The Lost Brother is the latest psychological thriller from Ms Beard and is very much a slow-burn family drama featuring the overwhelmingly dysfunctional Bates’. Below the scorching heat of the South African sun, shots ring out and a body lies still on the grassland, blood pooling around it. Meanwhile, we step back in time to the time and circumstances leading up to the murder. Leonora Bates is talking to brother Ricky about their father's plans to send him to boarding school. She's used to them both having each other’s backs and is fearful of living with her parents without her brother as support given the tendency for their father to be abusive. Their mother is no help either as she's under her husband's bullying thumb and doesn't call him out on his disgraceful behaviour despite understanding that it is wrong. Leo can't quite believe her best friend is leaving her all alone to fend for herself, and even though he doesn't want to attend he has no choice as it has all been set up for December. Their father intends for Ricky to attend his old school in South Africa in order to "toughen him up" in that way patriarchal idiots believe is right – men must be strong and not show weakness according to their father.

Later, the father visits Ricky in South Africa but somehow end's up dead from a gunshot wound and now Ricky is nowhere to be found. What happened to their tyrannical, narcissistic father? Did he die at the hands of his own son? This is a riveting and addictive domestic drama that had me reading through until dawn as I simply couldn't put it down. It's an all too close to home story for me having lived with pretty much the same or similar behaviours from my mentally abusive father, and I felt for the family. It was portrayed in a true to life fashion and I wished those around him would've stood up to him instead of letting him be abusive seemingly with impunity. I was absolutely captivated and engrossed by this book and it had a deeper emotional side to it rather than just being an unfeeling thriller as some often are. Well written, and with enough going down to keep you ravaging the pages, I found the limited cast superbly developed. Twisty and unpredictable, compulsive and exciting, this is a must-read for those into domestic thrillers filled with drama, intensity and more action than you can shake a stick at. Highly recommended.

Well written story and very realistic characters. This is an incredibly dysfunctional family and tough to read at times. Well worth reading. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Ricky and Leonora Bates are brother and sister, best friends and allies in a loveless family. They are a constant disappointment to their domineering father. He views Ricky's bookishness as weakness and Leonora's fiesty intelligence as unbecominng.
Ricky is sent away to a boarding school in South Africa to ''toughen him up''. Leonora is stuck dealing with her dysfunctional parents on her own. But something unthinkable happens.

I think this must be the worst dysfunctional family that i've read about. I didn't like he father. He was just a bully. The story is told from icky and Leonora's perspectives. When Ricky's father goes to South Africa to bring him home after his graduation, they decide to go on a camping trip to a local reserve. But the father gets shot aand Ricky disappears. Leonora searches for her brother, she's convinced he's still alive. Filled with twists, but i found this book hard to read in places.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #JoffeBooks and the author #SusannaBeard for my ARC #TheLostBrother in exchange for an honest review.

Susanna Bond has written a story that keeps you involved from page one to the last page not an easy task. At no time does the story lapse into a void but keeps the reading interested and involved throughout. Higher recommendable

A totally boring book, and not really a thriller. There is a story, but a very simple plot, and the main character does not behave consistently. And then there's this strange change of POV from first to third person.

Disclaimer: I got this ARC from @NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This is an incredible thriller! I was hooked from the beginning and I couldn't stop reading it. It's been awhile since I've read a good one and just WOW.

A slow build, but full of heartbreaking happenings. I found the sister most interesting as she sees words and letters as a colour of their own. The family is highly disfunctional. Father is a bully, mother tries very hard to keep the peace. The son is sent off to boarding school in South Africa to 'make a man of him', but he's not the sportsman that his father wanted. After their father dies in South Africa Rickfy returns to England and lives on the streets. Leo keeps looking for him, but will she find him alive.

Enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

This book was chilling. It reminded me of why I gravitate for psychological thrillers. Although I found it a bit slow to start I was eventually absorbed into it and stayed up late in order to finish it because I needed answers!

This was a nicely written book about survival.
Leonora and her brother Ricky have learned to lean on each other in a house with an abusive father and a mother who is too scared of her husband to stand up for herself or her children. When Ricky is sent to boarding school in South Africa, Leo is devastated. Years later, their father goes to South Africa to bring Ricky home. He is later found with a fatal gunshot wound. Ricky is nowhere to be found.
And so Leo embarks on a journey to find her brother, growing up along the way.

To me, this did NOT come off as a thriller. Everything was pretty darn straightforward and the twist at the end didn't quite make sense to me because (view spoiler) Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy being surprised by a twist and still being able to look back at what I read and think, "Oh, I should have seen that coming."

The story is definitely a slow burn and I was disappointed in it because of that. Had it not been advertised as a thriller, I likely wouldn't have minded. However, because the search for Leo's brother is so long and drawn out and includes so many details about her life, I nearly DNFed the book several times.

The prose was beautiful though, if a bit expository at times. I think if the book stopped trying to be something it isn't and was just a book about a girl growing up and overcoming her terrible life situation, it could be great.

Typos, Kindle edition:
Chapter 38, Loc 3340: "It sounds I, thoughtless."
Chapter 46, Loc 3977: "How I I was."

This is a terrific read, very sad, uplifting and suspenseful at the same time. Plus it takes place in part in South Africa, which I loved.
Leonora (Leo) and Richie are siblings who live in fear of their father. Their mother is a shadow of herself, beaten down by the treatment of her husband, not able to help her kids.
When Richie is sent to South Africa to boarding sxhool, both Leo and he are beyond heartbroken. When their father visits Richie when school is over, they both go on a trip into the African bush. The father is found dead and Richie disappears.
Leo has looked for him for years with no success.
A good and surprising ending made for a great read. Highly recommended!
Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC.

The Lost Brother by Susanna Beard is an interesting look at a dysfunctional family. Leonora Bates is a young girl who can only rely on her brother, Ricky, in a family with an abusive father and a mother too scared to help. Then the worst happens. Her father decides to send Ricky away to a boarding school and Leonora must fend for herself. The Lost Brother is told from the perspectives of Leonora and Ricky. While I found Leonora’s character to be more fleshed out and relatable, Ricky was a character that demanded sympathy. The writing pulls you in and doesn’t let you go until the very last line. A very enjoyable book that showed a very unique brother/sister relationship. I can’t wait to read more by Susanna Beard!

The story of brother and sister Ricky and Leonora Bates,
Their bullying father decides to send Ricky away to boarding school at thirteen years old but its not in England its in South Africa the savoy school kwazulu-natal province where their father was taught it will make a man of him. Leonora writes to him and its another year before he comes home for a holiday but this is the last time , father cannot afford and flight, Ricky pleads with her to get away from their father and as years go by she is soon sixteen, things take a turn when father goes to South Africa and is found shot and Ricky is missing, Leonora must search for him and find out the truth.
This is a good story that has twists and turns in as you keep reading, and a lot Is unearthed. great story all the way from this author

I read in one sitting! The story between Leonora and Ricky tugged at the heartstrings. It was an interesting dynamic to watch then grow as individuals despite all the hardships in their lives.