Review: Cole McCade's "The Lost (A Crow City novel)."

Review: Cole McCade's "The Lost (A Crow City novel)."

Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1KHJQPV

Amazon UK:  http://amzn.to/1h95Ews

Synopsis:

She's known it her whole life. She knows it every time she spreads her legs. Every time she begs for the pain, the pleasure, the heat of a hard man driving deep inside. She's a slave to her own twisted lusts--and it's eating her alive. She loves it. She craves it. Sex is her drug, and she's always chasing her next fix. But nothing can satisfy her addiction, not even the nameless men she uses and tosses aside. No one's ever given her what she truly needs.

Until Gabriel Hart.

Cold. Controlled. Impenetrable. Ex-Marine Gabriel Hart isn't the kind of man to come running when Leigh crooks her pretty little finger. She loathes him. She hungers for him. He's the only one who understands how broken she is, and just what it takes to satisfy the emptiness inside. But Gabriel won't settle for just one night. He wants to claim her, keep her, make her forever his. Together they are the lost, the ruined, the darkness at the heart of Crow City.

But Leigh has a darkness of her own. A predator stalking through her past--one she'll do anything to escape.

Even if it means running from the one man who could love her...and leaving behind something more precious to her than life itself.

Review: Surj

Cole mcCade's "The Lost" was a book that I hadn't heard of until I saw a blog post about it's release recently.  In fact, I hadn't even heard of the author up until that point but if this is the quality I can expect from the mysterious writer, then I have to say, I will definitely be picking up more of his books. This really was a gem of a find that I couldn't recommend enough. Although not quite a dark read (as some of the reviews have said... not for me anyway), this sure as hell was a disturbing, twisted, fucked up, crazy read that had me on the edge of my seat, my heart in my mouth more times than I care to count and my nerves balancing precariously on an edge, waiting for that bombshell to send me into the mother of all free falls. Yes this book had all of those things and so much more. 

She was sick- but he was sick too. 

The story line for "The Lost" was pretty unique which meant that I had no idea as to the direction the plot would take. Add to that, the complex, intense and very troubled lead characters I was given and all I could do was hold on tight and prepare myself for what was going to be a very bumpy ride. Leigh and Gabriel were two people with tragic pasts. Two people with addictions. Two people who shared an emptiness... a void that consumed them, that ate away at them, ultimately taking them down a path of pain, hurt and destruction. These two characters shouldn't have fit, they shouldn't have found comfort in one another but they did and it was this that had the potential to be their ultimate ruin. 

If she was a little mouse, then he was a wildcat battling her around, 

toying with her before eating her, and she wished she didn't want the thrill 

of never knowing when his jaw would come down. 

It's so difficult to give you any more information about the story line with spoiling it but know that each of these characters will make you feel a whole host of emotions. Leigh in particular left my head in such a mess. She really was one hell of a fucked up woman and the more I got about her back story, the more my heart went out to her. I got why she had taken the path she was traveling on. That didn't necessarily make it right but it did help me to understand the car crash that was her life. All she needed was some form of control, some form of power in the choices she made and what she did gave her that... in a random, messed up kind of way. 

"We find beauty in poison, and we love the bitter taste."

Gabriel's character equally carried around a past that still haunted him. Guilt for actions that were out of his control ate away at him, the scars he carried, a constant reminder of those he felt he'd let down. I loved Gabriel's character, even though there were times he confused the hell out of me. The way he was with Leigh though... so understanding, so compassionate and so none judgemental. He gave her exactly what she needed, even though it took her time to realise it. 

These two together were such a beautiful head fuck (for want of a better word), They were good for each other but equally, there was almost a destructive side. i have to say, I am so so glad for this author's "afterwards" at the end of the story because this really did help explain a couple of things about each of the characters and their behaviour which had puzzled me somewhat... particularly Gabriel who appeared to contradict himself once or twice. Fear not though peeps, all becomes a little clearer in the authors after notes. 

The subject matters covered in "The Lost" are definitely not those that will be read with ease or comfort. In fact quite the opposite. Prepare to feel uncomfortable, angry, frustrated and agitated. Prepare to feel unease, to put the book down and take a breather, to walk away and wonder what the hell you're reading. All I can do is implore you to carry on because all will become clearer the further you read on. I'm not saying it will get easier... definitely not because the last quarter of the book had my heart rate spike, my pulse thumping in my head. But what I am saying is that this book is absolutely worth finishing. 

One night the universe saw it's own reflection and fell in love. 

If you're looking for a well written, intense, dirty, emotionally raw, provocative read, then this is definitely what you're looking for. Just put your big girl panties on before you dive in because trust me, you're going to need them. 

I rated "The Lost" ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (4.75).