Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Five years after his band Ares shot to success, Ben Easton is struggling. He’s holed up in a mansion in Los Angeles while he fights depression and a dark drug addiction that threatens to destroy everything. In a final attempt to save Ben’s life, his best friend Tone does something desperate—he calls Ben’s ex-boyfriend Stan and begs him to help.

Stan Novikov is living in New York and thriving in his career as a fashion journalist. He hasn’t been back to London since he and Ben broke up, but that seems like the right place to go—along with Tone—to try and shock Ben out of his unhealthy lifestyle. 

The band have to finish their album before Christmas but without Ben, work has stalled. Ben has to decide whether he’s going to stay with Ares and keep making music, or find another path for his future. One that might just include Stan.

Book Review

‘The Lost Boy’ is an excellent title for this compelling and deeply emotional second-chance-at-love story about a rock band, including a fight against addiction by one of its members. All the different types of rocker stereotypes are there, and their issues – pressure to succeed, finish the next album, rabid fans, press attention and public scrutiny, party all the time, and drugs – are pretty much exactly as you’d expect. But the personal relationship between Ben (the addicted band member who collapses) and Stan (his ex who is called in to save Ben, recovered from an eating disorder) makes this plot come alive and gives it a slightly different slant to “the usual". The other element that makes the plot interesting is the gradual reveal of exactly what Stan's old issues are, how they relate to Ben's problem, what their relationship was (and is now), and if and how Ben will pull himself out of the addiction.

Ben is addicted to opioids, prescription medication, and cocaine. The key to his issue is mentioned early – he has not been allowed to make his own choices for years and feels oppressed by having to do what others say. His running away to other locations, just to get away from it all, is another clue, but he does not know what to do about it and nobody else seems to have caught on. If they have, they don't want to lose Ben as a member of the band so they "force" him to stay. There are also other events (a sexual assault while Ben was drugged) that prompted the most recent breakdown. Ben did not agree to return to London with Stan, he hates being there, and he relapses almost immediately. But realizing that he still has feelings for Stan makes him reconsider, and it is the beginning of a long, hard road out of addiction. He relapses more than once, which was depressing for me to read about, but very realistic.

Stan works as a fashion reporter and teaches fashion in New York, but his past has not been easy. He used to be flamboyant and colorful, but has toned it all down to seem more "mature" and be taken seriously. He had an eating disorder and had to work his way back from that, so he knows how hard the road for Ben will be. They split up due to external pressures their relationship was unable to deal with, but they never stopped loving each other.

Tone, the band's drummer and the one who decided to call in Stan to help, is definitely worth a mention. He is a good friend to both Ben and Stan and while he is not super present, he makes contributions at key decision points to keep Ben moving. The other band members and their manager are less of a presence, and not all of them are nice or supportive. The band members' vision and what each of them think is the best way to move forward almost destroys all the progress Ben has made.

The rekindled relationship between Ben and Stan develops slowly. Both men are very careful, but it's clear they still have feelings for each other. I very much wanted them to find a new balance and to be able to support the other - both have suffered a lot and I wanted them to succeed.

If you like the “grittier” side of life in a rock band, if you’re interested in a very topical story about opioid addiction with a good level of mystery around what exactly drove a man into addiction and what it will take to get him out, and if you’re looking for a read that has great characters who face some very hard decisions and have anything but an easy relationship, then you will probably like this novel. I found it hard to read because of all the addiction issues on multiple levels, but the ending is all the more rewarding for it.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been purchased by the reviewer.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 264 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	19-January-2020
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Boy-Anna-Martin-ebook/dp/B082BBPHSG