Book Talk: Haylen Beck, ‘Lost You’

From the very first chapter, we know that this book will not have a happy ending. A woman stands on the edge of a roof, seven stories above the ground. She has a child in her arms. When asked about the child, she tells the officer, “He’s my son.” The officer tries to talk her down, but she says that it’s too late. Asking for forgiveness, she talks a step forward amid a chorus of screaming from below.

This is the type of introductory chapter that does not allow you to put the book down. It’s written by veteran crime novelist Stuart Neville, who has written Lost You (2019, 306 pages in hardback format) under the pseudonym of Haylen Beck so that readers will not confuse it with his Belfast crime series.

Lost You opens with Libby and Ethan on vacation in Naples, Florida. Libby is an author who just received a $75,000 advance on her novel. Ethan is three years old and loves to swim with his mother. He also likes to push all the elevator buttons, causing people in the conveyance to endure a stop at every floor. Libby gently tells him not to do that again.

At the pool, they meet Charles and his husband Gerry, a couple of nice guys, and Ethan and Gerry take a shine to each other. Gerry babysits Ethan that evening while Charles and Libby go dancing. The next day, as Libby is once again thanking Gerry, Ethan steps into the elevator and presses the buttons. When the elevator comes back down, it’s empty.

Beck then takes us to four years earlier. Libby and Mason have been trying for ten years to have a baby, but Libby simply can’t conceive. They are on a list for adoption, but years have passed and no match has been found for them.

Meanwhile Anna, a waitress, has lost her job. She lives in a broken-down single-wide trailer in an undesirable trailer park. Jobs are in short supply, but her friend Donna reads an advertisement in the free throw-away paper. A clinic is offering “financial opportunities for healthy women between the ages of twenty-nine and thirty-five.” Anna thinks it’s a come-on for strippers or test dummies for some new chemical. But Donna phones the number, leaving Anna’s name and number.

The following day, Mr. Kovak phones Anna, offering $500 to her just to come for an interview, no obligation. Anna gets the money, but Mr. Kovak offers another $500 for her to take the examination at the clinic. Anna agrees, again with the “no obligation” stipulation. Eventually, she agrees to become the surrogate mother for a needy couple.

Naturally, Anna doesn’t know the couple who will receive the baby when its born, and the expectant parents don’t know the surrogate mother. And, guess what. As Anna experiences all of the stages of pregnancy, she decides that she can’t give up her “Little Butterfly,” aka Lil’B. Of course, we see that coming a mile away, but Mr. Beck has a few twists that will keep us guessing. For example: Who was the woman who stepped off the roof in Chapter One?

• • •

Jim Glynn may be contacted at j_glynn@att.net.