This book made me stay up way too late reading until the end! Sharp writing along with an emotional and thrilling plot that never stops surprising!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of Lost to Dune Road!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
📰 ever wanted to be a journalist
🕵🏻‍♀️ like to solve cold cases
👀 enjoy different POVs
🌪️love twists you don’t see coming

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

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.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

Lost to Dune Road was such a compelling read right from the start. Natalee is a unique character who has a background in journalism but is now working as a PI after a bad fallout concerning a cold case. Now she’s being sucked into another case that might be related to the 2019 one, and I loved seeing her do her detective thing. I honestly forgot that she wasn’t a cop or detective due to how good she was at it. The viewpoints from Amanda were definitely my favorite part of the story because this was the only way she ever had a voice. I also enjoyed the fact that a lot of the story took place in the Hamptons, and think this could make for a thrilling movie!

Natalee “Lee” Ellerin made a terrible mistake during her investigation into Jenna Mackey’s murder that signalled the end of her journalism career.

Five years later, pregnant college student, Amanda Hartley, was in a coma after an apparent suicide attempt. However, her family was left with a lot of unanswered questions and hired Lee to investigate. Upon discovering a potential link between Jenna and Amanda’s cases, Lee set out to find out what happened to both girls once and for all.

Lost to Dune Road was a riveting suspense story with a ripped from the headlines vibe. I found this novel easy to get into, and quickly became enthralled with the mystery behind Jenna and Amanda’s cases. There were many unexpected twists and turns along the way, and I never would’ve been able to predict how it all ended. My only criticism was that the pacing was a bit slow through the middle. I would recommend checking this out if you’re a fan of suspense with a strong female lead.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this ARC!

A copy of this review will be posted to my Instagram page (whats.amy.reading) the week of March 25.

This was definitely a fun and intriguing read but I felt a little lost with the amount of characters in this book and this made things seem more confusing to me than they probably were. I’m not sure if it was just me that struggled with this aspect, aswell as the pacing being a little slow.
The whole concept could’ve been better but overall it was an okay read for me

This one started off throwing the reader into the action. I enjoyed how the two cases were connected, even though it wasn't entirely clear why they were connected. I enjoyed Amanda's POVs as it gave the reader so much more insight on what was going on during her final months. I did think there were some difficult situations within the story, but they felt like they were dealt with well.

A cold case heats up in this ripped-from-the-headlines thriller. Just in time for summer, this book meets all the criteria for a vacation read. A disgraced reporter finds herself at the center of a similar case but this time she's investigating an attack and the mother wants answers. Wealth, power, a penchant for young women, corruption at the highest levels mean answers may never come. Excellent beach read, so good you may never go in the water.

Massive thanks to Netgalley, the publishers, and Kara Thomas for my advanced review copy. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite click with me, and I had to throw in the towel at 29%. It's not really my cup of tea, and I couldn't find the motivation to power through, especially considering I was already 29% in.

Natalee (Lee) was a reporter who is now working as private investigator, she was fired in 2019 from her journalism job while reporting and trying to help solve a case of a missing girl named Jenna. Jennas body was found a year later on Dune Road.
It’s now been five years and another girl named Amanda is pregnant and 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? when Amanda’s mother contacts Lee and informs her that Lee’s information was found written on a piece of paper in Amandas backpack. Lee is confused she doesn’t know her- but Amanda’s mother wants to hires her to find out answers on what really happened to Amanda and who the father of Amanda’s baby is.
Lee begins to investigate Amanda’s life, she begins to find connections to the years-old case that landed her in hot water and led her to being fired the infamous case of Dune Road. But finding a killer and unearthing Amanda’s secrets sends her down a darker path than she has ever walked before and someone is determined to keep the past in the past.
Please Check trigger warnings before reading. Some TWs include statutory rape, violence, abortion, and sexual assault.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've read my fair share of Kara Thomas YA books, but this was my first time giving one of her few adult novels a go. Lost to Dune Road is a noir-ish mystery about a journalist turned PI who is forced to revisit an unsolved murder she was reporting about by being hired to help figure out the father of an unborn child by a girl who supposedly tried to kill herself and now lays in a coma.

Overall this ended up being a pretty good read. It felt a little long in spots and probably could've done with some tighter story telling. However, I still found it enjoyable and would recommend it for those that love a good cold case mystery.

Lost to Dune Road definitely covers some tough and controversial topics.
Lee's investigation into a girl's disappearance and murder several years ago resulted in her becoming a disgraced reporter and ousted from the career she loved. Now, years later, a young pregnant woman is in a coma and her mother found Natalee's name in her bag. She is asked by the mother to help her understand what happened to her daughter - did she really try to commit suicide? If so, why? As Lee starts to dig, she comes across similarities and connections to the young woman that was lost to Dune Road and killed years before.

I liked the premise of the story, even though it was all a bit dark with a lot of shady characters. At times the overlap of Jenna and Amanda became confusing, as did the number of characters in the book. I wasn't sure why the romance was thrown into the story, but maybe there was originally a different element the author had in mind.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. Kara Thomas has an easy-to-read writing style and a good, but complicated, main character.

I’ve been a fan of Kara Thomas for years, and this adult thriller was a treat! Lovely prose, captivating characters, and twisty and delicious suspense.

Thanks to Netgalley & Thomas Mercer for access to this E-ARC! I actually really enjoyed this one! The characters were very well-written and the setting was cool. Definitely will read more from this author.

Lost to Dune Road was a suspenseful, full-of-surprises thriller! Kara Thomas is a new author to me and I didn’t want to put down her twisty, turning book. Lots of action and intrigue packed into this tight story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Lost to Dune Road was a hard to put down mystery that features a really intriguing main character, who I kind of hope gets to feature in another book.

Lee is brash, stubborn, and dedicated to solving these mysteries but there's a great deal of humanity in her that I really responded to. Instead of being bogged down in how the mysteries effected her life, she's always thinking primarily of the victims involved, even if Jenna could have used as much attention as Amanda eventually got. It's slightly ironic that Jenna, who was overlooked by the media in the novel, is also overlooked in the narrative. I also wish that the romance was featured more heavily in the story given that it is so integral to Lee and how the story wraps up.

That being said, the book still features so many twists and turns that it's hard to get bored and even harder to predict how it was all going to wrap up.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Kara Thomas is 1 of my favorite YA mystery writers, and I believe this is her 2nd adult mystery. I loved her last one, and this book is more of a crime fiction book.

Natalee Ellerin is a journalist turned private investigator. She got fired and canceled 5 years ago, when she accused the wrong rich dude of killing a young woman named Jenna. Now, she's working for a local Long Island lawyer for workman's comp type claims. Natalee goes by Lee because of a creepy murderer who called and taunted her after her fall from grace. Natalee receives a call from a woman named Carol, who is Amanda Hartley's mother. Amanda is in a coma and is 6 months pregnant after a possible suicide attempt. Carol wants Lee to find the father of her daughter's baby and had her name written down in her daughter's handwriting.

Lee gets further in her investigating by connecting Amanda to Jenna and interviewing key people in Jenna's life, as well as a former cop turned FBI agent Chase Sullivan and retired cop Nelson Malave, and the looming presence of chief of police Mike Molineaux. For Long Island, racism and corruption go hand in hand.

There are parts in which I could hardly put the book down as we got Amanda's point of view in flashbacks. I very much felt this could have been an SVU or OC episode or story ARC. While Lee's a gifted writer, she shoes herself an accomplished investigator. If you are a fan of female PI's, you will like this book.

TW for mentions of rape in the past, grooming, drugs. The book is available 4/16/24. 4 25/5☆

Unfortunately this wasn't for me. It had a strong start but it started to feel very repititive in the middle. I didn't really feel the tension

There was a lot of information thrown at you in this book. Kara Thomas is an auto-buy author for me, so I was really psyched for this. I did like it, with the difficult subject matter and everything, but it was a bit overwhelming at times. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Lee is a private investigator asked to look into what happened to a pregnant woman in a coma by the woman's mother. Everyone believes Amanda tried to take her own life but her mother believes otherwise. Besides, Amanda had Lee's name written down.

Lee used to be a reporter until she investigated a woman's disappearance and subsequent murder. She made a mistake that led to her downfall. She soon discovers there's a connection with the case she reported on and what happened to Amanda.

It's a very interesting story, Lee is determined to gather enough evidence to take the person(s) responsible down. The only problem is they're all rich connected men and it's all much bigger than she even imagined.

I liked the story but had trouble getting into it at some points. There were lots of characters, lots of facts thrown at you from the past and present crimes. I found myself reading whole paragraphs that refused to stick in my mind. This book actually read like a true crime novel or an investigative report. The tone was pretty much emotionless a lot of the time.

I love everything that Kara Thomas writes. It pains me to give her book three stars. Which isn't bad at all! I did like this book, I just didn't love it.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

This was a really quick and tense read! I trusted no one and the snappy flow of the book made it even better! Don't hesitate to pick this book up.

This book is absolutely a five star read. The author did such a great job with her characterization and the story set up. So much so that I can’t even begin to describe the fury I felt in me while reading it. I think part of it is because the idea of people in power using their position to get away with anything, including murder, really happens everyday. I was infuriated for Lee, for Jenna, for Amanda. That men who had nothing more going for them, other than that they were ultra rich, could use people as playthings and ruin their lives when they were done with them. How quickly people were willing to fall into their pockets instead of speaking out against the wrong being committed. It happens all the time, and yet it still surprises me. Now, granted, this story is fictional, but the author did an incredible job of making you feel like it was real. The ending was more than satisfying. It was definitely a case of, “Here’s your cake, now choke on it.” I kind of hope this ends up being a series because I would love to read more with these characters!

Huge thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!