, there was always another layer of Bad things waiting to make me turn the page. In the end, the random everyday-ness of Ray's evil made me want to put extra locks on my door and windows and sleep with the lights on. LOVED IT!
Rating:
Summary: A New Ketchum Twisted
Review: Jack Ketchum has written some very disturbing tales; his The Girl Next Door is one of the most affecting book I've ever read. He is a so-called horror novelist who blends natural, every-day horror (the darkness of a person's mind is always prominent in his books) with great stories. Now comes The Lost, his most mature and most affecting since Girl Next Door. A melee of characters in 1969 are trying to cope with something horrible that happened five years ago; the cold-blooded murder of two young female campers. You have the murderer, Ray, his two accomplices, Jen and Tim, some of their friends, the cop on the case, Charlie, and a retired cop who helped Charlie with the case five years ago, Ed. All their lives are about to crumble together as the horrors of the past event resurface to haunt them once more. Ketchum has no remorse for any of these characters; he shows to us that no one, no matter how good, is safe from a twisted mind. Ketchum is at his affecting best with this book. His prose grabs you by the guts and never intends to let go of you until the final page. The regular Ketchum reader will recognize all the trademarks that made this author such a cult phenomenon. But new readers beware; this tale is more slow moving and nostalgic than his other books (a lot of the book was obviously inspired by old 60s music, rock icons and films). Still, with its bloody finally and believable characters, The Lost is Ketchum's best in years, and that's saying a lot!
Rating:
Summary: Summer of 69'
Review: Jack Ketchum is known to many as one who writes from the gut and pulls no punches. This statement definitely applies to "The Lost" The opening chapter is set in 1965 when 3 teenagers, Jennifer, Tim & Ray, go on a camping trip in an isolated part of New Jersey. They assume that in these woods they'll be alone but they're wrong. 2 female campers share another spot nearby. Ray, a sociopathic greaser who likes to wear cowboy boots and hates the Beatles assumes(incorrectly) that the two are lesbians when he sees them kiss each other on the lips while spying on them. He then decides to off them with his revolver for no other good reason then that "they're lesbos man, they deserve to die". Fast forward to 1969. Nobody has yet found out who killed the two females in the woods four years earlier but deputy Charles Schilling does. He knows it's Ray but for the last four years his efforts to tie him to the crimes have had no success. He is intent on making Ray pay for his crimes no matter what the cost.. The author seems to capture the mood of the sixties real well(though I wouldn't know for sure being an 80's child). There are references to Woodstock, drugs, the Beatles, the stones, etc.He even ties the story in with the Sharon Tate murders of 69'. More of a thriller than a horror novel, "The Lost" is a very engaging read with many well-drawn characters.
Rating:
Summary: Shockingly Realistic
Review: Jack Ketchum's latest novel is one of the finest works of terror I have read. This is one of those stories that makes you dread the turn of the page for fear of what awaits you, but unable to stop. Written from the perspectives of several characters, it provides the reader the ability to look into each person's mind as the events unfold. This technique is not an easy one for a writer to pull off but Ketchum makes the transition from one character to the next absolutely flawless. Ray Pye is the man at the center of this story. An egotistical, brutish man with a Napoleon Complex. As a teenager he shoots two women while on a camping trip with his friends just to because he wanted to see what it would feel like to kill. What makes Ray truly frightening is the control he wields over those around him. His friends fear him, his girlfriend overlooks his infidelities and the other girls keep coming back for more. At times he appears almost comical as he puts on makeup and stuffs his boots to be taller. But underneath the narcissism lurks a violent and abusive psychopath. It was fascinating to watch this man unravel as his control is slowly chipped away. The main reason that I loved this novel was the pure realism of it. The novel is set in the sixties but it could be anytime, anywhere and be just as effective. There is no supernatural bogeyman between these pages. Only the cold, ugly side of human nature at it's worst. The realistic characters, the slow build up of tension and the gruesome climax combined to make one hell of a good book that had me reading well into the night.
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