Lost to Dune Road – ARC Book Review

Title:- Lost to Dune Road

Author:- Kara Thomas

Date published:- will be published on 16th April 2024

No. of pages:- 333 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

For a disgraced reporter, unraveling a conspiracy of murder could mean redemption in a powerful novel of suspense by the bestselling author of Out of the Ashes.

Reporter Lee Ellerin’s investigation into a young woman’s unsolved murder gained national attention—only for her to lose everything due to a tragic mistake. After being publicly ridiculed for causing a suspect’s death, Lee is forced to leave her career behind.

Five years later, pregnant college student Amanda Hartley lies in a coma. The police say she attempted suicide, but the details don’t add up. Where is the father? Who was paying for Amanda’s Manhattan penthouse? Why did Amanda have a note with Lee’s name in her backpack? There’s also one alarming coincidence: Amanda was last seen on Dune Road in the Hamptons—where the murder victim in Lee’s previous investigation disappeared.

As she’s pulled back into the still-unsolved case that destroyed her career, Lee sees the chance to amend the mistakes of her past. But finding a killer and unearthing Amanda’s secrets sends her down a darker path than she has ever walked before.

Lee Ellerin is a former reporter whose investigation into the murder of a young girl caused her to lose everything including her own job as a reporter. Five years later, Lee is working as a private investigator, when she was asked to investigate the nearly attempted murder of pregnant Amanda who is left in coma. As Lee is investigating, she finds a connection between Amanda and the previous girl that Lee was investigating on–Amanda like the previous victim was seen on Dune Road. Is there a connection between the two victims? Why was Amanda at the Dune Road?

This was actually a fast-paced thriller, packed with twists and turns and is also a page turner. I also like the plot of the story as I found the plot to be interesting. The writing was also great and I feel that the author did a good job of making the reader draw into the story. Despite the good things, I felt there were too many characters in the book which actually made the book a bit confusing as to who is who. The romance part of this thriller I feel is unnecessary. Most of the characters in the book are unlikable which is also another bad thing. The story shifts between Lee, who is the main protagonist and Amanda the second known victim, which outlined how she got pregnant and got ended up in the situation. This is also more like a political thriller in my opinion as well–well known men, elite people from Hamptons, money, power…that was the main outline of the story.

But overall, I did enjoy the book despite these things and I am actually looking forward to read more books from this author. Worth 4 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.