Little Boy Lost

The beaten-down Rust Belt city of St. Louis provides the setting for this tense, powerful thriller from Trafford (the No Time trilogy). Arthur Glass, a member of a prominent African-American family, went from fighting in the civil rights movement of the 1960s to decades of service as a U.S. congressman. Arthur now plans to retire and wants his lawyer son, Justin, to campaign for the seat. But Justin is a mess: mourning the death of his beloved wife, neglecting his nine-year-old daughter, and running a legal practice in a poor part of town. Then eight-year-old Tanisha Walker brings Justin a jar half full of coins to pay for him to find her missing brother. A bunch of youths of unsavory reputation have disappeared, Tanisha’s brother among them, and the police have done little to locate the boys. Incensed, Justin embarks on a dangerous quest that changes his life forever as he runs up against entrenched racism, corruption, and political chicanery. Happily, he has the support of a few good people. Readers will remember Justin long after closing the book. (Aug.)