I downloaded LOST LAMBS based on bookseller reviews, and it might end up being my favorite audiobook of 2026.

The story opens with a full cast of quirky characters connected through one extremely dysfunctional family. There is plenty of dark humor, and the dynamics between the family members make for compelling fiction. But then the plot veers into a fast-paced, wild ride of interconnected conspiracy theories and twists.

By the time I reached the final chapter, I gave a satisfied wow. I’ve never read / listened to a story this unique.

When we meet the Flynn’s, their family is unravelling. Forget family dinners—they can’t get it together to keep the fridge stocked. Catherine, a former artist who has lost her way in full-time parenting, enjoys getting high in the bathtub while sipping her nightly martinis. She has also instituted an open marriage. Spoiler alert: it’s not going well. Bud, failed musician and depressed breadwinner, is sleeping in the family minivan. And trying not to obsess about what his beautiful wife is doing with the neighbor.

Meanwhile, their three spirited teen daughters are trying to find their own, unique ways to survive life and their parents’ scandalous marriage. Abigail, in her last year of high school, is dating a former soldier in his twenties whose nickname is War Crimes Wes; Louise, the middle child, has been pulled into an online relationship with a boy she thinks understands her but is, in fact, a terrorist; and the brilliant baby of the family, Harper, who questions authority at every turn, is sent to reform school in the woods after her latest suspension.

Then Bud’s immediate boss demands he get counselling, which is how he ends up in the Lost Lambs support group at the local church (which has a gnat infestation).

And that, people, is just the beginning. Because Bud and Wes both work for the same reclusive shipping magnate who may be running a disturbing criminal enterprise inside his well-guarded mansion. If so, can the family work together to bring him down?