The Light We Lost: Lost Light, Book 1

I loved this book. Normally the first novel in a series (especially a post-apocalyptic one) takes a while to set up the characters and context of the story but I felt this one really hit the ground running. It was well paced and spliced with a few of my favourite things (totally sang that in my head): action, a bit of intrigue and mystery, potential romance (of which I hope there's more of) and just the right amount of suspense to keep me turning the pages, which I definitely did. Set on the premise that the world has hit its post-pandemic crisis, only to be thrown into chaos when solar flares knock out all electronics and satellite devices, rendering most modern technology useless, possibly for decades. Set in the Upper Peninsula area in Michigan, around the lake and wilderness district, a small town starts to feel the heat as food supplies drop and violence and mayhem is just around the corner.Quick heads up - I went into this book mostly blind and loved it even more because of that fact. I've dribbled on a lot below about the characters and plot so if this makes you stabby in reviews, jog along, champ. I'll also add a couple of small trigger warnings - while nothing is graphic nor focussed on, there's implied physical and sexual abuse, just in case any readers need this flagged.The book's told from four characters' point of view with a over-arching story line so while this installment has its own form of closure, the bigger picture is far from resolved. The four main characters who share the story telling in their own chapters all have a connection: the brutal murder of Lily Easton eight years prior. With the town believing the killer is safely locked away, their lives are shaken when not only is the alleged killer released on a technicality, but returns to his home town shortly after another violent killing takes place. The victim? Lily's father at their family home. With no one she can trust and her brother missing, Shiloh flees into the wilderness surrounding her grandfather's property, determined to find and rescue her sibling and uncover the perpetrator. Waking up to find herself covered in blood, Shiloh can't remember anything, similar to when she woke up eight years ago covered in her own mother's blood. She runs into Eli, her mother's on-again off-again lover and the man previously convicted of her murder. Instead of being afraid, Shiloh feels a connection to Eli who is using his Special Forces skills to camp out in the wild while plotting his revenge in finding out who framed him for a crime he didn't commit. Then there's Jackson, the all-round good guy who everybody trusts as the local deputy sheriff. Formerly Eli's best friend, Jackson's arrest of him shatters their brotherhood and while the latter is self-righteous and means well, as the old saying goes, all the glitters isn't always gold and some of his shine starts to rub off. Finally, there's Lena, Lily's sister who left during Eli's trial. Now living in Florida as a Search and Rescue operator, she packs up and heads off to help the search for her niece with her beloved Newfoundland dog, Bear. She was Jackson's best friend and Eli's former girlfriend (I'm guessing him sleeping with her sister might be a problem lol) as the four of them (when Lily was alive) being inseparable as youths. Considering the amount going on in the book, the characters were given just the right amount of complexity and development and I really enjoyed how their stories intertwined, particularly the three adults that were close knit that suddenly have their lives once again intertwined.The book then centres around where Shiloh and her brother might be and who's behind the grisly murder all while their lives go to pieces due to the solar flare. The story had a great small town feel to it, where everyone knows everybody else while delivering an underlying feeling of ickiness where you know one of their own isn't what they seem and causing you to ask yourself: how well do you really know your neighbours? All of the characters started off with a bang and I'm really looking forward to where the story goes regarding the need to survive and in finding out who is responsible for Lily's murder. I loved what all of the four main characters brought to the story line and they offered a great balance of the two main tropes, producing a read that had me reading well into the early hours. The plot was well thought out, realistic and well written. There aren't many authors I one-click, but Kyla Stone is a fairly recent addition for me and this book is exactly why. I loved it and can't wait for the next book.

Very good read. I kept wondering what is going to happen to each character so I continued to read to find out which is a sign it’s a good book. It also made me think of my own emergency plans if there is something that knocks out everything electrical. The world has gotten so used to having cellphones and TV’s that I don’t know if many would be able to function like our grandparents or great grandparents did. 👍

I really enjoyed the book. As a natural disaster slowly but terrifying unfolds around them a desperate search for a killer is taking place. The characters were intriguing and information was gradually provided linking the past and present. About to start the next book.

This is a very different posts apocalyptic novel. It is also about a murder mystery that keeps getting more complicated as the story progresses. I highly recommend this series and everything written by Kyle Stone!

Fairly fast paced. Not what I expected in a post-apocalyptic book. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Kyla Stone is among the top tier of authors creating apocalyptic scenarios! Her plots are well developed and characters development to live them extremely well done!

Kept my interest many moving parts. One thing it showed was how stereotypes cause so many problems. Great book good read

I've read most, if not nearly all, of Kyla's books. She's an excellent writer with a knack for telling stories that are logically presented, researched, action packed, containing complex characters, and colorfully described locations. I'm never disappointed.The Light We Lost is a new series with all new characters who run the gamut of joyful, sad, emotionally tortured at times, hopeful, evil, revengeful, loving, and brave. I could go on. This is one of the reasons I love to read Kyla's books. She develops rich, vibrant, complex characters who bring their own unique personality and dynamic ingredients to Kyla's version of TEOTWAWKI.Set in a chaotic and stressful end of the world situation based on solar flares (or CME's), Stone artfully creates a spectacular tangled web of characters, their history, current events happening in real life, and possible future calamities which tantalizes one's imagination to the point of exhaustion.She brilliantly weaves the story of a serial killer murder mystery into the frightening version of what our world would be like if civilization abruptly stopped functioning. Little to no vehicles, no food production or delivery, lack of water and hygiene, and a population of ever increasingly desperate people.I gave it 4 stars for 2 reasons. It was such a quick read. I would have preferred the book to have more detail/description on the chaos of such a world ending event. More explanation as to the what, how, and why of certain things particularly when it comes to surviving and learning the "old ways" of doing things before electricity. The other reason is, although the characters are frickin' awesome, the elite super tactical soldier/survivalist character and the ever faithful, super smart dog is a little bit redundant as these also appeared in her last series. Having said that, none of this detracts from the epically entertaining story. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves post apocalyptic tales with murder mysteries built in. Happy reading!

This as me waiting for more.A great introduction to these new characters I'm sure there will be some surprises along the way. Looking forward to book 2 .

Really good start to a new series .Fast paced and full of suspense. .Looking forward to the next book in the series.

I’ve read most of Kyla Stones books, love them all. They just keep getting better, an amazing gritty page turner! Can’t wait for the next one in this series!

First book in a new series from Kyla StoneReally excellent. Characters are interesting and the story line is ace,looking forward to book two.

A cracking book. The sense of brooding menace is palpable and the characters are ‘unfolded’ just enough to make you interested in seeing what they do, and what happens to them in the sequel. A great read on its own, and a really good introduction to the series. Kyla never fails to impress.