About the Book

Book: Lost in Darkness

Author: Michelle Griep

Genre: FICTION/ Christian/Romance

Release date: November 1, 2021

England, 1815

Amelia Balfour has one dream. . .to tour Egypt as a travel writer. But when her wish is finally within reach, her father dies, and her malformed brother Colin depends upon her to arrange for a revolutionary surgery. Amelia returns home, hoping he’ll recover before the ship sails for Cairo.

Former Navy surgeon Graham Lambert is sick—of travelling, loneliness, and especially the injustice of the world. Leaving behind the military, he partners with a renowned surgeon, the man who promises new life to Amelia’s brother.

But just as the operation begins, Graham suspects the surgeon is a fraud. After a botched procedure, Colin goes mad and escapes, terrorizing their neighbor, author Mary Godwin—planting the seed for her greatest creation, Frankenstein.

Can Amelia and Graham stop Colin before he destroys everyone in his path and find the tender soul still trapped inside…or will they be too late?

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My Thoughts:

This book I have been waiting with great anticipation since I saw that beautiful cover. I know that you should not judge a book by its cover, but if I didn't already know the author's writing, I would have picked it up in an instant.

And this story delivered with an engrossing tale of a brother and sister who are reeling from their father's unexpected death. A father who really wasn't a good father, who was reeling after their mother's death. A broken family to be sure who is trying to live the rest of their lives with the many shards of their brokenness.

And Colin, Amelia's younger brother, also suffers from a disfiguring disease that has made him grow in what many people would call a grotesque monster. On top of that he suffered an accident that did not help his appearance, so he was just trying to live his life in seclusion. I like that we got his point of view as well as his sister's and the doctor Graham Lambert's who is helping to treat him. Colin had a wonderful heart and a beautiful soul that if others looked past his appearance would find a true and genuine friend.

Amelia is charged with caring for her brother, and she loves him dearly. She is also running to every sort of adventure she can find in her travels to escape the prison she is in. She was a woman in the early 1800's dealing with broken familial relations and just trying to escape. I felt for her and all the pressure she was under.

Graham was the knight in shining armor with some armor that needed polishing. He blames himself for his past and has a heart for the poor and sick whom he desperately tries to help and save whether they will accept the help or even if they cannot pay. He sees in the Balfour sibling's true kinship and friendship and possible love with Amelia. His protective instincts kick in now and again with Amelia but also with Colin.

Now the doctor he partners with is a strange man with even stranger ideas. He is creepy and his secret dealings and hidden agendas is something that Graham feels immense alarm. A couple of descriptions makes one wonder if he is the true monster in this story.

There was an ominous feeling throughout this story. Strange stirrings were happening in and around their home. And their neighbors were an interesting bunch as well.

I look forward to every book by author Griep and this one with its foreboding title, gothic feel, "monsters", and beautiful cover was a joy to read.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the Author

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She is the Christy Award-winning author of historical romances: A Tale of Two Hearts, The Captured Bride, The Innkeeper’s Daughter, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, The Captive Heart, Brentwood’s Ward, A Heart Deceived, and Gallimore, but also leaped the historical fence into the realm of contemporary with the zany romantic mystery Out of the Frying Pan.

More from Michelle

Are You a Monster Too?

“Look at that! The fattest girl in the class is the first one to get in line for a cupcake.”

Those words, spoken to me in junior high by a clueless boy, are forever seared into my memory. Just because I wasn’t a willowy stick-figure who didn’t match up to magazine covers, I was singled out. Made to feel ashamed. Made to feel like a monster.

Have you ever felt that way?

Chances are you have. We are all poked and prodded at some point in our lives…which brings up a few questions. How do you deal with the sometimes ugly perceptions with which others view you? How do you stop trying to prove your worth to others, when in their eyes you are somehow worthless? Why does God allow such hurtful things to happen anyway?

These are the questions I attempt to tackle in my new release, Lost in Darkness. And surprisingly enough, those are the very same issues contemplated in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Now hold on. Don’t go rolling your eyeballs quite yet—which is the usual response whenever Frankenstein is mentioned.

Most people’s conception of this great piece of literature has been forever ruined by Hollywood’s green creature. You know the one, the giant with bolts sticking out of his neck and a stiff-legged walk. So not true. The essence of Shelley’s “horror” story is instead about a creature who struggles with heartfelt needs that can only be met by his creator. In this story, Shelley respectfully handles the subject of what we owe our creator and what our creator’s responsibility is toward us as the created…the very same questions we all struggle with.

As does Colin Balfour, a man with a heart of gold and a face that causes children to scream. In Lost in Darkness, he hopes to undergo a life-changing surgery that will end his self-imposed isolation. But what really happens is a life change for his sister Amelia and the surgeon who tries to prevent it all from happening. For indeed, even if there be monsters, there is none so fierce as that which resides in man’s own heart.