Lost

Rating:
Summary: I was "LOST" for three days
Review: "Lost" is another fine page-turner from one of my favorite authors. The ending was one I never saw coming and I enjoyed every minute of this book which I read in three sittings. However, though I am sure that natives of Toronto enjoyed reading about the descriptions of various landmarks (was it really necessary to describe the exact location and appearance of the police station?), I could have done without them. However I was intrigued by this device when she used it in Grand Avenue (probably because I live near Cincinnati!) All in all, I recommend this book very highly and look forward to Joy Fielding's next offering.

Rating:
Summary: I felt lost
Review: After being disappointed with Joy Fielding's "Whispers and Lies," I hoped that her latest novel "Lost" would improve my impression of her abilities. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The story concerns the disappearance of Cindy Carver's daughter Julia, who goes for a film audition and is not seen again. Feeling the police are not doing enough to look for Julia, Cindy performs her own investigations in a very desperate and confrontational manner, casting a suspicious eye on Julia's ex-boyfriend, Cindy's other daughter's boyfriend, the director Julia auditioned for, and the next door neighbors. During the chaos of the disappearance, Cindy meets and falls in love with a man who is very unrealistically portrayed. Cindy's family rallies to her side to lend support, and coincidentally they also contribute to the better scenes in the novel. These scenes include family squabbles, misunderstandings, and reconciliations that add some warmth and comic relief to an otherwise cool and disorganized novel.

To Fielding's credit, she does paint a convincing portrait of the anguish a mother feels after the disappearance of a child, as well as the perception of the world as a cruel and violent place. But the details of Cindy's involvement with her neighbors, her ex-husband, her friends, and others she deals with are pointless and lead nowhere. None of the characters are likable. The ending is far-fetched and such a letdown that it ruins the suspenseful build-up that preceded it. I hope to see better from Fielding in the future.

Eileen Rieback

Rating:
Summary: Don't Get Lost...
Review: At the very least, if you are a fan of Joy Fielding, simply check this book out from your local library and don't actually spend the money to purchase it. It only took me one day to read the entire book, so I don't feel I wasted too much time on it. But that's the point: ultimately, this novel feels like a waste of time.

The novel revolves around a divorced mother of two daughters: the oldest, Julia, is a twenty-one year old, aspiring actress, and a seemingly impossible and obstinate and instantly unlikable young woman. She begins the novel pitching a fit because she can't get into the bathroom in the morning to get ready for an audition later that day, and then disappears from her mother's life.

Cindy, her long-suffering mother, spends the novel worrying about her first-born daughter, ignoring the needs of her other daughter, Heather, arguing with her mother and sister, falling in love and into bed with a new man, and wrestling with her constant thoughts and memories of her ex-husband.

Mix in the plot twist of "what is happening with the couple next door?", which red herring will pop up next, and subplots coming and going, and you end up with this novel: one that ends so much with a thud you wish you'd never invested the time spent getting to that point.

As readable as most of the novel is, it concludes in such an irritating and infuriating way that it's not surprising that the book will be thrown into a near wall or dropped immediately to the floor in disgust.

I've liked many of Fielding's novels...this is clearly not one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Romantic Suspense Thriller Leads Reader on Merry Chase
Review: From the opening sentence, 'The morning began, as did so many of their mornings, with an argument', to the final chapter, the reader is pulled into this suspenseful tale of a missing daugher being sought by her overwrought mother. Cindy Carver is the divorced mother who teeters on the brink of insanity as she searches for her missing twenty-one-year-old daughter. The mother-daughter relationship they share is explored from birth as Cindy examines what went wrong and her responsibility in Julia's disappearance. Visions of kidnapping, torture, and other forms of lurid death drive Cindy to hysteria, and an unbalanced neighbor, a self-serving ex-husband, an overbearing sister, and an overprotective mother don't add much comfort.

The reader will breathlessly follow Cindy as she wildly grabs at each and every thread that may lead her to find her missing daughter. There are many red herrings including an incontinent dog named Elvis and a new lover too good to be true to distract her before the finale that has Cindy re-examining her relationship with both of her daughters.

Engrossing and thoroughly spell-binding, this is a quick read that entertains completely.

Rating:
Summary: Boring and Annoying
Review: I always enjoy the suspense and tension of a Joy Fielding novel and eagerly picked this one up. I was disappointed by the premise, which promised much and delivered little. Story lines were hinted at, but never materialized. Cindy was the most annoying and obnoxious character I've read about all year. I hope the next Joy Fielding book is better.

Rating:
Summary: Only a mother would hate this book
Review: I have all of Joy Fielding's books and I was truly disappointed. Her characters are all self-centered and selfish. The ex-husband should be drawn and quartered as well as both daughters. I won't even go into how a mother allows a teenager daughter to have a live-in boyfriend in her own home. Are we all missing something here? I am sorry I didn't miss this very poor attempt of a family gone completely wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable and Trite
Review: I have read and enjoyed many of Fieldings previous novels. Not so, LOST. Although I cared about the main character Cindy, her remaining daughter and family, I couldn't have cared less if the missing daughter was found or not. The missing daughter seemed spoiled and - well mean. I expected a mystery, I guess, with the mother tracking down the clues, and although she did do some investigation on her own, she mostly waited for her daughter to come home. In the course of the story she meets the perfect man (of course) who helps her though everything. Please.

Rating:
Summary: Lost
Review: I have read just about all Joy Fielding's books and enjoyed them all. However,I was looking forward to reading this book but it let me down. The ending I thought was terrible.Pam

Rating:
Summary: I wanted to crash my car
Review: I listened to this novel on CD. I was tempted to crash the car. A waste of time. The characters were weak, disappointing and ANNOYING as all hell. Avoid this book if you are a smart intelligent female.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I look forward to anything by Joy Fielding, and was disappointed in this effort. The plot was transparent and contrived, the characters overly-selfish, and Cindy, the primary character, was over-reactive and immature. The sub-plot between Cindy and her younger daughter Heather, was never fleshed out, though it had potential to be very emotional and moving.

The ending was predictable and unsatisfying...