Claudia's Reviews > The Lost

Many people equate horror with the supernatural. I find that the actions of real people can be just as horrifying as any ghost or vampire. This book was a difficult read for me because I have lived the terror of not knowing when potential violence will become real violence. Horror is not the anticipation of terrible things, it is knowing full well that it is going to happen and there is nothing you can do at this minute to stop it. Terror is seing the door opening and not being certain whether tonight you will get the Austrian crystal ring or will it be the night you die. Ray is charming and handsome and charismatic and his moods change on a dime. I thought the character was terrifying while at the same time I understood why Jennifer and Tim were tied to him. He provided them with self-worth. He made them believe that he was so important that being tied to him made them important as well. I also understood Schilling's relentless need to bring him down. Schilling wanted a safe place to live and Ray took that from him. The only character in the book who wasn't lost was the cat, Gimp. He did what was in his nature to do and in the end provides an emotional place for Ed to escape to.
I often wrestle with the idea of retribution and revenge. Ketchum allows me both in the ending of the book. Even though I understand Tim and Jennifer's reluctance to leave Ray, I don't sympathize with their refusal to learn anything from their experience. Their continued sense of being lost worked for me. Would it be worse to die or live a life of misery in prison? I was totally happy with Ray's sentence and the implication that he would die in pain from AIDS after being tortured daily. Ketchum writes about the horror of every day people. Life isn't always lollipops and roses but people often have the strength to survive and that makes for a great story. Ketchum doesn't pull punches. He tells the story in most graphic way possible. But that is how life is. That fist coming toward your face rarely stops until after it has broken your nose and thrown you to the kitchen floor.