The Lost: A Novel – An Expanded Fantasy Thriller of Magic Realism and Suspense

Name: The Lost: A Novel – An Expanded Fantasy Thriller of Magic Realism and Suspense
Price: 15.73 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.5 (308 reviews)
Author: Sarah Beth Durst

by Sarah Beth Durst

4.5

Published Nov 11, 2025

About this book

Lauren Chase intends only a brief detour, a momentary escape from the monotony of her life. Instead, she crosses the threshold into Lost, a surreal purgatory where physical objects, forgotten dreams, and vanished people converge. In this desolate town, nothing is permanent, the landscape is hostile, and the residents are prone to descending into a feral state of madness.

To leave, one must be granted passage by the mysterious Missing Man—but he vanishes the moment he lays eyes on Lauren, leaving her stranded in a place that refuses to let her go. Surrounded by a lethal, impassable dust storm, Lauren is forced to navigate shifting alliances to survive. Her only hope lies with an enigmatic, rugged man known as the Finder and a fiercely protective, knife-wielding six-year-old girl.

As the boundaries between reality and nightmare blur, the friction between Lauren’s desperate need for control and the Finder’s wild, intuitive instincts creates a volatile spark. Lauren must confront the deepest parts of herself if she hopes to break the cycle of the town. In a world where everything is destined to be misplaced, she resolves to do the impossible: find her way home on her own terms.

Available Formats

Paperback: $15.73 Kindle: $12.99

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What readers are saying

Littleredreadinghood

Odd and lovely.

"Every time I move, I always lose something important to me. An antique doll given by my great grandmother. Or a family genealogy that goes back 400 years, or a favorite out of print book. And now I know where they went. Stick with it through the first few chapters. You will be well rewarded by this fascinating and unique book. A rare five stars for an amazing book that is thoughtful and beautifully written. ["

May 9, 2026 Verified Purchase

beck61

A rough start but then oh!!

"I had planned a pan. The attempts at cute humor were killing me, and the story, but I stuck with it, and it was worth it. A young woman, who doesn't seem to have much of a life that doesn't include her terminally ill mother and her job, takes a wrong turn on purpose, in order to escape hearing bad news, something, it seems, she does often. Only this time, she ends up lost in a dust storm, and ends up in Lost, a city of lost things and people. The place where your sock mates and the eighth spoon from your flatware set go to live. There are people living there, some of whom are trying to discover how they got there, and the rest trying to leave. Lauren, the woman's name is, grudgingly settles for life in a dangerous town, waiting for the Missing Man to come, the dapper gentleman who can help you find what you lost and send you back home. Only, for some reason, that I never found out, he runs away from her, angering the residents left behind. She meets a beautiful man, and a tough little girl, who show her how to hide, hunt, and gradually settle in, discovering a little more about herself as time goes by. In spite of her urgency to get back to be by her mother's side, they form a little family, and their personalities are so unique that you have to stick around to see what happens. That Lauren becomes immune to the lack of untouched food, opened bottles of shampoo, cheeseburgers with the bitten part sliced off and served on the clean part of a paper plate she found, is odd and sensitive at the same time. It's really a fun time, and while it's obviously fantasy, we all know how it feels to want to get home, wherever that turns out to be. I can't wait for book 2. ["

March 18, 2020 Verified Purchase

Kittensmom

Definitely worth waiting for!

"I loved the original "The Lost" and was disappointed that the sequels never happened so I was really happy to see this new, updated edition. It's great. Loved the world building, loved the characters, loved the way the plot unfolded. It was definitely worth waiting for. ["

November 24, 2025 Verified Purchase

Frequent Kindle-ite!

kudos and then some!

"imagination times ten... if you're looking for plausibility, don't. if you're looking for frames of reference, don't. if you're looking for a writer to be permitted to lead you right, not left, don't. but if you want to read a tale that will make you remember how long ago you lost things you can't even remember, read this book. it breaks rules.... ["

May 18, 2026 Verified Purchase