Great addition to the series. Great characters and location. Each book gets better and better. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

3.5 / 5.0 stars

Having read books from Ms. Shelton's Scottish Bookshop series, I anticipated an equally engaging read in this fifth installment of her Alaska mystery series. This book proved to be more challenging in this regard. Perhaps it was foolish to start the series so far into it as it was a bit confusing and the relationships were apparently previously well established. It was also a touch grittier than I had anticipated.

Regardless, Ms. Shelton did a great job of beautifully describing the wild nature of a most scenic Alaska. The ruggedness of Benedict's residents was well communicated. The protagonist, Beth Rivers, (Elizabeth Fairchild, her nom de plume), after a year hidden in a remote village of Alaska, is still a bit fragile after her harrowing kidnapping experience. She is trying to ease back into the world with strained courage. While working on that, she is out on a harbor tour boat which is called to one of the islands to rescue a young woman in much distress. This girl claims to have been kidnapped and has escaped her captor whom she says was attacked and killed by a bear. Beth is called upon to assist in comforting and calming the young woman as they appear to have a shared experience. The young woman is brought to the same inn where Beth lives while the local authorities try to figure out what's what.

The story is told and guided by the protagonist and centered on how she felt and received the information within the story. In that regard, it was more like a psychological thriller than a straight mystery. It focused on Beth's relationship with her father, her man-friend, folks from Benedict and a few tourists. Yet, it also touches upon the mystery and inconsistencies of the young woman's story. As much as the two women had shared experiences, the stories didn't resonate together. To this reader, it felt more as though I was reading two books. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters, perhaps owing to not having read the previous four books.

In all fairness, it would serve any reader well to go back to the series' beginning and grow in understanding alongside the characters from the start.
I am grateful to Minotaur Books for having provided a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Publication Date: 12/05/2023
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 978-1250846617
No. of pages: 288

This is the first book from this series that I've read. While I may have missed some past history from the previous books, I feel it didn't detract from what happened in this book. It was a fast-paced, gripping read and had me guessing who were the guilty parties. The ending implied that more was coming. I liked the setting of this series and many of the characters. I plan to read the first four books that I've not read yet. Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ARC.

This was my first introduction to this author and I definatley will be checking out the other books in the series! It was easy to pick up information about previous installments. Characters and story line were detailed. A must series to check out!

Such interesting plots and characters appear in this series, making it hard to put down AND hard to wait for the next book!

Wow so many stories in this one mystery. The setting is pretty cool, small town Alaska. The main character is interesting and has found her place is this small town as she waits for a trial to begin. She is the main witness. Her dad has found his way to her location but they are not close. She is close to people she has met in the town. Her dad has a boat and on a fishing trip a family that becomes part of the story. I found the book interesting and enjoyed it.

This is a good series that must be read in order. Beth, the main character, is a believable survivor of an abduction. Benedict, Alaska sounds like an interesting place to visit.Each supporting character is distinctly unique. The plot is complicated with lots of lies peppered throughout.. It does all make sense in the end. There’s a tension-filled cliffhanger at the end of the book.

The Lost Hours is a book that brings you right into the story as a local watching it all unfold. Having just traveled to Alaska, it was fun to read a book that takes place in that part of the country and being able to visualize the places the author talks about throughout the story. The characters are well developed, the plot is well thought out and the pace is easy to follow. As the story unfolds, you get a feel for who each character really is. The protagonist is a sharp, somewhat troubled woman who thinks on her feet. The other characters come into and out of her life page by page and it's easy to see why she fell in love with this town and her new friends. The mystery is somewhat contrived but the author does keep you guessing. It takes awhile before the story arc merges it all together to solve this one.

I don't want to give too much away, but this is a story that I will definitely recommend to my friends and bookclub.

Ms. Shelton's lead character, Beth Rivers, has been "outed" in Alaska.. Her true identity known by her friends and to complicate matters, her Dad (who left so long ago) has seemed to take up residency and is running a small tour boat. As Beth and her significant other take a boat tour of the glaciers, a woman appears on an island in a distance. After she's rescued, Beth speaks with her (Sadie) to learn she's been kidnapped and fears she killed her abductor. Sadie is interviewed by the Sheriff who feels something is off and takes her to Viola's half-way house (where Beth also lives). The book navigates truths, lies, and what some will do for those they love... This series has one of the best supporting casts around - and is a must-read each time a new book is released. And, where Ms. Shelton left off - holy smokes! I can't wait to see what's for Beth. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for an advanced reader of this book - the opinion expressed are my own.

Love this series and this latest does not disappoint. I really enjoy how the author brings Alaska alive , I always feel like I am there when reading this series. I hope this will be a really long series.

Lost Hours is book 5 in the Alaska Wild series by Paige Shelton.
I enjoyed this book and the characters were very interesting and are fantastically written and kept me flipping the pages.
The mystery was well plotted with twists and turns that kept me reading and intrigued.
The plot was so well executed, with lots of twists to keep you guessing.
Overall, this was a suspenseful story with a great mystery

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing
eARC!

Lost Hours
Beth lives in a small Alaskan town after surviving a kidnapping. She has created a new life and wants to stay there. She is taking a glacier tour for the first time when a woman is spotted on an island. She is covered in blood and says she has been kidnapped and the kidnapper was killed by a bear. She won’t talk to the Captain but talks to Beth after she hears that Beth is a kidnap survivor, too. Sadie tells Beth she is in Witness Protection and does not trust the Juneau Police.
Later the body of a man is found but he was not killed by a bear. Did Sadie kill him? Is she telling the truth about what happened? Beth can’t help but get involved.
This is the fifth book in the Alaska Wild series. I have not read the series so some of it was confusing. I enjoyed the book very much.

I love this series. I got my daughter hooked and a friend of mine! I loved Lost Hours because the lack of cell towers added to the level in intrigue! I love the Alaskan setting and I love all the characters!

I really enjoyed this book and love the setting in Alaska. It is obviously one in a series, which I did not realize, but the author makes it easy to keep up with events and characters. There is enough back story to keep a new reader up to speed, but not so much as to bore readers who have read the previous books. The story has mystery, kindness, love of animals, what's not to like. I would recommend this book and will go back and read others in the series.

Lost Hours is the 5th book in Paige Shelton's Alaska Wild series, but it is the first book in this series that I have read. I have read several novels in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series. To be honest, the Scottish Bookshop series is a more interesting and better written series than this 5th novel in the Wild Alaska series. The Alaska Wild series was confusing, since I had no idea who some of the characters are, for example Orin? Lost Hours is not a stand-alone novel. I think readers will be better served by starting with book 1 of this series.

Beth is the narrator and central protagonist in Lost Hours. She has a complex background, which is not fully explained. Readers are expected to be able to fill in the blanks, but as a first time reader to her story, I seemed to only be getting part of the story, especially when it came to the characters, who surround Beth. The balance between telling too much and not telling enough can be difficult for writers to manage. In this case, more information about some of the peripheral characters would have helped.

There are a lot of different plots going on in Lost Hours. Keeping all this plots straight was confusing, and there were some gapping holes that Shelton tried to tie together at the end, but the result was a bit of a mishmash of plots. I did not think I needed to be diagramming the plots and connecting them to characters, as Beth finally seemed to be doing. I suspect that fans of this series will be more enthusiastic than I am about Lost Hours, since they will know these characters, but I was not captivated and had to force myself to finish this novel.

I do want to thank St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for providing this ARC. I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this novel, which ends with a cliff hanger, sort of like a TV show at the end of the season. Thank you also to NetGalley for facilitating access to this novel.

Benedict, Alaska - Present Day

A year after moving to Alaska to escape the memory of her kidnapping, Beth Rivers is finally getting into the groove of feeling comfortable in her new surroundings. Oddly enough, she's even getting used to the fact that her father, who deserted Beth and her mother years ago, has shown up in Benedict, and she's not averse to forgiving him, sort of. The nightmare of the days she spent as Travis Walker's prisoner is ever so slowly fading. Able to get back to writing the thriller novels she is noted for, Beth hopes for a full return to her former reality.

Finally comfortable enough to venture out, Beth and her friend (not boyfriend, but...) Tex board a local tour boat to visit the glaciers. But the trip is cut short when, as the boat passes an island, they see a woman frantically waving and calling for help on the shore. As the captain brings the boat in closer, Tex and others on board get off to help the woman. She is brought on board, bloodied and hysterical, telling everyone that she'd been kidnapped and that the man who took her has been eaten by a bear! Tex and the others head out to look for the body, but cannot find anything.

Back in Benedict, Beth helps get the woman, who calls herself Sadie, to Benedict House, a former inn, where Beth lives. Sadie has revealed to her that she is in the witness protection program, although she didn't tell anyone else who interviewed her. Viola, the woman who runs Benedict House is as suspicious as Beth is about Sadie, but both are determined to help her after her ordeal. The more information that comes out, the more curious Beth is about Sadie's history. After discussing the story with the local police chief, Gril, and the librarian, Orin, Beth starts to wonder if Sadie is being upfront with them. But when there is another kidnapping in Benedict, will it be connected to Sadie's, or is it just a coincidence?

LOST HOURS is a page-turning, emotionally charged tale that takes Beth well past her comfort zone. But she is stronger than she thinks, and, with the help from the locals who have taken her under their wings, can she discover just what happened on that island? And can she and the Benedict citizens find the other kidnapped person?

Fans of Paige Shelton’s Alaska Wild series will welcome the fifth installment of the series, Lost Hours, where Beth Rivers, the protagonist, who is a writer hiding (sort of) in Benedict, Alaska after being kidnapped previously and waiting for her kidnapper’s trial. She is on schedule with her latest thriller, and ventures on a boat to see the glaciers when they see a blood covered woman on the nearby island who says she was kidnapped and a bear got her kidnapper. Because Beth and the woman, who is named Sadie, have much in common, they bond, and Beth is instrumental in getting information that will lead to finding the body of Sadie’s kidnapper and clues as to answering the questions as to why Sadie was kidnapped and why she is in the WITSEC program with the government. Things are not as they appear, and when Beth accompanies her father on a fishing tour with the DuPont family and their daughter disappears, law enforcement and others rely on Beth’s help.

Anyone familiar with the series knows that Shelton does an excellent job of developing the characters; Beth’s character is likeable, as are the sub characters, Viola, Gril, Donner, Eddy, Tex, and Gus (everyone’s favorite character). She does a good job with the new supporting characters: the DuPont’s and Sadie, as well as others who help move the story along and solve the mystery.

Shelton is a seasoned storyteller and the story flows easily with ups and downs and building suspense throughout. Readers will get a sense of the Alaskan culture, and will be tempted to visit. The ending is unexpected, as in her previous books.

Readers who enjoy this novel will definitely want to read the previous books in the series, although this one can be read as a standalone since the author gives enough information through the book to make it understandable to anyone.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

While I’m a fan of Paige Shelton’s Alaska Wild series, in my opinion, Lost Hours isn’t the best of the five books. I found it confusing at times, with too many plotlines to keep straight. And, with the cliffhanger ending that I suspected was coming, I don’t know that I’m really excited about the next book.

Beth Rivers has been in Benedict, Alaska for a year now. She fled there after she was kidnapped and held in a van for three days. Now that her kidnapper has been arrested, newspaper articles revealed she writes bestselling thrillers as Elizabeth Fairchild. She’s learned to appreciate her life in Benedict. But, she hadn’t yet had the chance to see glaciers, so she and her “man friend”, Tex, go on a tour boat, only to have the tour interrupted.

The boat has to rescue a woman from a nearby island. She’s covered in blood, and insists she was a kidnap victim, but a bear killed her kidnapper. As a victim herself, Beth agrees to talk with the woman, identified as Sadie. Although Sadie secretly reveals she’s in the Witness Protection Program, something about Sadie’s story seems a little off. Beth accepts it at face value, but feels she has to tell Police Chief Gril Samuels what she’s learned. And, Gril has reservations about Sadie.

When the tour boat turned back, a smaller boat was in its lane, a boat piloted by Beth’s father, Eddy. She still hasn’t decided how she feels about him being there, since he disappeared from her life when she was young. He’s been patient while she decides. It’s Eddy who introduces Beth to a family, the Duponts, including their teen daughter, Gracie. Gracie appears to be a big fan of Beth’s books. When she disappears on a boat trip to the island, Beth feels a little responsible.

As I said, I thought there were too many plotlines – Sadie’s somewhat unlikely story, Gracie’s disappearance, Beth’s connection to her past and the kidnapper. Throw in an escaped prisoner in Alaska, and there are a few too many unusual occurrences for my taste.

As always, the residents of Benedict are my favorite part of the books. They all have secrets. We don’t know all the backstories. But, they come together to support each other and take care of Benedict. That’s the best part of Lost Hours.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this series. Every time I open a book in the series I yearn to actually visit Alaska. This one kept me scratching my head and I loved how it was all pulled together. And the ending…well come on. I need more.

Lost Hours certainly aligns with the blurb and is a straightforward first-person narrative. It is exposition-heavy and new to the series readers can easily understand the backstory. The narrative relies heavily on large dialogue swaths for information/exposition dumps. These dialogue batches are tedious and perhaps best suited for a younger audience or a different writing medium (i.e., script). Because of the writing style, the flow and tension buildup suffers because the reader is well-informed about what will happen next - no surprises here. It's an easy read but not very mysterious.