01/30/2023

At the start of this smoothly written if somewhat slow literary thriller from Bollen (A Beautiful Crime), Eric Castle, who works for a high-powered American defense contractor manufacturing state-of-the-art weapons and armaments, returns one afternoon to his hotel in Cairo. That night, he takes a fatal fall from his hotel room’s third-floor balcony. In the morning, a hotel porter discovers his body on the pavement; the authorities rule his death a suicide. Meanwhile in New York City, Eric’s sister, Cate Castle, has just broken up with her boyfriend when she hears the bad news about him. Certain that her brother didn’t die by suicide, Cate travels to Cairo, where she enlists the help of an Egyptian friend of a friend, Omar, to follow up on clues Eric sent her shortly before his death. Soon she’s up to her neck in danger and intrigue, and it’s uncertain whether she and Omar will make it out alive. Bollen does a good job capturing the atmosphere of Cairo while exploring the personalities and experiences of his main characters, but he does so at the expense of pace and action. Readers in search of page-turning adventure may be tempted to skim this one. (Mar.)

A Kirkus "Best Book of the Year" —

“The Lost Americans is a gripping, page-turning tour de force. Christopher Bollen isn’t merely a great storyteller — though he is. He is also a brilliant stylist who, once again, has given us a literary thriller where the action never flags and character and atmosphere never are slighted." — Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and The Lioness

"A terrific novel, rich in character and wonderfully atmospheric, with a propulsive plot packed with nerve-wracking peril and satisfying twists and reading enjoyment on every single page. I loved it." — Chris Pavone, New York Times bestselling author of The Expats and Two Nights in Lisbon

"The Lost Americans is a perfectly taut thriller. A deeply atmospheric portrait of Cairo in all its beauty and decay, the novel pulses with energy. Bollen orchestrates a vivid and gripping reading experience."  — Emma Cline, internationally bestselling author of The Girls, Daddy, and The Guest

"Bollen is a modern master of the Highsmithian literary thriller. His previous book, A Beautiful Crime, was a Venice-set caper about lovers turned con men, a mystery that tapped into the Floating City’s labyrinthine nature. Here, he flies readers to Cairo to uncover a mystery about an American defense contractor who’d reportedly died by suicide and his increasingly suspicious sister working to understand what really happened."  — Electric Literature, "Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of Spring"

"A gripping thriller with lingering emotional effects. . . . Bollen takes real risks with the story, making it more haunting than the reader may be prepared for. The scarcity of civil rights in contemporary Egypt is captured to shadowy effect, extending to the targeting of gay citizens like Cate's guide and driver, Omar. . . . Cut from the same mold as Robert Stone's great political thrillers with its international intrigue, darkly atmospheric setting, and compromised characters." — Kirkus, starred review

“A bold plot twist bolsters the story’s gritty realism, revealing that the villainy behind Eric’s death shields a lot of human complexity. Bollen, known for setting thrillers in alluring locales, skillfully captures Cairo’s beauty and palpable tension, and Cate and Omar’s courage in facing hard truths gives this memorable thriller extra frisson.” — Booklist

“Sharp new literary thriller.” — Vanity Fair

“Uncharted territory…gripping and genuinely moving.” — New York Times

"It is not only clever and shrewdly observant; it is full of knowing and well-researched references to episodes from recent Egyptian history, from the central conceit of defenestration (or “suiciding”) to the descriptions of the central characters, many of whom bear echoes of the real-life Americans and Egyptians who (according to the acknowledgments) Bollen couldn’t get out of his mind while he was writing the novel.....Atmospherically, the thriller captures well the inescapable atmosphere of paranoia and surveillance anxiety that ordinary Egyptians find themselves suffocated by on a daily basis....Bollen’s well-researched, sensitive, and sympathetically rendered novel feels faithful to the experiences of locals and expats alike..." — The Nation

“We’re in Graham Greene territory in Christopher Bollen’s The Lost Americans, which takes place in Cairo. . . . The Lost Americans is a sensitively written, keenly observed, hauntingly sad thriller that will make you want to weep with frustration: for the brief, broken promise of the Arab Spring, for the betrayals that take place within families, and for the ugly business of war, which is always booming.” — Air Mail

"The Lost Americans is a delicious jigsaw puzzle of a novel, one that evokes the allure of far-flung travel and the complicated fantasy of trying to disappear into a place that is not your home." — Departures

"The Lost Americans is a thrilling and engaging novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. Bollen's skillful storytelling and richly drawn characters make for a deeply satisfying reading experience, and the novel's exploration of themes such as power, corruption, and identity make it a thought-provoking addition to the mystery and thriller genres. Highly recommended for fans of smart, atmospheric fiction that will keep you guessing until the very end." — The Bookish Buzz

"The Lost Americans is a potent thriller with an espionage shot on the side."  — Crime Reads

"Bollen's novels are always stylish and smart, with twists of international intrigue and a sharp eye for social commentary, and The Lost Americans is certainly no exception." — Town & Country, A "Must-read Book of Spring 2023"

"The Lost Americans is a well-conceived, extremely evocative thriller that respects the reader’s intellect." — Crime Fiction Lover

"Bollen's depth of characterization keeps the intensity at fever pitch throughout this riveting novel." — Brooklyn Digest

Praise for A Beautiful Crime — ///

Lameece Issaq's narration of Bollen's latest thriller keeps the listener guessing until the final reveal. Her narration is expressive and well paced as she expertly injects emotion into dialogue and uses subtle accents to identify the international cast of characters. Eric, a weapons tech working for Polestar in Egypt, dies of an apparent suicide, but his sister, Cate, is adamant that he didn't take his own life. Theresa Alverez, the company representative who is supporting the family, is sympathetic at first but soon becomes impatient, even threatening, as Cate questions the investigation's conclusions. Issaq ratchets up the suspense as Cate naïvely travels to Egypt to find her own answers. She's determined but often fearful as she questions whom to trust and what to believe. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

★ 2022-12-24
Following the sudden death of her brother, Eric, in Cairo, where he was working as a weapons technician for a "boutique" defense firm, New York fundraiser Cate Castle sets out to prove he did not kill himself.

Official word is that Eric was drunk, depressed, and delusional when he tossed himself off the third-floor balcony of his hotel. Cate, knowing in her heart that he would never kill himself, goes to Egypt to chase down the truth, prompted by a mysterious postcard from him. In Cairo, she immediately gets a whiff of the danger she is in when a young man posing as her airport driver attempts to abduct her. In due course, she learns that Eric was caught in the middle of a secret weapons deal. When his firm, Polestar, offers Cate's needy mother and ailing stepfather in Massachusetts a sizable settlement, she reluctantly gives in to demands that she sign a nondisclosure agreement prohibiting her from airing her grievances or questioning Polestar employees. But acting on impulse, sure she is getting close to what happened, she continues her investigation—under the watchful eye of authoritarian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's secret police. Cut from the same mold as Robert Stone's great political thrillers with its international intrigue, darkly atmospheric setting, and compromised characters, Bollen's novel is afloat in self-recrimination. "We used to sell weapons to fight wars," says a disillusioned former colleague of Eric's. "Now we fight wars to sell weapons." The scarcity of civil rights in contemporary Egypt is captured to shadowy effect, extending to the targeting of gay citizens like Cate's guide and driver, Omar. Bollen, author of Lightning People (2011) and Orient (2015), takes real risks with the story, making it more haunting than the reader may be prepared for.

A gripping thriller with lingering emotional effects.