Lost Boys

Step Fletcher relocates his Mormon family to North Carolina for a promising technical writing position, leaving behind their established life in Indiana. His wife DeAnne is expecting their fourth child, while their eldest son Stevie struggles to adapt to his new school environment. The story traces Step's challenges at work, where office politics and ethical conflicts test his professional integrity. Meanwhile, the family's rental home becomes a source of constant disruption with persistent insect infestations, though they find an unlikely ally in Bappy, their landlord's elderly father. As the months pass, seven-year-old Stevie withdraws further into his own world, spending increasing amounts of time with unseen friends. The Fletcher family must navigate their new community while maintaining their religious values and family bonds. The novel explores faith, innocence, and evil through the lens of an ordinary family confronting extraordinary circumstances. Card's integration of supernatural elements with domestic realism creates a narrative that questions the boundaries between spiritual and temporal worlds.

Readers report the book creates anxiety and dread through its slow-building supernatural elements rather than overt horror. The family dynamics and relationships form the core appeal, with many noting the authentic portrayal of Mormon culture and family life. Liked: - Realistic depiction of marriage and parenting challenges - Complex character development, especially Step and DeAnne - Accurate representation of 1980s tech industry - Subtle building of tension Disliked: - Pacing too slow for first 300 pages - Religious elements feel heavy-handed to non-Mormon readers - Final confrontation feels rushed compared to buildup - Some find the child psychology sections tedious Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (7,800+ ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (380+ ratings) Common reader comment: "Not what I expected from Card - more family drama than sci-fi/horror."

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🔹 The book draws from Card's personal experiences, as he too worked as a technical writer in North Carolina during the dawn of personal computing. 🔹 Lost Boys marked a significant departure from Card's usual science fiction works, like Ender's Game, venturing into supernatural horror territory. 🔹 The novel's 1983 setting coincides with an important year in personal computing history - when IBM released the IBM PC XT, one of the first computers with a hard drive. 🔹 The Mormon religious elements in the book reflect Card's own faith and provide one of the few literary examples of contemporary Mormon family life in mainstream fiction. 🔹 Card originally wrote Lost Boys as a short story in 1989, later expanding it into a full novel in 1992 after being moved by a personal tragedy.