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Lost and Found
A pattern was developing, maybe even intensifying. The dream would come to Magret-the baby, its head rising right out of the earth, its piercing eyes staring at her. Then she would wake to find that she had been screaming. As she rocked and wept, she reminded herself over and over that this was only a dream ... just another nightmare. But then Magret's daughter Sheena and her friends reported seeing a little girl, an infant, in the forest behind their house. Surely there was some other explanation for what they thought they had seen. Sergeant Stoddard took the report seriously enough to search the woods, but found nothing. Then came another sighting, followed by a brutal murder in the house beyond the woods. Magret reluctantly began to examine her dreams and relive her childhood-when she had lived close to the woods and had attended the nearby, abandoned old church. Suddenly the killings no longer seemed random. Magret now knew the truth. But how could she face it? What terror awaited her children if she failed to pacify the revenge-seeking child?
260 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1990
7 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
Ruby Jean Jensen
39 books210 followers
Ruby Jean Jensen
Born McDonald County, Missouri, USA, March 1, 1927
Died November 16, 2010
Website http://www.rubyjeanjensen.com
Twitter RubyJeanJensen1
Facebook www.facebook.com/Rjjhorror
Ruby Jean Jensen authored 30 published and 4 not yet published novels, and over 200 short stories. Her passion for writing developed at an early age, and she worked for many years to develop her writing skills. After having many short stories published, in 1974 the novel The House that Samael Built was accepted for publication. She then quickly established herself as a professional author, with representation by a Literary Agent from New York. She subsequently sold 29 more novels to several New York publishing houses. After four Gothic Romance, three Occult and then three Horror novels, MaMa was published by Zebra books in 1983. With Zebra, Ruby Jean completed nineteen more novels in the Horror genre.
Ruby was involved with creative writing groups for many years, and she often took the time to encourage young authors and to reply to fan mail.
Ruby Jean, a supreme story-teller, quickly captures and holds your attention. Her books, written for adults, are also suitable for adolescents and young adults. She continues to have an enthusiastic following in the Horror genre.
Born McDonald County, Missouri, USA, March 1, 1927
Died November 16, 2010
Website http://www.rubyjeanjensen.com
Twitter RubyJeanJensen1
Facebook www.facebook.com/Rjjhorror
Ruby Jean Jensen authored 30 published and 4 not yet published novels, and over 200 short stories. Her passion for writing developed at an early age, and she worked for many years to develop her writing skills. After having many short stories published, in 1974 the novel The House that Samael Built was accepted for publication. She then quickly established herself as a professional author, with representation by a Literary Agent from New York. She subsequently sold 29 more novels to several New York publishing houses. After four Gothic Romance, three Occult and then three Horror novels, MaMa was published by Zebra books in 1983. With Zebra, Ruby Jean completed nineteen more novels in the Horror genre.
Ruby was involved with creative writing groups for many years, and she often took the time to encourage young authors and to reply to fan mail.
Ruby Jean, a supreme story-teller, quickly captures and holds your attention. Her books, written for adults, are also suitable for adolescents and young adults. She continues to have an enthusiastic following in the Horror genre.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 18, 2018
Magret Treacle has been having terrible dreams recently of being in the forest and seeing a buried infant emerging from the earth with needle-like teeth. She warned her nine-year-old daughter (Sheena) not to ever go into the woods. But one day Sheena is out with her cousin (Peggy) and a friend (Wendy) searching for leaves for a school project and they persuade Sheena to go into the woods. Sheena reluctantly goes. While looking on the ground for leaves in the forest Sheena discovers a naked infant lying there. The child (which appears to be two-months old) looks at Sheena, opens its mouth, and has needle-sharp teeth. Sheena screams and her friends come and see the baby. They run out of the woods for help and bring back a police officer (Sergeant Collins Stoddard). But when they get back to where the infant was, the child is gone.
Wendy and Peggy eventually go back into the woods to search for the leaves they dropped when they were last there looking at the baby. While they are there they see a small child, around two-years-old, naked, that looks just like the baby. They both run away and later when they check the woods, with the police officer again, the child is gone.
As time goes by some townspeople are murdered. A dead baby's body is discovered in the woods that was buried there over twenty years ago... Does this have any connection to what has been happening in the woods recently?
This was a very spooky, atmospheric read, even though I was slightly confused with the ending wrap-up concerning the child. The baby/child was totally creepy, with its sharp teeth, running around with a knife, and growing larger/older throughout the story. I liked some of the characters in the book, like Sergeant Collins Stoddard, who was kind and helpful, and his dog Chief. I also liked Wendy's mom Lorna.
Enjoyable read with an eerie forest setting.
Wendy and Peggy eventually go back into the woods to search for the leaves they dropped when they were last there looking at the baby. While they are there they see a small child, around two-years-old, naked, that looks just like the baby. They both run away and later when they check the woods, with the police officer again, the child is gone.
As time goes by some townspeople are murdered. A dead baby's body is discovered in the woods that was buried there over twenty years ago... Does this have any connection to what has been happening in the woods recently?
This was a very spooky, atmospheric read, even though I was slightly confused with the ending wrap-up concerning the child. The baby/child was totally creepy, with its sharp teeth, running around with a knife, and growing larger/older throughout the story. I liked some of the characters in the book, like Sergeant Collins Stoddard, who was kind and helpful, and his dog Chief. I also liked Wendy's mom Lorna.
Enjoyable read with an eerie forest setting.
September 22, 2019
This book was really good. I love how it never slowed down and kept me interested. Sometimes the plot is given away too fast and it’s hard to finish. Not so with this book and others I’ve read by Jensen. She remains an author I can count on. The characters were all likable and the creepy child was mysterious with an ambiguous ending that worked. Well done!
January 27, 2016
I don’t generally place the back cover blurbs of books on reviews anymore. With Lost and Found, though, I could never summarize the plot better than that. Wow. When I read the back of this I had to read it right away (The Jensen fandom helped a bit too). I guess I just love little kids with needle-sharp teeth; Jensen seems to focus a lot on evil children anyway, which is always effective in book or movie form. Sometimes Jensen veers on the side of cheesiness with a few of her books (Chain Letter, Pendulum), but here she tells a truly complex tale with genuinely adult, serious themes.
When reading the book, the plot is confusing and you’re never sure where it’s leading. It begins with an ominous nightmare and action from the start, never slowing down in the center, rolling quickly toward a disturbing climax. I won’t give away what the hidden themes of the book are, but the social commentary is a heavy one.
Characters are rich and intriguing. The mother, Magret, a central character, is a mixture of sanity and insanity, purity and selfishness, avoidance and privacy. Each family member serves their purpose, and I cared what happened to each their personalities complement both each other and the circumstances surrounding the book. As in many stories, there’s a detective here with a dog, seems cliché? but he’s a favorite, likeable and strong. The ending is of course bleak, as with many of Jensen’s books, and it left a dry feeling in my mouth that was a bit reminiscent of Celia. Not many happy endings here.
Violence is brutal, the body count lengthy, and the little mystery involved helps keep this book going. It’s not really needed to say the atmosphere is a bleak one, and as usual, Jensen’s style is fierce and a delight to read, complementing the horror theme. This is true horror, yet gothic as well, while leaving a firm impression on the readers mind when its said and done.
What really makes this book stand out is the creepiness factor. Yes, it’s eerie, chilling, frightening, whatever label you’d like to slap on it. For a change it’s a story that gets in your head and makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up.
Many scenes focus on suspense and end horribly, all the while keeping the mystery aspect strong and alive. Brrrr. Ruby Jean Jensen is definitely an underrated horror author she’s written dozens of books, many better than others, yet is sorely unnoticed. This book, however, could never be unnoticed, as it not only keeps the reader entertained and addicted, but it delivers the horror full dose.
When reading the book, the plot is confusing and you’re never sure where it’s leading. It begins with an ominous nightmare and action from the start, never slowing down in the center, rolling quickly toward a disturbing climax. I won’t give away what the hidden themes of the book are, but the social commentary is a heavy one.
Characters are rich and intriguing. The mother, Magret, a central character, is a mixture of sanity and insanity, purity and selfishness, avoidance and privacy. Each family member serves their purpose, and I cared what happened to each their personalities complement both each other and the circumstances surrounding the book. As in many stories, there’s a detective here with a dog, seems cliché? but he’s a favorite, likeable and strong. The ending is of course bleak, as with many of Jensen’s books, and it left a dry feeling in my mouth that was a bit reminiscent of Celia. Not many happy endings here.
Violence is brutal, the body count lengthy, and the little mystery involved helps keep this book going. It’s not really needed to say the atmosphere is a bleak one, and as usual, Jensen’s style is fierce and a delight to read, complementing the horror theme. This is true horror, yet gothic as well, while leaving a firm impression on the readers mind when its said and done.
What really makes this book stand out is the creepiness factor. Yes, it’s eerie, chilling, frightening, whatever label you’d like to slap on it. For a change it’s a story that gets in your head and makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up.
Many scenes focus on suspense and end horribly, all the while keeping the mystery aspect strong and alive. Brrrr. Ruby Jean Jensen is definitely an underrated horror author she’s written dozens of books, many better than others, yet is sorely unnoticed. This book, however, could never be unnoticed, as it not only keeps the reader entertained and addicted, but it delivers the horror full dose.
November 15, 2017
Ruby Jean Jensen, the Queen of Zebra Horror during the 80s and early 90s, never shied away from bumping off characters in her novels, whether they might be adults or children. "Lost and Found" is no exception. I've read a number of Ms. Jensen's books over the years, so this really shouldn't surprise me anymore, but it does, and for that reason I consider it a plus coming from any author. The pacing here is a bit uneven and Ruby tends to allow her characters to get distracted by their surroundings instead of focusing on the issue at hand. However, she ratchets up the suspense in such a way that I can feel myself tensing for the outcome. "Lost and Found" treads on slasher territory for sure, and the ending is somewhat ambiguous, but still a great read for some good-ole-fashioned horror.
January 25, 2018
Here's the three things I want to say about this book.
#1. I felt really icky inside for the first hundred pages or so, possibly because I was positive there would be a less than subtle, southern pro-life agenda manipulating the outcome.
#2. When I stopped feeling so disgusting for reading this book, it was because I was getting pulled into a mystery, questioning the reliability of many different characters' narratives and I started to respect the author's skill.
#3. I'm very disappointed that there was no pay off to the tension that builds to the last page, but less disappointed that if there was a pro-life agenda, it was very poorly executed.
It wasn't boring, made me feel things, which I enjoy the most in a book, but could have been wrapped up better. Three Stars.
#1. I felt really icky inside for the first hundred pages or so, possibly because I was positive there would be a less than subtle, southern pro-life agenda manipulating the outcome.
#2. When I stopped feeling so disgusting for reading this book, it was because I was getting pulled into a mystery, questioning the reliability of many different characters' narratives and I started to respect the author's skill.
#3. I'm very disappointed that there was no pay off to the tension that builds to the last page, but less disappointed that if there was a pro-life agenda, it was very poorly executed.
It wasn't boring, made me feel things, which I enjoy the most in a book, but could have been wrapped up better. Three Stars.
January 6, 2015
I love anything by Ruby Jean Jensen. This book was even autographed. Though the author has passed away, her legacy of being the Queen of horror novels lives on! Mostly her books are about dolls or toys coming back to life or evil and strange children doing ugly things. Loved this book and all the others.
June 3, 2010
Not much mystery to this one as the ghost/monster is revealed early, but Jensen knows how to build tension with the murder scenes--very well done.
August 13, 2022
Not one of Ruby Jean Jensen's best, but still fun. Reminds me of The Reckoning, but with the violence and gore turned down a few notches. A past crime has come to haunt a group of people, and it has deadly consequences. There are some strong characters, and some solid, creepy set ups, but the last third feels kind of rushed. Still, not a bad bit of cozy horror.
September 10, 2019
Introduction to Ruby Jenson and I was hooked. Exciting and scary with characters that are sympathetic and not one dimensional. This book shows that keeping secrets can literally come back to haunt you!
September 21, 2019
Magret had a guilty secret, but she never imagined that she would be violently confronted with it, and that her daughter Sheena might be in danger. She finally had to face facts. Another great tale told by Ruby Jean!
December 21, 2024
The epilogue could have been even a page longer to tie up some big loose ends. Otherwise, it is a solid read.
June 4, 2013
A story that to me speaks of dealing with past demons before they destroy everything one has aspired to be.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews