Slightly stronger than the first book, perhaps because there wasn’t a lot of explaining to do. ( )

The second book in this series has a much more believable crime that Kat finds out about and sorta solves. The main drug plot takes care of itself by the end of the story but really leaves a few hanging plot threads about one of the bad guys. Grif finds out more about what happened when he died and Kat finds out more about the Everlast than humans should know about. I liked this book much better than the previous one and I am waiting now for the third one.

Digital review copy provided by Edelweiss ( )

“The Lost” by Vicki Pettersson

‘Shooting me up’ to a point where I don’t think can be any ‘higher’ only to be brought to greater heights then plummeted back to earth at the end of the book—that’s how I felt when I closed “The Lost.” You’ll understand my euphemisms with ‘shooting me up’ and ‘higher’ as you read on.

Griffin Shaw was murdered fifty years ago and is now a Centurion who graces the living again with one major agenda—to find out who killed him and his wife, Evie. Well, two agendas. The other being why. Along the way he rescues and falls in love with Katherine (Kit) Craig, a reporter.

While Grif investigates his own murder, loves Kit, and saves the dying from becoming a ‘Lost,’ he and Kit run around the city trying to solve the murder of Jeap Yang, a drug addict who became addicted to that which became his demise. Kit’s emotion was what placed she and Grif in harm’s way. Because Grif can see the plasma around the dying, it was he who knew the path Kit put them and her good friend Dennis on while trying to bring to justice the people responsible for Yang and many others’ deaths.

The race to find out if Kit, Grif, Dennis, and many other humans will come out of this alive was too much to handle. I had my own duel with day-to-day demands and “The Lost” won out as I placed all else on hold just to finish this novel. I was sorry to have read the last page, but only because the story was over. At least this one.

Pettersson is one author who can glue me to the page until the very last word. Absolutely 100% recommended. Ten stars.

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story” ( )

Wow. definitely not dull, and NOT predictable. Griff's immediate superior is a total manipulative jerk ( )

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
allthingsuf.com

There is no denying the technicolor beauty of Vicki Pettersson’s rockabilly heroine, Kit Craig. Each crisp, thoughtful detail brings the scent, feel, and lush sensuality of her perspective to life. In THE LOST, however, Pettersson reveals the fragility beneath Kit’s meticulous habits, the dark correllary of her structured world.

Though I adore the moments when I can lose myself in Pettersson’s writing, in the poetry of Kit and Griff’s experiences, those immersive set pieces do not span the entire story. I have a hard time framing the confluence of religion and magic that is Griff’s reality, which means all of the revelations that hinge on Griff’s angelic journey (or Kit’s place in it) take me out of the moment. I got sidetracked trying to assemble the rules governing Chosen and Lost, Pure and Fallen, and each one of those moments detracted from reading momentum. I like examining how a magical system works, but I would have enjoyed THE LOST more if I could stop trying to understand how Pettersson’s angelic ranks worked. The characters are fantastic, the writing is superb, and if I could have lost myself in the magic of this universe my review would have been 4 bats rather than 3.

While the vivid imagery of Pettersson’s world created cinematic quality moments that I loved reading, that over the top passion also creates dramatic moments that overshot my ability to be invested. When so much of Kit and Griff’s human/ angelic relationship relies on a magical system I don’t fully comprehend, it’s hard to be emotionally invested in their future. I know that moments between these two characters can be some of the most beautiful I’ve read, I’m just not sure if I believe in any possability of a happily ever after for them. Luckily, in Pettersson’s capable hands, even loss can be beautiful.

Sexual Content: Sex scenes. ( )