Ricky and Leonora (Leo) are siblings and thank goodness they had each other, best friends forever. Their father was abusive, domineering, manipulative to both his wife and children.

Father send Ricky to a foreign country to attend a boarding school .. in order to make a man out of him. Ricky was 14 years old.

Leo was kept at home .. but wasn't expected to speak or make her wants / needs known. She has an incredibly sharp mind and her teachers expect her to go on to university. Father has other plans.

His wife is an alcoholic, and can't do anything to help her children. He beats her, he mentally abuses her, to the point she cannot function. Leo is expected to take over the cooking, the cleaning, the ironing, the laundry .. in addition to attending school.

Ricky and Leo are terribly unhappy being apart. They do manage to get some letters to and from each other, but if they is discovered, who knows what will happen.

Five years pass and Ricky is set to graduate from school. He's decided that he will stay where he is because he's grown to love the country and wildlife. His father will be attending and they have planned a weekend camping trip. Of course, Ricky is expected to do all the work...and when he tells his father he is not returning home ... his father erupted.

A few days later, police notify Leo that her father has been found with a fatal gunshot wound ... and her brother is nowhere to be found. Is he another victim, or is he a murderer?

This is quite an emotional read told in part by letters to and from Ricky and Leo. Angst and fear ooze from the pages. It's character driven and they certainly stand out. There are a few twists and turns here and there that lead to a totally unexpected conclusion. One of the most compelling books I've read this year.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological drama. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

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.