Here is my story: I had a daughter once, but she was stolen from me and left in her place was a doll in her image.

Ceres' eight-year-old daughter, Phoebe, is in a coma following an accident where she was struck by a distracted driver. The poor girl is on life support and seems to be slipping away with each passing day. Ceres is challenged to deal with this as a single mother and is looking for answers. The questions she has will take her from our world to another in hopes of finding a way to save Phoebe.

"Connolly once again has given his readers a world of wonder and creepy delights to enjoy.... Fans of dark fantasy and the supernatural will eat it up and then come back for more."

In 2006, John Connolly gifted us with THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS, a brilliant work of dark fantasy. It was quite a departure from his decades-long series featuring Charlie Parker, a thriller saga tinged with just the right amount of supernatural influence. It was the type of story that could appeal to both adults and children and called to mind the work of masters like C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll.

Now, Connolly has written the long-awaited follow-up, THE LAND OF LOST THINGS. It’s a return to the land that brought those terrific fables and stories that inhabited The Book of Lost Things. Ceres reads from the book to her comatose daughter. Alarmingly, the first two stories that she recites came from her own mind. The silent child does not respond.

As Phoebe's condition worsens, the hospital suggests moving her to Lantern House, a facility in the suburbs far from London. They are better suited to care for her and have had some success with young patients in similar situations. At Lantern House, Phoebe’s primary caregiver is a giant of a man named Olivier. He promises to fight with her for as long as it takes to get her better. When Phoebe’s condition continues to disintegrate, Ceres is called in the middle of the night to get to Lantern House where they provide her with a small room so she can be near her precious daughter.

It is while Ceres is exploring the property around Lantern House that she is drawn to an odd-looking old house. Upon entering, she literally steps into another realm. At first she is met by a room of talking novels that is later attacked by a unique creature who does not care for what they have to say. Ceres ventures further and realizes that this is the very same land from the book she was reading to Phoebe --- the same book that her own father used to read to her.

Ceres’ memories of the stories contained within The Book of Lost Things are all she has as she travels within her own version of Wonderland: the Land of Lost Things. With her body and appearance now reflecting how she looked when she was 16, Ceres experiences all the wonders and horrors of this fantasy realm, replete with creatures such as giants, faeries and the dreaded dryad. She feels that the answers and hope she seeks are to be found in this land and might be able to break Phoebe from her eternal slumber --- if she can survive long enough to get back to her daughter.

Connolly once again has given his readers a world of wonder and creepy delights to enjoy. THE LAND OF LOST THINGS makes it feel like it was only yesterday that we read THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS. Fans of dark fantasy and the supernatural will eat it up and then come back for more.