LOST TO DUNE ROAD By Kara Thomas
(Available for Pre-order)
For a disgraced reporter, unraveling a conspiracy of murder could mean redemption in a powerful novel of suspense by the bestselling author of Out of the Ashes.
Reporter Lee Ellerin’s investigation into a young woman’s unsolved murder gained national attention―only for her to lose everything due to a tragic mistake. After being publicly ridiculed for causing a suspect’s death, Lee is forced to leave her career behind.
Five years later, pregnant college student Amanda Hartley lies in a coma. The police say she attempted suicide, but the details don’t add up. Where is the father? Who was paying for Amanda’s Manhattan penthouse? Why did Amanda have a note with Lee’s name in her backpack? There’s also one alarming coincidence: Amanda was last seen on Dune Road in the Hamptons―where the murder victim in Lee’s previous investigation disappeared.
As she’s pulled back into the still-unsolved case that destroyed her career, Lee sees the chance to amend the mistakes of her past. But finding a killer and unearthing Amanda’s secrets sends her down a darker path than she has ever walked before.
FROM THE AUTHOR:::::
More than a decade ago, the bodies of several women who had gone missing were discovered near Gilgo Beach, not far from where Thomas lives on Long Island. Known as the Gilgo Case, the murders were unsolved until a recent 2023 arrest. Fascinated, Kara researched the investigation and was horrified by the treatment victims and families received from law enforcement when their loved ones were first reported missing. They had all been dismissed due to their history of sex work, and in most of the cases, police did the bare minimum to investigate their suspicious disappearances.
Kara Thomas was determined to write her new thriller with this perspective in mind: “I knew if I was going to write about an active, sensitive case, it had to be from the lens of what happens when vulnerable women are overlooked by law enforcement—the opposite of Missing White Woman Syndrome,” she explained. “In this scenario, certain victims don’t get media attention because they happen to live risky lifestyles or have a history of mental health issues and substance use.”
