Lost Letters

by Tom Hapgood

The ghosts and remnants of an abandoned American military base in Germany. A medieval monastery's modern secrets. An unsuspecting professor uncovers much more than he imagined, but who can he tell?

Jason Carr knew his DNA test results would be complicated, but not to the extent of compelling him to visit a decommissioned Army base and a medieval German monastery, and in the process uncovering a world of surprises involving his family.

As an established university graphic design historian and researcher, his proficiency in the intricate design and text of ancient manuscripts was something he treasured enhancing and sharing, ever since living in an American military community in late 1980s Cold War Germany.

He had been confident in his expertise and place in a comfortable academic life of teaching and disseminating his research. But keeping newly discovered secrets from newly discovered family was a challenge he could not have imagined or prepared for.

How to be informed by history, even complex personal history, while also moving on and forgetting, would prove to be Jason's greatest trial yet.

How do you make unimaginable connections, uncover shocking truths, and then decide who gets to know?

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2025

About the author

Tom Hapgood was plucked up from a small Army town in southern Arizona and plopped into the center of western Europe, just in time to witness the last gasps of the Cold War. In the spirit of a mutually beneficial cultural exchange, he made sure to bring along his red Ibanez Roadstar II guitar, and a blonde mullet that would only get longer and increasingly coveted by many. Previously, he had been raised in a battered, aluminum canoe on the Sudbury River in New England, followed by several years riding dirt bikes and tabletop arcade games in the shadow of Fort Huachuca, AZ. For five years in Karlsruhe, [West] Germany, he then scuttled around ruined castles, head-banged through all-day heavy metal festivals and curated a personal collection of political party posters from many downtown surfaces. He teaches and carries out research in all the things that get lumped into the words graphic and design at the University of Arkansas.

Reviews

[Scuffed Granny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Hapgood's book is a lot of things. It has history, both twentieth century and prior; it has youth and the coming-of-age; it has, through its characters' situations, a discussion of the health concerns that can encroach as life continues inexorably towards death; and it has the secrets that lurk in the family vault, just waiting to be uncovered and brought to the surface.

And that's where this book starts: with Jason, our protagonist, uncovering a pile of letters in his parents' basement with a note from his mother asking his forgiveness for having kept them hidden from him all these years.

This is also the end point of the book as we are led back to the discovery of the letters, only we now have the knowledge, through having Jason's story revealed, to understand their significance, and the contents of them are made transparent.

The story is told in the third person and we are in both the present and the past, Jason's recollections of his time in Germany and other incidents from his youth told through flashback. These are clearly marked at the chapter openings and the transitions between them are slick and unhindered.

This is a good read. Hapgood's story allows his character to recall how he acted when he was a teenager in Germany. Because of the third person narration, we have the feeling of it being revealed truthfully rather than skewed to how Jason would want us to see it. It has all of the hallmarks of a coming-of-age book in these sections and the excitement and attraction of Silke, the German girl who Jason is beguiled by while his dad is stationed there is palpable - she is unlike anything he has ever known. But Jason already has a strong attraction to a good old American girl - how is that going to play out?

There is also some delving into history, the fact that it is set in Germany providing a hint as to what is its subject. It was an added aspect to a book that was already strong on story but not a distraction, it being threaded through as a subplot.

If I have any criticism, sometimes for me the dialogue was a little "clunky" - some of it read truly but there were other interactions which felt less smooth. But this is a minor flaw in a overall well-written book.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Disclaimer: Tom is my BIL, so I especially enjoyed picturing him as Jason Carr, with his same conversational manner of speaking and all, because I also enjoy being around him and talking to him. The story was great and definitely gave pause to consider the ethics and questions surrounding DNA data storage and use. I couldn’t put the book down over the buildup to the final chapters!

[Hadley Wagstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love historical fiction books, especially this one. When you read it you feel like you are right there with Jason. Very well written

[Debbie Harsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting historical fiction, with twist and turns and suspense until the very end.