Review: Lost and Gone Forever

Lost and Gone Forever by Alex Grecian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been a fan of Alex Grecian’s Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad since I picked up the first book, The Yard. What I especially loved about The Yard was how it strayed away from the topic so often touched upon in books based in the era – it avoided Jack the Ripper. The same was true of The Black Country, ensuring I would follow the series wherever it went next. In book three, The Devil’s Workshop, I was a bit unsure. The book finally made a play for Jack the Ripper, which saddened me as the avoidance was what I enjoyed so much. It won me over, sure, but I was a bit upset by the change. In The Harvest Man, I found myself a bit more convinced by the change. The Harvest Man wasn’t all I had hoped it would be, but it left me with very high expectations for the next book.

Lost and Gone Forever, however, didn’t quite live up to my expectations. If I’m completely honest, book five is my least favourite in the series to date. In truth, a part of me considered giving this one a three-star rating. In fact, I thought I would be for quite a bit of the earlier part of the book. I’m not sure when, but at some point things started to change. Things started to come together and I found myself enjoying it a lot more. It is not a solid four-star rating, but it was a strong three-point-five-stars that needed to be rounded up. Thus, it may not have been my favourite, but it wasn’t a complete disaster.

I think my biggest disappointment is that The Harvest Man made it seem as though huge things were to come from Lost and Gone Forever. Although many details did come together in this one, although we got to see more of some of the things suggested in the prior books, it wasn’t as powerful as it could have been. In fact, I felt as though it glossed over many things. It seemed to be pulling multiple things together, but it didn’t tie them in a pretty bow – instead, things just were. Some things were great, others not so much.

It was fun, worth reading if you’re a fan of the series, but it is not the best Alex Grecian book I have read. Although I will continue to read this series, I’m not going to be quite as eager to dive into the next when it comes out.

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