This is a very dark thriller which I initially did not like but I could not stop reading. The closed minds and paranoia of a Middle West American community in decline is captured quite brilliantly. The manufacturing plant which used to employ many people has been closed and the local economy is suffering. There is however one bright spot, a local high school football player called Kyle Johnson who will hopefully take the team to the state football championships and become a football star to make the community proud.
When a 3 year old girl is killed by a car on Halloween night and Kyle is the chief suspect , the police chief, the mayor, and the policeman who found the body look the other way. The cover-up however is difficult to maintain and further sinister events lead to an astonishing conclusion. I was so engrossed in the book that when it ended I immediately went to our bookshelves and pulled out "The Resurrectionists" by the same author and I am now reading that book which I think is even better than "Lost Souls". ( )

Not a bad mystery, but some members strongly objected to reading about the murder of a child. The grim atmosphere of the town added to the unsavory characters resulted in a satisfying mystery. ( )

although this is a mystery it's almost more about the colapse of the policeman, laurence's life. he's divorced, in debt to his eyeballs and being used by almost everybody he knows. the twist was a bit unexpected but overall the book was fairly depressing. ( )

A young girl is killed on Halloween night, in what seems to be an accident committed by Kyle Johnson, small town football star. The mayor and police chief nearly bully Lawrence into aiding their cover-up, promising him a promotion. Lawrence, a typical noir detective--divorced, in debt, drinking too much--doesn't want to make waves. He talks to Kyle and things seem find. But then things start to unravel. Kyle's girlfriend is found dead. Someone tries to kill Lawrence. The mayor's threats are only thinly veiled. Throw in Lawrence's erstwhile girlfriend's parrot Petey for some comic relief (he has a thing for Jane Fonda), and you've got quite a good little mystery. ( )