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WORK TITLE: Two Lost Boys
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Robertson, Linda
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE: CA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2017/05/review-two-lost-boys-by-l-f-robertson * https://thecrimereview.com/2017/06/05/review-two-lost-boys-by-lf-robertson/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and defense attorney.
WRITINGS
Contributor to books, including Sherlock Holmes: The American Years, How to Try a Murder and Irrefutable Evidence, Sherlock Holmes: the Hidden Years, and My Sherlock Holmes. Also coauthor of The Complete Idiots Guide to Unsolved Mysteries.
SIDELIGHTS
L.F. Robertson works predominantly in the law field. Her specialty is defense. She is also a fiction writer, who mainly publishes crime and mystery novels. She has contributed work to Sherlock Holmes: The American Years, My Sherlock Holmes, and several other collections.
The Lost Boys is a novel influenced by Robertson’s law work. It stars Janet Moodie, who starts off the novel with a troubled past. She has isolated herself from those around her following the death of her spouse, which Janet feels she could have prevented. However, the newest case she receives may serve as a second chance to save someone from a fate they don’t deserve. Janet is assigned to work with Andy, a convict who was accused of abduction, sexual assault, and murder at a young age along with Emory, his brother. Andy receives the ultimate punishment, but evidence suggests this punishment is far from deserved. Janet’s research leads her to discover that Andy may be more of a victim than initially suspected. Janet also comes to believe that Andy’s first attorney didn’t put as much effort into defending him as they should have. Janet and other members of the law firm come to learn of several loopholes in Andy’s case that could lighten his punishment considerably, including a suspected learning disorder. However, Andy’s family is unwilling to help get Andy off the hook—especially his mother, who refuses to give into the possibility of Andy being disabled. However, Andy’s disabilities plainly negate the idea that he could have been behind the crimes he and Emory committed. Janet must figure out how to prove her suspicions true with the little help she is given. However, along the way she discovers even more unsettling information about Andy, including an extensive history of abuse by Andy’s father and an imbalanced relationship between Andy and Emory. Janet must scrape together what she can in order to give Andy the justice he sorely deserves.
A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked: “The author’s work as a defense attorney handling death penalty cases brings authenticity to an exciting debut.” In an issue of Publishers Weekly, a writer called Two Lost Boys a “promising first novel.” On the Crime Review website, one reviewer stated: “I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a realistic legal thriller.” They also added: “I’d also actually recommend that true crime fans pick this one up as well; the authenticity will make you forget that you are reading fiction.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2017, review of Two Lost Boys.
Publishers Weekly, March 13, 2017, review of Two Lost Boys, p. 61.
ONLINE
Crime Review, https://thecrimereview.com/ (June 5, 2017), review of Two Lost Boys.
Criminal Element, https://www.criminalelement.com/ (May 23, 2017), review of Two Lost Boys.
L.F. Robertson is a practising defense attorney who for the last two decades has handled only death penalty appeals. Linda is the co-author of The Complete Idiots Guide to Unsolved Mysteries, and a contributor to the forensic handbooks How to Try a Murder and Irrefutable Evidence. She has had short stories published in the anthologies My Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes: the Hidden Years and Sherlock Holmes: The American Years.
Robertson, L.F.: TWO LOST BOYS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Robertson, L.F. TWO LOST BOYS Titan Books (Adult Fiction) $14.95 5, 16 ISBN: 978-1-78565-278-3
An attorney specializing in death row appeals discovers plenty of reasons to plead for clemency for her client.When
her husband committed suicide, Janet Moodie blamed herself. So did some of her friends. Retreating to a small
cottage north of San Francisco, she continues to work on death row cases. Her newest client, Marion "Andy" Hardy,
was convicted 15 years ago, along with his younger brother, Emory, of rape, murder, and kidnapping. Emory got life
in prison; Andy, whose lawyer didn't put up much of a defense, was sentenced to death. Now it's up to Janet to find
holes in that defense that could change his sentence to life. The lawyer who'll eventually appear in court confides that
Andy's controlling mother, Eva, is bound to learn anything Janet tells Andy. Janet and Dave Rothstein, a close friend
of her husband who's helping her as an investigator, quickly realize that Andy has mental disabilities that could
mitigate his sentence. But Eva, who's never acknowledged his problems, fights them tooth and nail when they try to
get Andy evaluated. It's hard to believe that Andy, a sweet boy who was bullied by Emory and his friends, could have
planned or committed the crimes, even after his father, an alcoholic who abused Eva and the kids, suddenly vanished
from their lives. Janet and Dave crisscross California and nearby states interviewing family members and friends and
relatives of the dead girls and turn up a great deal of new information. Can they uncover the secrets that will help the
hapless Andy? The author's work as a defense attorney handling death penalty cases brings authenticity to an exciting
debut that focuses on providing grist for the slow-moving wheels of the criminal justice system.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Robertson, L.F.: TWO LOST BOYS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA485105289&it=r&asid=f5b191bae3afac5acd754c2b2135f7ed.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A485105289
10/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1508711798302 2/2
Two Lost Boys
Publishers Weekly.
264.11 (Mar. 13, 2017): p61.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Two Lost Boys
L.F. Robertson. Titan, $14.95 trade paper
(400p) ISBN 978-1-78565-278-3
Veteran attorney Janet Moodie, the sympathetic lead of Robertson's promising first novel, has withdrawn to a small,
isolated Sonoma County, Calif., community after the, shocking and inexplicable suicide of her husband, prominent
defense counsel Terrence Moran. Though Janet has decided not to handle any more death penalty cases, she accepts
one after finding the lack of stress in her life boring. Her newest client, Andy Hardy, is on death row in San Quentin
State Prison for murdering two prostitutes, whom he and his brother, Emory, abducted and abused. Janet has to review
the record to find evidence that Andy's trial attorney didn't provide him with competent representation 15 years
earlier, as well as uncover any new evidence that could lead to his sentence being commuted. Though the resolution
doesn't live up to the rest of the book, Robertson, an appellate lawyer specializing in death penalty cases, does a fine
job basing a legal thriller on the process of trying to mitigate a death sentence. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Two Lost Boys." Publishers Weekly, 13 Mar. 2017, p. 61+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA485971633&it=r&asid=0449350ebacf04acab0a7fb849fa11d3.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A485971633
REVIEW: TWO LOST BOYS BY LF ROBERTSON
JUNE 5, 2017 THECRIMEREVIEWADMIN LEAVE A COMMENT
Series: N/A
Book Number: N/A
Read this book for: legal procedural, death row appeals, US mystery, strange family dynamics, realistic story
Quick Review: Satisfyingly realistic, complex and dark; a highly recommended read for thriller and true-crime fans alike.
***
Janet Moodie has spent years as a death row appeals attorney. Overworked and recently widowed, she’s had her fill of hopeless cases, and is determined that this will be her last. Her client is Marion ‘Andy’ Hardy, convicted along with his brother Emory of the rape and murder of two women. The brothers were tried separately, and Emory received a life sentence, while Andy got the death penalty, labeled the ringleader despite his low IQ and Emory’s dominant personality. Convinced that Andy’s previous lawyers have missed mitigating evidence that would have spared him the death penalty, Janet investigates Andy’s past, revealing a sordid and damaging upbringing, a series of errors on the part of his previous council, and most worrying of all, the possibility that there is far more to the Hardy family than was first thought. Andy may be guilty, but of what?
TWO LOST BOYS is LF Robertson’s first novel, but she draws on her background as an appeals lawyer in capital cases to create an intensely real, immersive story that feels polished and authentic in a way that many more experienced storytellers never achieve.
Let me start off by pointing out that this is not your typical James Patterson-style legal thriller. There are no car chases, shootouts or action sequences. This entire story is built around the simple mission of one lawyer to put together an appeal case for a client of hers. And that, in my opinion, is exactly what a legal thriller should be – with the focus on the legal battle, the uncovering of facts, the construction of arguments – as the stakes are already high enough, given that the execution of the client rests on the outcome.
Roberson makes this story a little more unique, however, by moving the focus away from the outcome of the case a little bit. Janet Moodie opens up a bit of a rabbit hole in her client’s past when she starts to look into his background for mitigating circumstances that will help her win the appeal. Again, this is a nod toward realism: sometimes you just have to keep digging and hope it turns up something that will help you. The pacing of these discoveries also perfectly encapsulates the jerky stop-start nature of litigation.
A brief note of praise for the characters in this novel as well: Janet is not some super-litigator, she’s an attorney with a humanity and a tendency to worry about little things that I think many can relate to. Her comfortable and familiar relationships with her neighbour and the investigator, her mundane day-to-day, and the uncomfortable nature of the work that she is doing are all deeply believable. She also does an incredible job of humanizing Andy and his family, despite the crimes that haunt them. It’s so refreshing to see the sensitive and nuanced way that she handles some of these individuals who could so easily fall into stereotype.
[MINOR SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH] The other thing that I love about this novel is the untidy ending. Robertson uses this novel to make a statement about how unsatisfactory these kinds of investigations can be, and how the justice system often results in endings where nobody truly ‘wins’. It’s powerful, and uncomfortable, and makes the novel feel that much more authentic.
I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a realistic legal thriller. I’d also actually recommend that true crime fans pick this one up as well; the authenticity will make you forget that you are reading fiction.
Review: Two Lost Boys by L. F. Robertson
KRISTIN CENTORCELLI
Two Lost Boys by L. F. Robertson is a debut novel and a legal thriller that deals with the controversial subject of the death penalty.
Death row appeals attorney Janet Moodie has had her fill with the hopelessness that comes along with helping those on death row, grinding against the vast machine that makes up the American legal system. Janet reluctantly agrees to take on the appeal of Marion “Andy” Hardy, who, along with his younger brother Emory, was convicted of raping and murdering two prostitutes. The only difference is that while Emory got life in prison, Andy got death. Andy’s low IQ brings into question the appropriateness of the death penalty, but proving that Andy’s original lawyer didn’t do a thorough job is easier said than done.
We would have to turn the field again after nearly fifteen years, reading every piece of paper, looking for things not done, favorable evidence and witnesses that weren’t found or, if found, were ignored—anything that might help convince some judge that Andy deserved a new trial. We were starting at square one, with nothing obvious to look for—hell, we were behind square one, because Andy had had a trial and appeal. We’d have to convince a skeptical judge that enough evidence had been left out the first time, that Andy deserved a chance to be tried again.
Witnesses would have to be spoken to, family members tracked down, and all the while, Janet would need to maintain the detachment needed to effectively investigate a case that had already been tried and put to rest. And she must never to forget that there are still two dead girls that were the result of the brothers’ murderous crime spree, not to mention a third who actually survived.
The crime-scene photos and autopsy reports were worse than most, given the state of the bodies, though they lacked the Grand Guignol quality of images on television crime shows. There was no teasing suspense, no ominous music or disorienting camera angles—just dark earth and earth colored bone and dried flesh and stained and crumpled shreds of clothing, made two-dimensional and nearly unintelligible by the camera flash. They weren’t terrifying, just sickening and sobering—the human husk resolving itself back into earth, dust to dust, a crime scene as momento mori.
Sometimes, though, I ran across an unexpected detail, something in the background, in a photograph, or said in a report or transcript, that pierced my detachment. The reports and photos called up scenes; the policeman turning a shovel full of earth and smelling the musky, sour, tang of decomposing animal flesh, saying softly, “Oh hell” in the instant before collecting himself and calling out, “We’ve got one here.” The faces of the mothers of the girls when they were told that their bodies have been found. A smiling baby in her pink sundress in a photo in Brandy’s wallet, a child who would never see her mother again.
As Janet and her partner Dave work through the case, she realizes there’s much more to this story than meets the eye. She discovers that Andy’s past is a patchwork of hopelessness and manipulation at the hands of an abusive father and a manipulative brother, and their mother Evie may have some secrets of her own—secrets that may have twisted the course of justice.
For most, the revelations would be shocking, but not for a family that could never get out from under crushing poverty, casual violence, and the cumulative effects of alcoholism, joblessness, and the hopelessness that can consume and poison a family irreversibly. Questions of mercy must be weighed against questions of justice, and it just might push Janet—who nurses her own pain after her husband’s suicide—and her own struggles with anxiety to her limit.