Successful architect Brad Denning seems to have it all - a loving wife, great young son, thriving career - but he lives with the permanent shadow of the loss of his younger brother, Petey, who went missing one summer afternoon after Brad told him to get lost.
After a nationally-syndicated television appearance about his buildings, Brad is inundated by men claiming to be Petey - they're fakes, until he meets the man who knows things only Petey could know.
Petey's reluctant to talk much about what happened, except in passing. It's obvious he was neglected and abused, and the effects linger - Petey's barely literate, transient, poorly groomed and has a badly chipped front tooth. Delighted to have his brother back, and still beset by guilt, Brad brings Petey home, and tries to improve his lot - dentistry, a better hair cut, new clothes and a job. They reminisce about the happier times, especially the last summer before Petey's abduction, when the boys went camping with their father.
Brad decides to take Jason, his nine-year-old son, and Petey on a weekend camping trip. It starts out well, but on the first afternoon something hits Brad from behind and he falls down a steep slope to the river and the jagged rocks that line it.
Dazed and confused, Brad comes to some time later. His backpack snagged on a branch and broke his fall, but badly wrenched his arm in the process, and he has a nasty gash that's bleeding profusely. He calls for his brother and son, to no avail, then painstakingly makes his way back to the campsite. Briefly panicked by the missing van, Brad reasons that Petey and Jason must have gone for help, but when he finds the tent missing too he begins to panic in earnest.
His panic turns to desperation when Brad gets home and discovers his wife, Kate, is also missing, along with their valuable belongings and some clothing. He realises that Petey has tried to take over his life, and when the authorities are unable to help, Brad dedicates his life to tracking his brother down and rescuing his family - for, despite the belief of the FBI, the only thing keeping Brad together is his unshakable belief that his family is still alive.
Long Lost is a compelling read. Though the reader is easily able to see Brad's denial, and how irritating his do-gooding would be to his brother, the character is believable. Though I found some of Brad's reasoning while he tracks down the abductor to be a little far-fetched (he reenacts the events from the time 'Petey' first approached him as though he were Petey, with spectacular effectiveness), this was a relatively minor quibble. For most of the novel there's confusion about the identity of the man - is he Petey, or career-criminal Lester Dant, who may have crossed paths with Petey - and the way this is resolved was effective though the result is not surprising. Morrell can still write a tense and gripping thriller, and Long Lost is no exception. - Alex
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