The Last Child
On sale
14th May 2009
Price: £9.99
CWA Silver Dagger Award, 2009
Genre
Thirteen-year-old Johnny Merrimon has to face things no boy his age should face. In the year since his twin sister’s abduction his world has fallen apart: his father has disappeared and his fragile mother is spiralling into ever deeper despair.
Johnny keeps strong. Armed with a map, a bike and a flashlight, he stalks the bad men of Raven County. The police might have given up on Alyssa; he never will. Someone, somewhere, knows something they’re not telling.
Only one person looks out for Johnny. Detective Clyde Hunt shares his obsession with the case. But when Johnny witnesses a hit-and-run and insists the victim was killed because he’d found Alyssa, even Hunt thinks he’s lost it.
And then another young girl goes missing . . .
Johnny keeps strong. Armed with a map, a bike and a flashlight, he stalks the bad men of Raven County. The police might have given up on Alyssa; he never will. Someone, somewhere, knows something they’re not telling.
Only one person looks out for Johnny. Detective Clyde Hunt shares his obsession with the case. But when Johnny witnesses a hit-and-run and insists the victim was killed because he’d found Alyssa, even Hunt thinks he’s lost it.
And then another young girl goes missing . . .
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Reviews
'The Last Child is as satisfying as his previous books'
'Just once in a while a thriller comes along that makes you want to run out in the street and proclaim how good it is ? John Hart's third novel is one of those. Written with power, precision and an iron grip on character it makes him out as one of the outstanding talents of his generation ... it grips you by the throat and never lets go'
'A gripping thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat'
'Hart is emerging as one of the biggest new American talents in the psychological thriller field, and should be joining Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay on the bestseller lists'
'Third novel from this rising US author'
'I absolutely love this man's writing, and by that I mean all aspects of it: plotting, characterization and its lyrical quality ... John Hart has joined the highest ranks of crime fiction writing. Thank heavens he's a young man so we'll have his novels to enjoy for many years to come'
'EDGAR Allan Poe Award winner John Hart does something in his latest book that few manage successfully: write a compelling thriller with a child as the main character... Hart, a former lawyer from the US deep south, writes finely detailed prose with a literary edge, a fine sense of atmosphere and just the right touches of creepy southern gothic'
'The main character in award winning author John Hart's thriller The Last Child, is a teenage boy turned vigilante, driven by the abduction of his older sister a year ago...a superb page- turner'
'A roiling, boiling, seething stew of passion and conflict'
'Brilliantly written with plenty of twists and clues'
'A masterly and suspenseful thriller'