The Edge Of Lost

Title: The Edge of Lost
Author: Kristina McMorris
Published: November 24, 2015 by Kensington
Pages: 340
Source: Publisher via SheReads blog network
Rating: 4.5/5
Goodreads

On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard’s only daughter—one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island—has gone missing. Tending the warden’s greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl’s whereabouts, and that both of their lives depend on the search’s outcome.

Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world.

Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to New York to San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted characters discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell—and believe—in order to survive.

My review:

What a wonderful read! At the very beginning we get a snippet of information from 1937 Alcatraz. Then the story jumps back many years and we follow the life of Shanley Keagan first in Dublin, then in America. It's obvious early on how the two stories will likely intersect, but it's how they come together that gives such a wonderful, completely immersible story. I loved Shan, and he was such a great character to root for. There were secondary characters that were also well drawn, some are likable, some not. The last third of the book is completely an edge of your seat, can't turn the pages fast enough, read. The only thing that niggled at me just a bit was at the end when a person from the past reappears in a slightly unbelievable way, but it by no means dampened my enthusiasm for this book! The main theme I got from this book was that sometimes good people get caught up in bad situations, and second chances are a necessary option.

I highly recommend this book, but be sure you have a good chunk of time laid out to read it, because you won't want to put this compelling story down.

This book is one of the Winter selections for the She Reads blog network. Click on the images in my sidebar to learn more about them.