Little Boy Lost is one of those books that right from the start felt right. I instantly liked and later came to love Justin Glass, his daughter and the rest of his family, well perhaps not so much his brother Lincoln who is, to be honest, a bit of a jerk now and then. I also love the story. I mean it starts off with Justin being hired by a little girl to find her brother and she is paying him through money from a cuss jar. Yeah, I know, I was sold right from the start.

This is the kind of book that is a true enjoyment from the beginning until the end, the case with the missing and then later found dead boy together with other dead boys are interesting, but I enjoyed as well everything that was going on around in Justin life, from his daughter getting bullied, to him getting a very assertive assistant that makes his working life much easier. The book deals with a lot of issues that plague our time, from racism to bullying. And, as Justin notice, a black man reporting a crime is most likely going to be treated as a suspect and it's awful to read about how violent the police are towards an unarmed man. That is one scene that is very disturbing because how many times haven't I read about a black man or a woman who is unarmed being killed in the US.

Now, the ending was not a terribly surprising, but I liked it. It fitted the story. And, I would very much like to read more about Justin Glass and his family.

Avery good story that has lots of twist and turns and speaks about the injustice justice system.

Little Boy Lost by J.D. Trafford. Sometimes a book comes along that feels like a microcosm of our world, and Trafford's novel about the turbulence in St. Louis when a series of murders are discovered contains many of the elements society currently struggles with.

Jason Glass is a down and out lawyer from a mixed background. His mother is white and his father is black; his white grandfather is a retired Federal District Court Judge who continues to hold great political influence; his black father, a U.S. Congressman, has recently decided to retire. Money and influence abound in this family, but Jason, who has been in a severe depression since the death of his wife, has neither.

Tanisha, a young black girl, brings a pickle jar full of coins into Jason's office hoping to hire him to find her missing sixteen-year-old brother. Jason explains that he is a lawyer, not the police or a detective. (Or a charity, he thinks privately as he swelters in his office because he can't afford to have his air conditioner fixed.) But Jason does end up promising to give Tanisha limited help.

When Tanisha's brother is found, his is only one of many bodies of young black males buried in a secluded area. Jason is quickly besieged by parents of missing boys who do not know if their sons are among the dead and who do not trust the police.

There are so many themes in this novel and all of them are treated respectfully, not glorified or exploited mawkishly. It is a murder mystery by genre, but much more than that, the novel explores problems that are neither new nor likely to diminish any time soon.

Initially, I wasn't sure whether I would like this one, but it didn't take long for me to become engaged not only with the characters, but with the way Trafford included important issues as part and parcel of the narrative without ever seeming pedantic or preachy.

A few quotes about some of the larger issues that may sound preachy out of context, but were skillfully submerged in the story:

"That's why Congress is so dysfunctional. It isn't politics that's the problem. It's the people who get into politics."

"The anonymous person had put Jimmy Poles on trial and convicted him through the Internet. It was inflammatory. It wasn't fair, but it was effective. ...This was the new world."

"Saint Louis had always had an identity crisis. It was the intersection of North, South, East and West."

"The news reports were caricatures--information and images manipulated to support the political priorities of either the left or the right."

"'Oh, Mr. Glass, they never get tired of violence.' Then she looked out the window at the sky, maybe thinking about all the violence that she'd seen in Bosnia, thinking that most Americans didn't know how fragile things really were."

Recommended.

NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer

Crime/Politics. Aug. 1, 2017. Print length: 318 pages.

Justin Glass hails from a prominent political family; his father is the most senior US congressman in Missouri, his grandfather a retired Federal District Court Judge and his brother is a state senator. Justin has a small law practice. His life fell to pieces after his wife died. He was fired from his previous, more prestigious job and lost his house after getting into debt. Now he and his daughter, Sammy, live with his mother and grandfather. His one-man office is in the seedier part of town and he has a small contract with the Saint Louis Public Defender’s Office, which helps with the finances.

When eight year old Tanisha Walker comes to his office with a jar full of coins and pleads for Justin to find her missing older brother, it sparks an unprecedented investigation. With the help of Sergeant Schmidt from the Saint Louis Police Department, the body of Devon Walker along with a number of other young black teenagers, were found buried in a mass grave. Their disappearances were never investigated fully, if at all.

Justin’s decision to take on the disturbing case of the ‘Lost Boys’ as it becomes known, and do the best he can to help the families, gives his career as well as his personal life an unexpected boost. With the help of an assistant who isn’t afraid to use her authority to the best advantage and a questionable computer programmer, Justin’s practice takes on a life of its own, his clients those who have also been ignored by a system unsympathetic to the black community. Against the backdrop of a sweltering August in the city, Justin juggles family problems, his cases with the Public Defender’s Office and the mystery of the Lost Boys.

Told in the first person from Justin’s point of view, there are several threads running through the narrative, including the still socially pertinent issue of racial tension and the violence it can provoke, shown to great effect when Justin helps a friend. I like the convincing way he is portrayed; still suffering from the loss of his wife and feeling embarrassed about his home situation. Added to the fact that he took Tanisha and her concerns seriously, regardless of her age and despite feeling doubts about taking the case.

I enjoyed JD Trafford’s writing style and the structure of the story. Quite slow and steady to begin with, gaining momentum as it goes. The characters and dialogue are representational and very believable, as are the situations Justin finds himself in.

I chose to read and review an advance copy of Little Boy Lost based on a digital file supplied by NetGalley and the author/publisher.

My thanks to Sarah at Little Bird Publicity and NetGalley.

Book blurbs are extremely difficult to write. They need to pull the reader in without giving away too much of the story. They make or break books. Whilst the blurb for Little Boy Lost pulls you in, I feel as though it does not do the book real justice. Little Boy Lost is so much more than the blurb had me expecting, it is much more than a riveting legal thriller. It is a story of a community in pain, of a legal system that does not work. It is a highly emotive read based around a timely and important issue. Those labelling this book as a simple thriller are overlooking so many of the important elements of this story. There are crime thriller elements, legal thriller elements, but there is also so much more. Family matters, community matters, life issues, and so many other elements of life.

The bulk of the story is set up around the missing teenagers, but in many ways this is just a backdrop to a much deeper story. Missing teenager stories happen often in the thriller genre, I will admit to having read many in the past, but none has ever read like this one. Whilst we’re constantly wondering what has happened, we deal with so much more in this story than simply dealing with the missing teenagers. We get an insight into the life of our main character, into the world of law, into his family life, and into the issues faced by the community. It is a multifaceted story in so many ways. Each individual storyline – the crime, the family issues, the coming of age elements of one of the characters, the political choices, and the current events that make you stop and think – would have worked perfectly fine as a standalone novel. In fact, multiple individual books could have been made from this one story. It almost makes it sound as though this book is attempting too much, as though it’s one of those strange combinations of too many genres, yet such is not the case. Each individual element is interwoven into the story in a wonderful fashion. Every element plays a part. Everything that happens is important. We’re pulled into all of the different facets of the story.

If I’m being completely honest, I was somewhat tentative at the start of the story. I love high impact thrillers. The kind of story where there is action on every pages. Where your heart is pumping double time throughout the read, the adrenaline pumping. Whilst there was curiosity throughout, this story was much lighter than my usual thriller reads. The pace is slower as there are so many multiple elements to the story, many that are not directly related to the crime aspect I was so interested in seeing come together. However, it didn’t take long before I was thoroughly gripped by the story. The different elements suck you into the story in a large variety of ways. You become invested in every element of the story. The characters, the community, and the events all wrap around your heart, leaving you addicted to the story and unable to put it down. It quickly becomes a single sitting read, one you do not want to put down.

Even when you work out where certain elements of the story are heading – for example, I worked out who was behind the crime well before the reveal – you cannot put the book down. There are so many aspects of the story gripping you tight that you cannot stop reading. You’ll work out one aspects, only to be left curious about how another part of the story will play out. You want to know how everything comes together; you want to see the story reach the point where things will be moving forward in a more normal manner, in a way that does not leave you questioning whether or not there is good to be found in the future.

Without a doubt, this is an extremely relevant read. There is so much going on in the world, and this story makes you stop and think about so many different elements. As I said, those labelling it as a mere thriller really aren’t selling the book in the way it needs to be sold. It’s a true powerhouse of a novel, on that touches upon so many aspects of society.

I really enjoyed Little Boy Lost. Its short chapters make it very easy to speed through half the book without realising it. I am a fan of legal thrillers, and this one was no exception.
There is so much more going on with Little Boy Lost though. Racism, politics, bullying and murder can be found in this book, and the author handles every theme quite sensitively.
I found that at times the flow of the book felt a bit off, in that there was time skipped and I wondered what was missing, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the book. Packed with great characters, and with some very current themes, it's a very good read!