The Lost by Jack Ketchum

The Lost by Jack Ketchum


It was the summer of 1965. Ray, Tim, and Jennifer were just three teenage friends hanging out in the campgrounds, drinking a little. But Tim and Jennifer didn't know what their friend Ray had in mind. And if they'd known, they wouldn't have thought he was serious. Then they saw what he did to the two girls at the neighboring campsite--and knew he was dead serious.

Four years later, the 60s were drawing to a close. No one ever charged Ray with the murders in the campgrounds, but there was one cop determined to make him pay. Ray figured he was in the clear. Tim and Jennifer thought the worst was behind them, that the horrors were all in the past. They were wrong. The worst was yet to come.

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was an okay read. I really would not classify it as horror, even though that is what it says on the spine. It is your basic murder story. Ray Pye murders a couple of teenage girls and gets away with it. Two cops know he did it but can not find the evidence they need to convict him for it. Four years later we get a glimpse into the life of Ray, see the cops push him on the murder, and see him break. The end is pretty much the only really horrific action of the book and it was tame compared to a lot now days. I look forward to reading some of Ketchum's other books, but this was probably not a great introduction to his work.
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