City of the Lost

How it reads

City of the Lost is mystery (remote-community mystery, specifically), and its dominant mood is eerie. It's atmospheric and uncanny, with a sense that something is wrong. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in the wilderness or at sea, in the present day, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are survival, secrets and justice. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It opens a series. The ending resolves happily. At 471 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.