The Last Child: A Novel Paperback – March 9, 2010

I found this book at my "Dumpbrary" - my little town's transfer station which keeps an indoor book corner (and yes, it is named the "Dumpbrary" :D). I work at a jail and weekly I browse the Dumpbrary for books to bring to the inmates. I picked up a well-read copy of The Last Child, quickly scanned the back cover, and was intrigued. It's always those first few pages that tells you if you will continue with the story or not. I was hooked on page one! Okay, maybe page 2 or 3. I downloaded the Kindle version because it's just easier to see and handle an e-reader in bed, and of course I could pass along the paperback to the jail library.The character development was amazing. The author made it easy to visualize them, their expressions, voices and mannerisms - to love them or hate them or feel sorry for them. I LOVE that about an author! I struggled with the setting. I'm from very rural New Hampshire and have never been to the Carolinas. But I've been to northwest Georgia so I used a little town there as my Last Child town. I assumed the story was set in a small town, until later in the book the multi-level mall, hospital, large police station, etc revealed it as a small or midsize city. I had to readjust my town setting a few times. Hush Arbor and Johnny's journey to it was perfect though. I could see every track, swamp, river and trail (I suppose easier because the landscape was familiar to my own region - I'm surrounded by bear trails, swamps, dirt roads, and meadows in the middle of deep woods).At first I was a bit let down by the ending but the writer skillfully and nicely lifted me up. The ending was beautiful. It leaves the reader with a sense of hope and rightness and that is exactly how I love stories to end. I also loved how the writer stayed neutral about politics. He didn't have an agenda. So many authors nowadays use their stories to attack certain religions or political parties. (I stopped reading Stephen King novels entirely several years ago because of this. It is just childish, shortsighted, and boring!). Hart's writing sees the good and bad in all people, of all backgrounds and beliefs. It goes to a deeper level. I really enjoyed and appreciated that.This story HAUNTED me when I wasn't reading it. I read mostly at night because it makes me sleepy. The Last Child did make me sleepy but then I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it, debating whether to stay up and read more, then cursing that it was keeping me awake! :D That has never happened to me with any other story. THAT is GOOD writing! I have already purchased The Hush and can't wait to begin!

The Last Child is a striking work of fiction. It is a mystery, and a very good one. It is full of false clues, red herrings, and coincidences. There is also some important history lessons as well as comments on contemporary society thrown in.A year after the kidnapping of Alyssa Merrimon, her twin brother Johnny continues to search for her. The now thirteen yer old Johnny believes she was taken by one of the numerous sexual predators in their small North Carolina town. Johnny's father has left the family months earlier, since Johnny's mother blames him for Alyssa's disappearance. With his family shattered, all Johnny has to cling to is the hope finding his twin.Johnny plays hooky from school most days to focus on his quest. His mother is lost in a haze of alcohol and drugs. She and Johnny are subject to the whims of Ken Holloway, a violent man who is their landlord and now his mother's boyfriend (and supplier).And then a classmate of Johnny's disappears taken, like Alyssa, is broad daylight after school. Is the same predator responsible? Is it one of the men on Johnny's list? What about the recently escaped convict whose wife and her lover were found murdered?Johnny's search puts him and his mother in further danger, and yet he continues. He is smart, resourceful, and persistent. The Last Child is an excellent book. The characters are real and memorable, and there are so many twists and turns in the plot that no one in my book club figured it all out before the end.I highly recommend this for the avid mystery fan and even if you are not, there is plenty of action and interest for most anyone else.

John Hart sure does love to write stubborn characters but they are so well written that you can’t help but root for them to make it through to the other side. This book drives through the action with a tumbling energy that kept me reading past bedtime. It had unusual story plots that kept things interesting. Can’t wait to read more by him.

My first John Hart book. Kind of slow in the beginning but weaves it's way to the end more like a West Texas wind. Enjoyed the climax and the epilogue.

I couldn't put the book down. The story is exciting, sad, and it kept you in suspense of what was going to happen next. Highly recommend.

I was hooked by the first chapter. I am reading the John Hart books in order and they just seem to get better and better. Someone on the outer back cover of the book wrote "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". I think that statement sums this book up brilliantly and I am now off to order "Iron House". Buy it, you won't regret it. Thank you.

John Hart has rapidly become my favorite author. I'm on my third novel of his now. An aspiring writer myself, I've never found someone with a greater mastery of the craft, which simultaneously includes breaking certain conventions. If you know what you're looking at, it's artful, masterful.

This is the fourth book by Hart that I have read. They have all been good, but this one is my favorite. I read it in two days. The story wouldn’t let me go.

The Last Child","John Hart"I first read this book about 2010 which was the year it won the Edgar Award for best mystery novel. I wanted to refresh my memory of the details because The Hush has just been published. The Hush follows the story the two young teenaged boys, Johnny and his friend Jake ten years after the events in the novel "The Last Child". The book still casts a spell, with its atmospheric writing, unique in depth characters, and produces an unsettling, eerie feeling throughout. John Hart is one if my favourite writers of mystery novels.The Hush is my next read!My original review: "A combination of well written southern literature and intriguing mystery, John Hart gets better with each novel. Among the characters: Johnny: a 13 year boy who hunts for his missing twin sister, interviewing town's people-some of them very dangerous, and also wanders the woods wearing feathers and talismans. The people of the town feel he has gone feral and dangerous. Jock: his best friend with withered arm who is not as brave as Johnny but joins him on most adventures. Jock is a policeman's son, and fears he will go to hell for cowardice on these adventures. Johnny's father left the home after the sister vanished, and his mother is on a downward spiral of drugs and alcohol. They live in home owned by wealthy man who treats Johnny and his mother very cruelly. Hunt: is a police detective who Johnny reluctantly befriends. Hunt is obsessed with the case of the missing sister, and also obsessed with a desire for Johnny's mother. This has not gone unnoticed by rest of police department. Hunt is estranged from his teen-aged son and his wife has left him due to his time spent on the case. Levi: A huge child-like black man who may not be quite sane, and has just escaped from prison. Exactly a year after the disappearance of Johnny's sister, another girl vanishes.Soon many people start dying violent deaths and the bodies of more children turn up in the woods. What is the connection between the first missing girl and what is happening a year later? How do all the characters fit together in the story? I couldn't put the book down. The suspense continued to grow.Great book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish.John hart manages to make you feel the pain and desperation of the characters as your own and grips you with the enthralling mystery.