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The Lost Boy
From the masterful author of Ghosts and The Prodigy comes a tale of gripping suspense in which the line between real and unreal, good and evil, is frighteningly blurred.In the small Connecticut town of Wiltshire, James Corbett, senior member of a local outlaw family, has been hideously murdered. For Ellen Wilder, editor of the local newspaper, the gruesome killing is as disturbing as the irrational fears that have suddenly woven themselves into her mind and left her doubting her own sanity. For state police detective Michael Chandler, whose haunting near-death experience has left him with an uncanny way of sensing things, the murder is only a hint of what is to come.
But nothing could have prepared either of them for the return of Franny Corbett. A hulking child of a man and the blackest sheep in a family of black sheep, his eerie presence may have ushered in all of these bizarre and frightening events. Soon the town of Wiltshire will be shaken again. For in a car sunk beneath the surface of a glimmering blue lake, floats another body. And the killing has just begun....
But nothing could have prepared either of them for the return of Franny Corbett. A hulking child of a man and the blackest sheep in a family of black sheep, his eerie presence may have ushered in all of these bizarre and frightening events. Soon the town of Wiltshire will be shaken again. For in a car sunk beneath the surface of a glimmering blue lake, floats another body. And the killing has just begun....
- GenresHorrorGhostsParanormal
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
22 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
About the author
Noel Hynd
62 books218 followers I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 1, 2020
Ellen Wilder has just moved with her young daughter to a small town in Connecticut to take ownership of the local newspaper. At the same time, there is a series of gruesome murders involving the local family of bullies, the Corbetts, who terrorize the whole town, including Ellen. State Police Detective Michael Chandler is put on the case, having just returned to duty following a shooting in which he was clinically dead for seven minutes and brought back to life, leaving him with strange sensations and making him unprepared to deal with the newest arrival to the Corbett clan, Franny, a huge monster of a man who has just come to town from out of state. Franny has an eerie presence about him, and he and Michael are brought closer as the mystery deepens and becomes more mystical and paranormal. Ellen, Michael, and Franny become closely involved in the resolution of the crimes as the story builds to an explosive resolution. Noel Hynd does a great job blending the real with the surreal, the normal with the paranormal, and gives us an exciting mystery.
February 27, 2018
(Actually 3.5 stars) My favorite genre is Thriller/Spy, but lately I've been reading quite a few ghost stories. I bought this one because I have read previous books by Mr. Hynd and enjoyed them a lot (spy/thriller)-- Flowers from Berlin and Truman's Spy, to name two. Those books are much superior to this one, although I did like this one. Mr. Hynd writes very well and his characters are always well developed and interesting.
I have lately been reading a lot of ghost stores (not the hard-core, nightmare-inducing kind), and I was a little disappointed that the story dragged on so long before getting to the ghosts. There were some grammatical issues in the book (wrong pronoun; confusing dialogue transitions), but nothing major. I didn't understand why Chandler assured Franny that he was watching over Lisa, when it was obvious he wasn't. Also, I could have done without the sexual scene (ugh) and references, and don't think it was necessary or added anything to the story. So, while I probably will read other books by Mr. Hynd, I will stick to his spy/thriller books.
I have lately been reading a lot of ghost stores (not the hard-core, nightmare-inducing kind), and I was a little disappointed that the story dragged on so long before getting to the ghosts. There were some grammatical issues in the book (wrong pronoun; confusing dialogue transitions), but nothing major. I didn't understand why Chandler assured Franny that he was watching over Lisa, when it was obvious he wasn't. Also, I could have done without the sexual scene (ugh) and references, and don't think it was necessary or added anything to the story. So, while I probably will read other books by Mr. Hynd, I will stick to his spy/thriller books.
June 27, 2021
I’m giving this a 4 only because it’s Noel Hynd, and I absolutely love all of his work.
However...
Get. A. New. Editor.
Because that was rough.
3/5 due to typos, and 4/5 based on the overall story (a couple of loose ends didn’t tie up quite as nicely as they could have), bringing this book to a 3.5 (but again... rounded up because it’s Noel Hynd).
Seriously, though. He really needs a new editor.
Franny will not be at peace until a new one is found.
However...
Get. A. New. Editor.
Because that was rough.
3/5 due to typos, and 4/5 based on the overall story (a couple of loose ends didn’t tie up quite as nicely as they could have), bringing this book to a 3.5 (but again... rounded up because it’s Noel Hynd).
Seriously, though. He really needs a new editor.
Franny will not be at peace until a new one is found.
May 31, 2017
Wonderful read
The book started slow but kept your attention and the wait was well worth it the author weaved together a magical story that kept you turning the pages hoping it would never end, he put together one of the best reads I have enjoyed in years.
The book started slow but kept your attention and the wait was well worth it the author weaved together a magical story that kept you turning the pages hoping it would never end, he put together one of the best reads I have enjoyed in years.
July 2, 2023
Interesting take on ghosts.
June 17, 2011
"The Lost Boy" is a masterpiece of atmospheric horror, showing what a good author can do with words to create a slowly building cauldron of suspense.
Wilshire, CT looks like a picturesque, peaceful town to outsiders on the occasions they may stumble upon it. The locals don't particularly encourage that, of course, being insular and suspicious of new-comers. However, the town has a dark secret - the Corbett family; a family of bullies, outlaws and (it is whispered in the night) murderers. Ellen Wilder, rebounding from a tragedy on her life, buys the local paper and moves into Wilshire unaware of the buzzing hornets' nest she is walking into. When she decides to stir things up, she gets more than she bargained for.
A new member of the Corbett clan had arrived that summer as well - calling himself Franny, he is enormous and ugly even by the Corbetts' standards and his presence is unsettling to everyone he meets. He seems to come and go frequently and no one is quite sure where he fits in or whose child he is. He has a huge scar on his neck.
One night the police are called to the Corbett farm - James Corbett, the senior member of the family, is dead. He seems to have fallen out of a tree onto a pitchfork. This brings in the State Police in the person of Michael Chandler, recently returned to full duty after suffering a near-death experience and a long recuperation. Now he finds he sometimes has strange hunches that he isn't sure what to do with.
Michael, Ellen and Franny find themselves drawn together in ways that are strange and unimaginable before the end of the book; and of course, James Corbett was neither the first nor the last body. I found myself quite unable to put this book down and, in fact, read it outside while sunning which melted the glue on the spine and now the cover is off it. Oh, well :-) You'll definitely want to read this one in the light of day as well!
Wilshire, CT looks like a picturesque, peaceful town to outsiders on the occasions they may stumble upon it. The locals don't particularly encourage that, of course, being insular and suspicious of new-comers. However, the town has a dark secret - the Corbett family; a family of bullies, outlaws and (it is whispered in the night) murderers. Ellen Wilder, rebounding from a tragedy on her life, buys the local paper and moves into Wilshire unaware of the buzzing hornets' nest she is walking into. When she decides to stir things up, she gets more than she bargained for.
A new member of the Corbett clan had arrived that summer as well - calling himself Franny, he is enormous and ugly even by the Corbetts' standards and his presence is unsettling to everyone he meets. He seems to come and go frequently and no one is quite sure where he fits in or whose child he is. He has a huge scar on his neck.
One night the police are called to the Corbett farm - James Corbett, the senior member of the family, is dead. He seems to have fallen out of a tree onto a pitchfork. This brings in the State Police in the person of Michael Chandler, recently returned to full duty after suffering a near-death experience and a long recuperation. Now he finds he sometimes has strange hunches that he isn't sure what to do with.
Michael, Ellen and Franny find themselves drawn together in ways that are strange and unimaginable before the end of the book; and of course, James Corbett was neither the first nor the last body. I found myself quite unable to put this book down and, in fact, read it outside while sunning which melted the glue on the spine and now the cover is off it. Oh, well :-) You'll definitely want to read this one in the light of day as well!
December 11, 2015
Another wonderful ghost story!
I have read almost all of Noel Hynd's ghost stories, one more to go. I love his take on spirits and the after life. In The Lost Boy, we have a combination of a police procedural murder (murders) mystery, ghost story and the beginning of a love story. What I enjoyed was that the ghosts are not scary and are well developed characters that you actually care for. I am glad that I finally "discovered" Noel Hynd, and hope he writes more of his wonderful ghost stories!
I have read almost all of Noel Hynd's ghost stories, one more to go. I love his take on spirits and the after life. In The Lost Boy, we have a combination of a police procedural murder (murders) mystery, ghost story and the beginning of a love story. What I enjoyed was that the ghosts are not scary and are well developed characters that you actually care for. I am glad that I finally "discovered" Noel Hynd, and hope he writes more of his wonderful ghost stories!
July 31, 2016
Good story
I liked this however I felt that there was a lot of unnecessary descriptions in the beginning and then not enough at the end. I would recommend it to people who like ghost stories but not if you prefer fast moving suspenseful writing because whilst the culprit is obvious quite early on the book still takes ages to get to the point and then rushes to a conclusion without the full annihilation being accomplished.
I liked this however I felt that there was a lot of unnecessary descriptions in the beginning and then not enough at the end. I would recommend it to people who like ghost stories but not if you prefer fast moving suspenseful writing because whilst the culprit is obvious quite early on the book still takes ages to get to the point and then rushes to a conclusion without the full annihilation being accomplished.
September 18, 2015
Amazing read
I couldn't stop thinking about this book. I started reading it one night when I couldn't sleep but had to stop so I could try to rest. I had to be at work early the next day. As soon as I got home I started reading again and didn't put it down until I finished. The story kept me enthralled to the end. Great read.
I couldn't stop thinking about this book. I started reading it one night when I couldn't sleep but had to stop so I could try to rest. I had to be at work early the next day. As soon as I got home I started reading again and didn't put it down until I finished. The story kept me enthralled to the end. Great read.
October 20, 2007
This was the first book of Noel Hynd's that I ever read. It's part crime novel, part ghost story, and part tragedy that explores a mother's loss of a child. The book is sad, engrossing, and downright creepy. Definitely worth a look if you can find a copy!
June 6, 2015
The lost boy
I would recommend this to anyone that likes mystery and paranormal. It is well written and it was hard to put it down once I started reading.
I would recommend this to anyone that likes mystery and paranormal. It is well written and it was hard to put it down once I started reading.
June 13, 2015
The list boy
This was a wonderful story. I did not want to put it down. The author explained the theme very well.
This was a wonderful story. I did not want to put it down. The author explained the theme very well.
May 18, 2016
This is one that pulls you in from the first chapter and keeps you hanging on to the last page.
June 24, 2016
Rate the book.
Thank you! This was a great story. I enjoyed it tremendously. I enjoy all his stories. I love ghost stories.
Thank you! This was a great story. I enjoyed it tremendously. I enjoy all his stories. I love ghost stories.
October 28, 2015
slow and couldn't relate to main characters. dialogue was okay.
August 11, 2016
Karma is a bitch for the Corbetts. Like an extended version of The Twilight Zone.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews