The author does a great job of interweaving the stories of two seemingly different characters. Easy read, good book

What a beautifully written story about one boy's journey from childhood to manhood. A young boy, Shan, finds himself in Ireland, orphaned and taken in by an ill-tempered, miserly uncle. The next years find him walking full circle in life as he experiences poverty, abandonment, fear, acceptance, redemption and hope. Always the outsider, it seems he is forever standing on the outside looking in at those who have found their way in life. His story crosses the oceans when he finds his way to America, but his luck shows little in the way of improving. He catches a break here and there, but there always seems to be a cloud hanging over his shoulder ... that nagging feeling that something is missing. I was captivated by this story and spent every extra moment I could spare walking through its pages. I was pleased to see Shan's life come full circle but almost hated to see it end.

The title was so appropriate for this story. In life there are probably many like Shan, who feel they spend all their lifetime standing on the edge of lost. But being the eternal optimist, I hope for those who feel like Shan did that they will always know if you look at it from the other shore, that being on the edge of lost really means that you are standing on the edge of being found.

The vast majority of the members in my book group felt that the title and summary set them up for a story about Alcatraz and they were disappointed. If you skip the prologue and head straight into the story it isn't as disappointing a read. The only other issue I had with the story is that the ending seemed a bit too contrived. The ending didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of this story, but it did strike me as a bit forced.

I really enjoyed the book

Our book club met and of 8 people one did not like it at all, and the other 7 thought it was just okay. The consensus was that the ending was unnecessarily contrived and unbelievable, Also, there were several themes related to characters that were brought up but not explored. Quality of writing was barely average.