#22 in Short stories
New out January 13, 2026
Lost Lambs
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Our view
“Lost Lambs” is an absurd, funny and unexpectedly tender portrait of a family coming apart. Catherine and Bud Flynn’s open marriage is at breaking point while their three daughters spin off in different directions, the youngest, Harper, convinced that someone is watching the whole town. Madeline Cash keeps a light touch even in its darker corners; some readers find its whimsy takes some getting used to, yet enjoy it all the same.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Flynn family is coming undone. Catherine and Bud's open marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaotic orbits: Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone—or something—is monitoring the town’s citizens. Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a billionaire shipping magnate. Rumors of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with a mysterious shipping container sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy—one that may just bring them closer together. Irreverent and addictive, pinging between the voices of the Flynn family and those of the panorama of characters around them, Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs is a debut novel of quick-witted observation and surprising tenderness. With it, Cash has crafted a family saga for the twenty-first century, all held together with crazy glue.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.1 across 69 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 32% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Short stories average of 7.8. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.1 | 69 | 100% |
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