The Lost Kings by Tyrell Johnson

 

Everything changed when her mother died.  Jeanie and her twin, Jamie, were taken in by their aunt and uncle since her father was off in the war.  When he was discharged, it was to take them off without any warning to a remote cabin in the woods of Washington, near the coast.  There he disappeared every day into the woods, drinking and shooting his guns.  Jeanie and Jamie were free to explore the woods and seashore and there they met Maddox who became their best friend.  

Then came the night when Jeanie awoke to find her father coming through the door with blood on his hands.  He sent her to bed but the next morning he was gone along with Jamie.  Jeanie holed up in the cabin, anxiously waiting for them to return but they didn't.  Eventually her situation was discovered and she was returned to her aunt and uncle.  Her friendship and budding romance with Maddox was cut off although they tried to keep it alive.

Now Jeanie is living in Oxford, England, where her mother lived.  She left money so Jeanie is able to buy a house, but that's the only stable thing in her life.  Ignoring her intellectual gifts, she drops out of Oxford and works in a pedestrian job, drinking too much, having an affair with a married man and sleeping with other men to have some semblance of closeness.  Then Maddox appears telling her he has found her father.  Will Jeanie finally get answers?

Tyrell Johnson burst on the literary scene a few years ago with his book, The Wolves Of Winter.  This book has that same strong writing that pulls the reader along and makes them care about the characters Johnson has created.  Jeanie has never gotten over her childhood, pushing away everyone who cares for her, rejecting them before they can reject her.  She has a hole in her heart for Jamie and a longing to know what happened that night he and her father disappeared.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.