Rating: 
Summary: Page turner of the first water
Review: Brad Denning's life is going well--a prosperous Denver based architect ,his work is attracting positive interest nationally ,and his marriage to the beautiful and intelligent Kate is solid and has produced one son ,Jason.There is a shadow over his life however -the disappearance of his younger brother many years previously ,when he was 13 and Petey ,the brother,8 .He blames himself for the vanishing as Petey had been told he was not welcome at a ball game for older kids and was trekking forlornly home ,never to make it.Following an appearance on national TV ,Brad is contacted by a stranger claiming to be his long lost brother and relating a history of abduction ,abuse and casual labouring in construction.He is able to produce snipppets of information that persuade Brad and his family of his bona fides and is welcomed into the family.He rewards them by attemting to murder Brad and then kidnapping Kate and Jason.
FBI investigations come to naught and so Brad sets out to trace the man .Along the way he finds answers to the key questions --Is the man really his brother? Are his family alive and if so can they be rescued. You will have a good time finding out and some of the scenes are especially vivid as when Brad is trapped in a pit full of rattlesnakes (this is similar to the cave scene in First Blood in its vivid intensity) and the book builds to an explosive and powerful climax. Simpler and leaner than some of his more labyrinthine outings this shows the author in a rich vein of literary form and is a satisfying thriller likely to be enjoyed by a wide readership.
Rating: 
Summary: Morrell is One of the Masters
Review: Brad Dennings is a successful architect with a beautiful wife and a son he loves very much. He has a nice life, but a horrible day from his past turns it all around. Twenty five years earlier, when he was thirteen, he got tired of his nine-year-old younger brother Petey tagging after him, so he sent him home, but Petey never made it. It looked like a kidnapping, because they found his bike and baseball glove. Brad, carries the guilt with him, but buries it over time. A quarter century later a stranger shows up claiming to be Petey. Then Petey disappears again, but this time he takes Brad's wife and son with him. Once again David Morrell has written a novel that will have you on the edge of your seat as you follow along with Brad as he tries to get his stolen family back. When it comes to writing a thriller, Morrell is one of the masters. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Rating:
Summary: Great suspense novel
Review: David Morrell has built his career around suspense novels. His earlier novels often had adventurous sorts (ex-assassins, soldiers, et cetera) battling ... conspiracies. His more recent works have dealt with more human adventures, sometimes with more success than others (I personally find Double Image one of his weakest efforts). In Long Lost, Brad Denning is a successful architect who is traumatized by the unsolved kidnaping of his brother twenty-five years earlier. After being featured on national TV, he encounters a man who claims to be his brother. While this brother appears to be genuine, knowing things only Brad's brother could know, the experienced reader will know that something bad is afoot. And something bad does happen. The brother tries to [end the life of] Brad and kidnaps his wife and son. The FBI assists and tells Brad that the culprit was someone impersonating his brother, but are no good at finding Brad's family. It is up to Brad to figure out if the kidnaper is his brother or not and more importantly to rescue his family. This is a pure suspense novel, a great page turner. Morrell isn't interested in any great insights into human nature, just entertaining, and he succeeds well. A week from reading this, you'll have forgotten the characters names and the settings will begin to fade, but you'll still remember the most important thing: that you had a blast while reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling
Review: Great read. Once I started reading it I could barely stand to put it down. It is writen in such a way that compels you to want to keep flipping the pages to find out what happens next. I also recommend reading Morrell's "The Protector", another fantastic read. Morrell is a fantastic author and I look forward to reading more of his novels.
Rating:
Summary: The best Morrell novel that I've read so far
Review: I have hardback (First Edition) copies of "Desperate Measures", "Extreme Denial", "Double Image" and "Burnt Sienna" (and, a couple weeks ago, I borrowed "Assumed Identity" from the Public Library), so when I found copies of "Long Lost" (2002) in the "bargain books" section of Barnes and Noble three weeks ago, I bought a copy without hesitation. I was anticipating reading this novel as soon as I bought it--but in the meantime I had checked out two novels from the Library--and received the chance to read "Long Lost" Sunday night (June 13, 04). I began about 7:30 p.m. and finished about five and a half hours later, at about 1 a.m. "Long Lost" had me hooked from the first two sentences. The book read very quickly and had a ton of action, the quality of which was near horror. "Long Lost" is, I feel, David Morrell's best book, better than the five previous novels I read.
"Long Lost" is the first book that Morrell wrote in first-person POV, which worked pretty well for the storyline. In general, the seemingly "good" guy is actually the antagonist (Petey Denning/Lester Dant), who disrupts the life of the protagonist (the first-person narrator, Bradley Denning).
Petey is kidnapped at the age of nine--his thirteen-year-old brother, Brad, turned him away when Petey wanted to participate in a baseball game with the old kids, so he pedals his bike home but never makes it there--and lived a horribly tortured life with a crazed, cult-ish "God-fearing, Bible-knowing" family, the Dants, who changed his name to Lester--they had kidnapped Petey to "replace" their son who had died--until he escaped being imprisioned when he was sixteen. For about twenty-five years, he was a derelict, a drifter, whose life had no real purpose other than to cause trouble for people and mooch off them; until one summer day when he encounters his older brother, Brad. Brad can't believe that he found his brother and takes him immediately into his home; Brad feels terrible and guilty and responsible for what happened to his brother. Petey/Lester becomes jealous of Brad's successful life--his wife, Kate, his son, Jason and his home. Because Brad had told him to "Get Lost", Petey never had a good life; Lester (Petey) decides to get retribution against Brad, so Lester kidnaps Kate and Jason. For over a year, Lester gives Brad's wife and son the life that Petey had endured. Six months after they disappeared, the FBI gave up the case, but Brad took it upon himself to continue the investigation and find his family, presuming that Kate and Jason were still alive. The FBI agent (Grady) tried to convice Brad that Lester and Petey were not the same man, but Brad's instincts were correct. Brad risks his life to get his family back, the wife and son that Petey wanted and had successfully brainwashed by torture as his own. The ending is happy; Petey gets what he deserves for having messed up Brad's life. Nevertheless, the crazy Dant couple--who perished when they couldn't get out of their house when Lester set fire to their home and then got away, after about seven years of nightmarish isolation--messed up Petey's life and caused him to be half-crazy, so Petey/Lester simply wanted life to be fair to him.
As hard as the novel was to put down (I read it in one sitting), the story it contains is even harder to forget. I guess the moral of the story is about revenge and fairness; how a person's good life can suddenly turn bad and how a person's bad life can end up even worse in an attempt to make life good.
All in all, "Long Lost" is a great book. I rate it 4 stars, though, because I feel the story could've been a little richer had the novel been a little longer (say about 400-500 pages, instead of 303 pages). I look forward to reading Morrell's earlier novels, of which there are several.
"Lost Long" confirms the fact that, now, David Morrell is my favorite author (having easily surpassed John Grisham and, to an extent, Stephen King). "Long Lost" is a must-read!
Rating:
Summary: The best Morrell novel that I've read so far
Review: I have hardback (First Edition) copies of "Desperate Measures", "Extreme Denial", "Double Image" and "Burnt Sienna" (and, a couple weeks ago, I borrowed "Assumed Identity" from the Public Library), so when I found copies of "Long Lost" (2002) in the "bargain books" section of Barnes and Noble three weeks ago, I bought a copy without hesitation. I was anticipating reading this novel as soon as I bought it--but in the meantime I had checked out two novels from the Library--and received the chance to read "Long Lost" Sunday night (June 13, 04). I began about 7:30 p.m. and finished about five and a half hours later, at about 1 a.m. "Long Lost" had me hooked from the first two sentences. The book read very quickly and had a ton of action, the quality of which was near horror. "Long Lost" is, I feel, David Morrell's best book, better than the five previous novels I read.
"Long Lost" is the first book that Morrell wrote in first-person POV, which worked pretty well for the storyline. In general, the seemingly "good" guy is actually the antagonist (Petey Denning/Lester Dant), who disrupts the life of the protagonist (the first-person narrator, Bradley Denning).
Petey is kidnapped at the age of nine--his thirteen-year-old brother, Brad, turned him away when Petey wanted to participate in a baseball game with the old kids, so he pedals his bike home but never makes it there--and lived a horribly tortured life with a crazed, cult-ish "God-fearing, Bible-knowing" family, the Dants, who changed his name to Lester--they had kidnapped Petey to "replace" their son who had died--until he escaped being imprisioned when he was sixteen. For about twenty-five years, he was a derelict, a drifter, whose life had no real purpose other than to cause trouble for people and mooch off them; until one summer day when he encounters his older brother, Brad. Brad can't believe that he found his brother and takes him immediately into his home; Brad feels terrible and guilty and responsible for what happened to his brother. Petey/Lester becomes jealous of Brad's successful life--his wife, Kate, his son, Jason and his home. Because Brad had told him to "Get Lost", Petey never had a good life; Lester (Petey) decides to get retribution against Brad, so Lester kidnaps Kate and Jason. For over a year, Lester gives Brad's wife and son the life that Petey had endured. Six months after they disappeared, the FBI gave up the case, but Brad took it upon himself to continue the investigation and find his family, presuming that Kate and Jason were still alive. The FBI agent (Grady) tried to convice Brad that Lester and Petey were not the same man, but Brad's instincts were correct. Brad risks his life to get his family back, the wife and son that Petey wanted and had successfully brainwashed by torture as his own. The ending is happy; Petey gets what he deserves for having messed up Brad's life. Nevertheless, the crazy Dant couple--who perished when they couldn't get out of their house when Lester set fire to their home and then got away, after about seven years of nightmarish isolation--messed up Petey's life and caused him to be half-crazy, so Petey/Lester simply wanted life to be fair to him.
As hard as the novel was to put down (I read it in one sitting), the story it contains is even harder to forget. I guess the moral of the story is about revenge and fairness; how a person's good life can suddenly turn bad and how a person's bad life can end up even worse in an attempt to make life good.
All in all, "Long Lost" is a great book. I rate it 4 stars, though, because I feel the story could've been a little richer had the novel been a little longer (say about 400-500 pages, instead of 303 pages). I look forward to reading Morrell's earlier novels, of which there are several.
"Lost Long" confirms the fact that, now, David Morrell is my favorite author (having easily surpassed John Grisham and, to an extent, Stephen King). "Long Lost" is a must-read!
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: It's about time I get to enjoy to read this book with different scenery other than paintings/art/pictures from the last two books (Burnt Sienna and Double Image) in a row other than Black Evening. I will look forward reading the next book The Protector.
Rating:
Summary: A horror novel disguised as a work of suspense.
Review: Many of us regret things we did or said while growing up. Luckily, the majority of us have had the chance to atone for and forget our youthful indiscretions. Brad Denning, however, has lived with his for over two decades. At age thirteen, Brad one day scolded his little brother Petey for being a pest, telling him to "bug off" and "go home." Profoundly disappointed, Petey does just that, except he never made it home-his bike and baseball glove were found lying in the street just a few blocks from the Denning house. Presumed kidnapped, Petey is never found. Brad moves on, becomes a successful architect and raises his own family, but still carries inside his profound guilt over Petey's disappearance. One day, a stranger claiming to be the long lost Petey enters his life. Initially stunned by this development, Brad overcomes his doubts, and eventually embraces this man as his brother. His joy is short lived, however, as "Petey" shows another, decidedly more sinister side, attempting to murder Brad, and subsequently kidnapping Brad's wife and son. After a lengthy recovery period, Brad is told by the FBI that Petey's trail has gone cold. Having narrowly escaped death, the despondent architect vows to track Petey down, no matter what the cost. A powerful reflection on love, loss, courage and despair, LONG LOST is a horror novel disguised as a thriller. Although he leads with classic revenge and chase motifs, Morrell's narrative also includes metaphorical monsters, tombs, even a haunted house. By telling his story in the first person, Morrell makes his readers vicariously experience Brad Denning's triumphs and tragedies, almost pummeling them with his conflicting emotions
of hope and despair, of love, and revulsion. Brad's journey in search of Petey reveals as much about the hunter as it does the prey, as Brad comes to terms with the terrible forces that molded Petey into the monster he's become. Understanding Petey's twisted psyche and motivations does not lead the increasingly cold-hearted Brad to forgive him, however. Brad submerges certain aspects of his personality and uncovers others in his effort to save his family. Brutal, touching, and often horrific, LONG LOST is an example of classic storytelling from a writer who knows how to push readers' emotional buttons.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: Survival is a major theme of this recent psychological thriller from David Morrell. This amazingly fast read opens with a universal fear of parents everywhere-the disappearance of their child. In this case, the disappearance destroyed a family and left one son with tremendous guilt. Years ago, Brad Denning sent his younger brother, who wanted to do nothing more than hang out with his older brother and his friends, home from a local park. Giving in to peer pressure, Brad's last glimpse of his eight-year-old brother was of Petey pedaling down the street on his way home with his head hanging down. But, Petey never made it and the family was shattered. Soon his father spiraled into a drunken stupor, lost his job and then his life in a fatal car crash. They were forced to move in with his Mother's parents and she slowly shriveled away and died. Brad, while outwardly appearing successful and running his own thriving architectural business is haunted by the dreams and the guilt over his actions. Over the years, he has given the occasional media interview connected with his business and has spoken of his long lost brother. After the nationwide broadcast of a popular Sunday morning news program, several people who claim to be his brother contact him. They quickly prove to be scam artists. Then, outside his building he is hailed by a man who he does not recognize. The man appears to be homeless, but knows details only his brother would know. Slowly, over several hours he begins to believe the man in and accepts him as his brother. He takes the man in as his brother and begins to help him turn his life around. Then, the man disappears with Brad's wife, Kate and his son, Jason and the hunt begins for his missing family. While there is some character development, this novel relies primarily on action to move the story forward. The book quickly turns into one long extended chase scene as Brad follows a very cold trail across the country looking for his family. The introspective moments, such as they are, a few and far between and while Brad feels guilt over what has happened, the reader never really shares that guilt with him. This novel also relies on a technique promoted heavily these days as advice to writers to keep the chapters very short to encourage the short attention spanned reader to move along. Many chapters consist of just a couple of pages, while others consist of nothing more than a long paragraph and plenty of blank paper. This appearance of the work reinforces the notion from the text that this is a lightweight novel of very little substance and designed to be a fast read at the beach. As such it is perfectly good, but if one is expecting a complex and incredibly enjoyable novel such as his Brotherhood of the Rose (which this novel is mistakenly compared too in the jacket copy) unfortunately, this is not it. Take it for what it is and enjoy it, but don't have high expectations-they won't be met.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great - 3 1/2 stars
Review: With Long Lost, David Morrell presents a suspenseful, yet profoundly disturbing story of regret and revenge. Brad Denning has grown up with the haunting guilt that he is responsible for the disappearance of his younger brother when they were both kids. After years of tortuous thoughts about what his life and the lives of his family members would have been like if he could have a "do over" on that fateful day, his brother unexpectedly comes into his life. A happy reunion quickly turns sour and Brad finds himself in a life and death struggle. As he searches for his wife and son, he slowly comes to fully understand the path of destruction set in motion after his brother disappeared. It is story of a simple twist of fate with very negative consequences. Although choppy in places and with a subject matter that is clearly not for the squeamish, Morrell effectively uses the first person narrative to tell the story from Brad Dennings' perspective. The frequent twists, turns and action sequences make Long Lost a very quick read. All things considered, Long Lost is good but not great.
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