First published in 2008, Long Lost is a story of the power of perverted faith, the legal system, a naïve lawyer with a history of addiction coming back to reality and the unbreakable bond between two long-separated brothers. It’s a bleak story with a small sliver of hope at the end. To get there, you must follow a tortuous road that includes a terrifying kidnapping, low-lifes of every persuasion, crooked police, pretenders, good sponsors trying to silence the siren’s call of addiction, women sold into the slavery of a racist spiritual master and a man trying to get his footing on the road to redemption. Solid writing, but Bell’s more recent stories reflect better characters, more believable plots, and a writing style that’s been honed to an incredibly sharp edge over the last 14+ years. For me, the plot was relentlessly dark and despairing, and the end was not enough to lift me out of the doldrums.