Little Boy Lost by J.D. Trafford

Author J.D. Trafford's new book is about to hit bookshelves and Kerry Hammond has had a sneak peak and is here to tell us all about it.

J.D. Trafford is the author of the three book series featuring the lawyer-gone-rogue—and possibly criminal—Michael Collins. Little Boy Lost strays from Trafford’s main character but not from his profession. Justin Glass is the attorney in this latest book, but Justin isn’t a high-powered lawyer from a big New York firm, he’s a street lawyer from St. Louis. A widower with a small daughter, he has just managed to pull himself out of a deep depression and tries as hard as he can to not rely on his well-known and powerful family.

The Glass family name holds a lot of power in St. Louis, and a long line of congressmen have preceded the humble street lawyer, but Justin just wants to practice law and help people. One day he is approached by a young girl who proposes to pay him in coins from a jar, all to find her missing brother. Unable to turn her away, and thinking he will make a cursory effort and then send her home, Justin does a little digging into her brother’s disappearance. He finds a long history of criminal offenses and trouble, but doesn’t find her brother. At least until the bodies of twelve teenagers are found buried in a grave.

Parents start to come out of the woodwork at the report of the found boys, parents who have also lost their sons. But none of them are going to the police, they are coming to Justin to find their children, having given up on any hope or confidence in the St. Louis Police Department.

Trafford is a wonderful storyteller. I instantly loved Justin Glass’s character and felt for him as he struggled to raise his daughter on his own, with a constant looming depression that was always just out of reach. Told through Glass’s point of view, it was like hearing him tell the story. As a reader, I was taken along on his inner struggle to get through each day and applauded him for still helping the families in need. I think Trafford is an author to take notice of and I hope to see many more great novels.