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Lost to Dune Road by Kara Thomas

Thomas and Mercer, 2024

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1662509568

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

First as a journalist, and then as an investigator, Natalee Ellerin hunts monsters. When writing about the unsolved murder of a young woman leads to the end of her career, she blames herself for mistakes. However, years later, when another young woman is on life support after being attacked in circumstances that are linked to that earlier murder, Natalee knows she must follow through and find out what is going on in an elite enclave on Long Island.

The monsters in Lost to Dune Road by Kara Thomas are predators, crooked policemen, and wealthy men who think they are above the law.  This gripping story is part crime novel, detective mystery, psychological thriller, and even a love story. In the end, the point will be to find the guilty, but it will take more than just a nose for a good story and the right questions for Natalee to expose the pattern of sordid crimes against women that are occurring with regularity. Natalee is savvy, sharp, and vulnerable, and her deep sense of loyalty and need to see justice realized compel her risk her safety and the relationships that are precious to her.

Kara Thomas has created a long cast of characters who are believable and complex. The action in this novel is fast-paced with new characters and subplots popping up with satisfying frequency without illogical twists thrown in merely for effect.  Readers will also find that the novel brings to mind the real-life horrors from current news, like Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking. These are the crimes, victims, and perpetrators that are hidden in plain sight and so, in some ways, the most terrifying to discover.

Reviewed by Nova Hadley