I want to extend a huge thanks to Chris Merritt for inviting
me to be a part of the tour for Lost Souls, the third book of the
Lockhart and Green series. I’d also like to thank Bookouture and Noelle for grantingme access to this title on Netgalley and of course having me on the tour! Lost Souls was published in eBook format on the 9th of February, you can order yourself a copy here.
‘Please forgive me for what I’m about to do…
Standing at the school gates, he waits until the last child leaves the safety of the playground. And then he follows at a
distance, keeping to the shadows. Only he knows what’s going to happen next.
In a quiet church, on a busy London street, 12-year-old Donovan Blair is found dead. His hands are clasped together as if in prayer. Just hours ago, he was happily playing with his friends at school, but now his body is lifeless, and his killer is long gone.
Detective Dan Lockhart is working alone on his wife’s missing persons case when he receives a call telling him to get to the crime scene at St Mary’s Church immediately.
Bringing in psychologist Dr Lexi Green to help profile the murderer, Dan is convinced that the killer has provided a clue by leaving the body in a prayer position, and Lexi agrees. As they try to get into the mind of the person responsible, another victim is found. A 13-year-old girl, left in a different church, posed in exactly the same way.
Fearing the murderer may already have another child in his sights, Dan and Lexi work together to establish links between the two deaths, and soon discover that not only were both children in care – they had attended the same school. And when it emerges that Lexi’s new boyfriend works there, things become difficult between her and Dan. How much can he tell Lexi about the case? And could she be at risk?
As Dan makes a breakthrough in the investigation, he receives devastating news about his wife, Jess. But with children’s lives at stake and Lexi in danger, Dan must put his personal emotions aside and chase the killer. Can he and Lexi work out who is behind the
murders before another vulnerable child is taken?’
‘Death was a fresh start for them, that was how he saw
it.’
This is the immediate, introductory level of thrill that Lost Souls posses, we are quickly slapped in the face with how chilling our unknown assailant is and that is only the starter of this deliciously dark literary meal.
Lost Souls is the third instalment of the Lockhart and Green series, but I feel that you could quite happily read it dependent of the first two – but if you’re an all or nothing reader like me, you’ll binge read Knock Knock and Who’s There? Like the greedy crime thriller reader that we all know you are! So, we are reintroduced to detective Dan Lockhart and Dr Lexi Green, a duo who both contribute the smarts and gall to their current case. Lockhart is rigid, a mystery wrapped in a conundrum but as his personal life is spotlighted throughout Lost Souls you begin to understand him further and why he appears stand-offish. Lexi Green on the other
hand, I feel, balances out Lockhart’s bravado with her intellectual take on
things, while also appearing to soften our detective, becoming his confident while he works through his search for his missing wife. During the storyline, our antagonists begin to subtly clash over the approach to the case that involves children, on that resurfaces a personal trauma for Lexi while also appearing to close to home. I enjoyed the alternative narratives from both our main characters, I loved delving further into their undercurrent of layers as the plotline begun to sinisterly unravel. I also enjoyed how Chris injected various chapters written from the unknown assailant’s point of view, how by doing so we
are able to get a further grasp of the psychology and reasoning behind his
actions. This, for me, created a further intensity, where we are reading the
sequence of events and justifications for the murderer, while also being able to create ties with evidence found by Lockhart and Green.
Multiple narratives are a delicious way to feast upon the events of a book and Chris has balanced, connected and executed them with precision, while leaving us gasping for more
after every single chapter. The narratives alternate seamlessly, it really worked.
Lost Souls has an incorporated ribbon of non-fiction laced around the core storyline, Chris Merritt cleverly sews in real life themes and cases into is books, ones that he nods to in the acknowledgements. This is the same for this slice of crime thriller, he has cleverly built upon a foundation of haunting authentic cases and plaited the threads into a shocking fictional
read that kept me gripped from start to finish. The writing is great, the plot
is gripping and nail biting, a complete roller coaster ride, one that will make
you double check what lurks within the shadows.
Do yourself a favour and go grab yourself a copy of Lost Souls, grab a hot drink and some baked goods, hide away and consume! I highly recommend that you do!
The Reading Closet 