The Lost Tribe

by Mark Lee

This powerful first novel tells the story of David Mather, a charismatic relief worker who believes that a mysterious group of African nomads are the descendants of the legendary Lost Tribes of Israel. Mather organizes An expedition to find the tribe; it includes an anthropologist, an African shaman; and Ben Chase, the young journalist who is the book's narrator. Traveling north through a chaotic, war-torn country, these modern pilgrims encounter soldiers and guerrillas, a deranged family or neo-colonials, and a city ravaged by an unexplained plague. As they search for the elusive veiled tribe, Chase must deal with Mather's apocalyptic vision and his own changing perception of this dangerous world. Written with the pace of an adventure tale, The Lost Tribe is a complex exploration of the uncertain borderland between faith and despair.

Genres: Fiction

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Mark Lee is a highly regarded novelist, playwright, journalist and children's book author.

You can learn more on his author website: http://www.markwlee.com

Or read a short Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Le...

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was Ok, unfortunately the way this is written I really didn't care about the characters like I should have.

[Taylor Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Spoiler Alert... Kinda*


All in all, I enjoyed reading this. But if I take it section by section, I was intrigued with the beginning, gripped with the middle, and incredibly disappointed with the end. I felt like from the beginning it was building to some climatic ending where the lead character discovers himself, where the book would culminate in some heart wrenching prose about humanity and our constant quest to discover something greater. It did not end that way. It ended in a very depressing way that had me asking "why?".
Not why in a way that makes you search yourself for some defining answer, but in a way that genuinely has you asking "what was the point of that ending?".
Maybe I missed some thing with it, maybe it's like one of those Sundance films where it doesn't make sense and doesn't really have an ending with a point, but some people cry at the beauty of it. If it is, I will say I don't get those, so that's probably why I didn't get this.
I gave it 4 stars because I loved the rest of the book so much, I felt joined into the mission and the danger, and it made me want to go on a mission trip.
If there was one thing I could say you could get from the book, it's this: as Christians, we tend to think God wants us to unravel the universe and save the entirety of the world. That he wants us to hunt down people lost in time and history in his name and be the ones to bring their secrets and dreams to light. He doesn't. Those are more self serving purposes, things that make us feel important, things that make us feel needed above others. God just wants us to serve. Serve those homeless with sandwiches on the corner. Serve the poor who need water. Serve the sick who need help. Serve the lonely who need a listening ear. Serve the lost who are roaming the world looking for a sense of home. Just serve. We all aren't meant for world changing adventures, more often than not, we're just meant to help in little ways. Because little things matter more than anyone realizes.

[Lauren Rev · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel follows the main character, Ben Chase, through an unnamed modern day African country. He and his compatriots work as relief agents bringing water to a drought-riddled part of the country while serendipitously searching for an elusive African tribe, the Maji, who may or may not be a lost tribe from Israel.

As others have written, I immensely enjoyed the adventurous plot until the end. The group battled nature and other people groups in the region, both colonial & native representations. There were also conflicts within the entourage. However, it fizzled and left many questions unanswered. The main mystery, the history of the Maji tribe was not answered.

Also the characters did not seem developed. I did not experience any particular joy when good things happened to them or sorrow for misfortune. In the end everyone else in the traveling party died or disappeared. And I found that I didn’t really care.

Given the authors knowledge of Uganda as a foreign news correspondent, I had hoped that it would have been set in that country. Not a major point, as the details of the story were descriptive enough and did give a sense of place. Just a personal preference.

The protagonist made it out alive to discover that to find the meaning of life he did not have to travel reporting on world events, just make peanut butter sandwiches for those less fortunate in the neighborhood.