The Saints of the Lost and Found by Toni McGee Causey
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Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Avery Broussard has the curse of seeing lost things (and make no mistake about it, it is a curse). Missing belongings and beloved pets, lost love and loved ones—she sees it all. Long ago, that curse destroyed her own chance at true love, causing her to flee her Louisiana home, vowing never to return. She’s kept that promise too, until a phone call from her estranged grifter father forces her hand. Her big brother is dying, and she may be his last remaining hope.
Avery wants nothing more than to rescue her brother, but doing so pulls her into a labyrinth of lies and deceit rooted in her own lost love and her family’s twisted history. It doesn’t help that a little girl has gone missing, and the abduction is tied to a killer Avery failed to help the FBI catch. With no time to spare, Avery realizes her curse might well be the only thing she can trust. Is it too much to hope that she might save her brother and find the missing girl before she becomes the killer’s next victim?
4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Avery can see losses: people, things, emotions, love. The curse that has haunted her causes her to lose her chance at true love, Jack, and she flees, and doesn't stop running. When her father calls and says her brother, Latham, is dying, Avery knows she has to go home. Knows she will see the others she fled from. Knows it will kill her. But Avery is trying to help the FBI find a serial killer targeting little girls, and the killer follows her home. Sometimes, when I'm reading a book, and I cannot figure out what's going on, I dump it. If I can't follow it, whats the point in continuing, huh?? I very quickly learned that THIS book was gonna be a contradiction to that. It takes a while to warm up, takes time for the whole darn picture to come into view and it kept me fed with just enough, just that little tiny titbit to keep me reading, even though I wasn't fully aware of what was happening. And I LOVED this book for that! I loved you don't get it all in one go, that it comes at points, just when you think you can see. At points where you have to go back and double check you didn't miss something because really?? Did you REALLY just say that?? I mean, its not totally laid out for you til very near the end!! LOVED that!! I'm giving it 4.5 stars for one reason and one reason only: Single person POV. Its told entirely from Avery's pov, and I wanted, so desperately wanted, to hear from Jack, at least. Avery talks about Jack's losses, so we get some insight into his mind, but I so wanted to hear from him, when Avery comes home, when she finds Brody, and when it all goes down at the end in the church. I wanted to hear from Latham, when he's banging his head against the wall, wanted to hear WHY he was doing it, and what was going on in his mind when he was hospitalized, facing a brain shunt operation. And one or two other characters I would like to have heard from too. You all KNOW, Lord knows I say it often enough, I much prefer multi POV to single, and sometimes, I will take it all back, I can't quite here though. A much darker, deeper, complex book that my usual read, and it took me far longer to read the 326 pages than it would normally, but that is in no way a bad thing. Because bar the single pov, I LOVED this book! This is the first I've read of this author, I hope to God it won't be the last. 4.5 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Toni McGee Causey is the author of the critically acclaimed and nationally bestselling “Bobbie Faye” novels—an action/caper series set in south Louisiana; the series was released in back-to-back publications, beginning with CHARMED AND DANGEROUS, GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE GUNS, and WHEN A MAN LOVES A WEAPON. She is also a contributor to the USA Today Bestselling anthology LOVE IS MURDER, as well as the KILLER YEAR and the DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS anthologies. While pursuing an MFA in Screenwriting, Toni had scripts optioned by prominent studios and recently produced an indie film, LA-308, which now has offers of distribution pending. Toni began her career by writing non-fiction for local newspapers, edited Baton Rouge Magazine, and sold articles to places like Redbook and Mademoiselle. In her copious spare time, she practiced her Ninja skills, though she can’t prove it because no one ever saw her. She and her husband, Carl, thrive in the French Quarter, where they’re not the craziest ones on the block. Sometimes, they’re not even second craziest. She and Carl have also owned and operated a civil construction company for over thirty years (hence, the crazy), with projects all over Louisiana, Mississippi, and south-eastern Texas. They are also working on a home/remodeling project in the Quarter. Her grown sons survived her (they might say ‘barely’ but they don’t get to write the bio, ha!), with one becoming a SWAT police officer and one becoming a Firefighter. (In other words, Toni rarely sleeps.) Meanwhile, she and Carl are absolutely frothing-at-the-mouth proud of the two g-kids and three step-ish-g-kids (it’s complicated, but it’s all good). One day, when she’s grown up enough, she’s going to get another puppy. This may take a while.
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