I started reading Mr. Maguire's work with "Wicked" and followed it up with "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister." I loved the premise of the alternate side of fairytales and had high hopes for "Lost."

I began to read "Lost" and quickly got lost. Winifred Rudge, a Massachusetts-based writer with boarderline commerical success, goes on holiday in England under the premise of researching a new book. She stays in her cousin's flat which is being remodeled by two rather superstitious handymen. She seems fairly normal, and from the book's cover, I expected some interesting Scrooge-based plotline that followed Mr. Maguire's earlier formula of "look at the otherside of the fairytale."

Instead it becomes a bad horror movie starting with her cousin. He is nowhere to be found and he had not informed her that the flat would be under construction during her trip. Then we are bombarded with strange sounds and a reappearing check-mark sign in the flat, a large painting of her great-grandfather who may have been Dickens’ inspiration for Scrooge in "Christmas Carol," some odd neighbors and dead cats interrupted with flashbacks of a disasterous child adoption and love affair in Eastern Europe. Perhaps this is to let us experience madness and Winifred's mental breakdown, or it could simply be bad plot development.

In a nutshell: I was disappointed. The flashbacks confuse the reader instead of clarify the plot. There is no sign of Mr. Maguire's successful plot formula. It is darker than a pint of Guiness, and lacks any humor from the first two books. My best guess is that it was a cathartic writing experience for Mr. Maguire, although I don't dare hazard a guess as to what pieces of the plot were inspired by any of his life events.

Recommended: No