Lost

The first novel from the author of The Great American Deception. "It was the truth and there was no denying it. Jeremy Keller was being followed. At first he didn't quite believe it. Who gets followed in real life?" Welcome to Jeremy's world: New York City at the end of the 20th century. Yes, Jeremy is being followed, but he doesn't mind. He is, after all, destined for great things. A little being followed is to be expected. And no, he doesn't know why he's being followed. And his job is nothing to brag about either. And a certain police detective has it in for him. And the love of his life doesn't know he exists. And he thinks he's responsible for the death of an innocent man. And his rent is late. And he lost the mysterious envelope that just might have the answers he's looking for. But at least he's being followed. Not everyone can say that. But then, not everyone is destined for great things. "There are a million laughs in the big city...wonderfully comic...a page-turner...Stein has a keen eye for the details of our cultural landscape. And he sprinkles his scenes with deadpan one-liners and cultural reference points...insightful tweaking of city living and modern times."-Philadelphia Inquirer "In the seemingly impossible, Scott Stein has brought to the urban comic novel fresh perspectives and variations on the by now venerable form of the wandering naif in the big city, pursued by the antic perils that constitute life where skyscrapers block the sun. Jeremy, Stein's picaresque hero, wanders the streets, subways, and office buildings of New York in pursuit of his dreams of glory and at every turn finds himself not the searcher but somebody's victim. It is American conspiracy theory run riot in hilarious premises that no sitcom can match. This is a funny man, and Lost is a funny book, turning sacred cows upside down, sometimes more than one to a page, explosive, insightful, and with language that's sharp and crackles like the twists of Stein's plot. It's a furious and often dead serious romp until the very last page."-Lester Goran, author of Tales from the Irish Club and other books "With a lightness of touch, Scott Stein takes on the inanities, barbarities, and pretensions of modern urban life in this winning first novel. Lost is what happens to an ordinary guy when an ordinary day turns into an existential car chase through the subways of New York City. The book is packed with hilarious, deadpan descriptions of brushes with bureaucracy, technology, insanity. Stein's keen appreciation for the absurd (talking car alarms, vertical food, specialty retail outlets selling strawberry-related products only) make this novel fun. Get Lost."-Valerie Block, author of Was It Something I Said?