Reviews
A year and a day have passed since the abduction of 12-year-old Alyssa Merrimon, and her twin brother, Johnny, has never felt more alone. His father abandoned the family soon after the disappearance, and his mother has all but vanished into a haze of drinking, drugs and abusive sex. The police detective who investigated the case hovers over the remnants of the family like a watchful angel, but his attentions are unwelcome; he hasn't found the girl. In fact, Johnny's only true friend is his frail young classmate Jack, and even he wavers between supporting Johnny's faith that Alyssa's alive and knowing that she's gone forever. But then a clue falls from the sky -- literally: A biker hit by a car and thrown from a bridge lands almost at Johnny's feet. 'I found her,' he says in his dying words. 'The girl that was taken.' John Hart's third novel covers only a few days in the life of a North Carolina town, but the minutes all seem breathless. Every few chapters bring new twists and startling revelations: another girl's disappearance, bodies and then more bodies, a surprising series of connections that casts new light on everything that's come before and throws darkening shadows over what's ahead. The young boy at the story's center is a magnificent creation, Huck Finn channeled through Lord of the Flies, and as a detective in his own right he proves as driven and passionate as any mystery fan could hope for. Along the way, the author returns to the central themes of his first two novels -- class divisions and the bonds of family -- but with a broader scope, delving with grace and empathy into the inner lives of characters across a wide spectrum: policemen balancing the personal and the professional, an escaped convict who hears the voice of God, troubled children growing up too fast, parents undone by grief. And where those earlier novels -- even his Edgar Award-winning Down River -- seemed mired in frequent melodrama, this new book strips away the more overt sentimentality and proves all the more poignant and heartbreaking. Hart is still far too young for The Last Child to be called a crowning achievement, but the novel's ambition, emotional breadth and maturity make it an early masterpiece in a career that continues to promise great things., Hart...is brilliant in the art of misdirection...But his attention to language and tempo, his descriptions of settings and people, and his development of characters and their personal relationships all add a wonderful richness to his work. It is a richness that should make The Last Child a pleasure for any reader., With his best novel yet, the Edgar Award-winning Hart ( Down River ) firmly cements his place alongside the greats of the genre., John Hart's The Last Child is a rare accomplishment--a compelling, fast-paced thriller written with a masterful, literary touch. You'll feel this story as much in your heart as in your gut., Hart once again produces a novel that is elegant, haunting, and memorable. His characters are given an emotional depth that genre characters seldom have, and the graceful, evocative prose lifts his stories right out of their genre and into the realm of capital-L literature. A must-read for every variety of fiction reader., Be warned: the young hero of this compelling read will break your heart. The Last Child is one of those books that stays with readers long after the last page is turned., Advance Praise forThe Last Child: "With his best novel yet, the Edgar Award-winning Hart (DownRiver) firmly cements his place alongside the greats of the genre." Library Journal(starred review) "John Hart'sThe Last Childis a rare accomplishment-a compelling, fast-paced thriller written with a masterful, literary touch. You'll feel this story as much in your heart as in your gut." --Jeffery Deaver, author ofThe Bodies Left Behind Praise forDown River: "This book should settle once and for all the question of whether thrillers and mysteries can also be literature." --Publishers Weekly(starred review) "Evocative storytelling and lush prose." --BostonGlobe "Down Riverfalls squarely in the league of the best of Southern novels." --South Florida Sun-Sentinel "A sensitive rumination on the emotional force of family dynamics." --WashingtonPost "There are few books published that can legitimately be called a 'must-read,' but this is one of them." --ChicagoSun-Times "If you value Harper Lee, James Lee Burke, Truman Capote, and Michael Malone… it's time to add John Hart to your bookshelves." --Otto Penzler,New YorkSun "A truly splendid novel with a deep emotional core." --Booklist(starred review) "Hart's sophomore effort surpasses his debut….The writing is simply superb." --Library Journal(starred review) "Sometimes, early success can be a curse for a writer....That's definitely not the case with North Carolina's John Hart...WithDown River…he's only gotten better." --Winston-SalemJournalPraise for John Hart andThe King of Lies: "A striking new talent." --Entertainment Weekly(Grade A) "A gripping performance." --People Magazine"A masterful piece of writing." --The News & Observer(Raleigh, NC) "The King of Liesmoves and reads like a book on fire." --Pat Conroy, Hart artfully employs the pattern of a whodunit to lead the reader down a twisted, thrilling path. What lies at the end, though, is wholly unexpected. There is no easy solution to this story, as we are asked to contemplate the senselessness of fate and the sacrifices some people are willing to make for their families. With the deft characterization of any good work of literary fiction and the subtle, satisfying plotting of a favorite mystery, The Last Child brings readers deep into the pathos of a small North Carolina community. This page turner will stay in your mind long after you've read the final page., Advance Praise forThe Last Child: "John Hart'sThe Last Childis a rare accomplishment-a compelling, fast-paced thriller written with a masterful, literary touch. You'll feel this story as much in your heart as in your gut." --Jeffery Deaver, author ofThe Bodies Left Behind Praise forDown River: "This book should settle once and for all the question of whether thrillers and mysteries can also be literature." --Publishers Weekly(starred review) "Evocative storytelling and lush prose." --BostonGlobe "Down Riverfalls squarely in the league of the best of Southern novels." --South Florida Sun-Sentinel "A sensitive rumination on the emotional force of family dynamics." --WashingtonPost "There are few books published that can legitimately be called a 'must-read,' but this is one of them." --ChicagoSun-Times "If you value Harper Lee, James Lee Burke, Truman Capote, and Michael Malone… it's time to add John Hart to your bookshelves." --Otto Penzler,New YorkSun "A truly splendid novel with a deep emotional core." --Booklist(starred review) "Hart's sophomore effort surpasses his debut….The writing is simply superb." --Library Journal(starred review) "Sometimes, early success can be a curse for a writer....That's definitely not the case with North Carolina's John Hart...WithDown River…he's only gotten better." --Winston-SalemJournalPraise for John Hart andThe King of Lies: "A striking new talent." --Entertainment Weekly(Grade A) "A gripping performance." --People Magazine"A masterful piece of writing." --The News & Observer(Raleigh, NC) "The King of Liesmoves and reads like a book on fire." --Pat Conroy, The Last Child is a beautifully written, gripping story that will have you staying up late, torn between a desire to know what happens and a reluctance to get to the book's end and break the spell. But don't worry: The characters will stay vividly alive in your imagination long after you've raced through the pages., Praise forThe Last Child: "With his best novel yet, the Edgar Award-winning Hart (DownRiver) firmly cements his place alongside the greats of the genre." Library Journal(starred review) "John Hart'sThe Last Childis a rare accomplishment-a compelling, fast-paced thriller written with a masterful, literary touch. You'll feel this story as much in your heart as in your gut." --Jeffery Deaver, author ofThe Bodies Left Behind "Hart spins an impressively layered tale of broken families and secrets that can kill." Publishers Weekly "In his third novel, Edgar-winner Hart confronts murder, depravity, betrayal and the like, while still finding room for tenderness." Kirkus Reviews(starred review) "Hart once again produces a novel that is elegant, haunting, and memorable. His characters are given an emotional depth that genre characters seldom have, and the graceful, evocative prose lifts his stories right out of their genre and into the realm of capital-L literature. A must-read for every variety of fiction reader." Booklist(starred review) "The Last Childis a beautifully written, gripping story that will have you staying up late, torn between a desire to know what happens and a reluctance to get to the book's end and break the spell. But don't worry: The characters will stay vividly alive in your imagination long after you've raced through the pages." --Winston-SalemJournal "Hart...is brilliant in the art of misdirection...But his attention to language and tempo, his descriptions of settings and people, and his development of characters and their personal relationships all add a wonderful richness to his work. It is a richness that should make The Last Child a pleasure for any reader." --News & Observer(Raleigh, NC) Praise forDown River: "This book should settle once and for all the question of whether thrillers and mysteries can also be literature." --Publishers Weekly(starred review) "Evocative storytelling and lush prose." --BostonGlobe "Down Riverfalls squarely in the league of the best of Southern novels." --South Florida Sun-Sentinel "A sensitive rumination on the emotional force of family dynamics." --WashingtonPost "There are few books published that can legitimately be called a 'must-read,' but this is one of them." --ChicagoSun-Times "If you value Harper Lee, James Lee Burke, Truman Capote, and Michael Malone… it's time to add John Hart to your bookshelves." --Otto Penzler,New YorkSun "A truly splendid novel with a deep emotional core." --Booklist(starred review) "Hart's sophomore effort surpasses his debut….The writing is simply superb." --Library Journal(starred review) "Sometimes, early success can be a curse for a writer....That's definitely not the case with North Carolina's John Hart...WithDown River…he's only gotten better." --Winston-SalemJournal Praise for John Hart andThe King of Lies: "A striking new talent." --Entertainment Weekly(Grade A) "A gripping performance." --People Magazine"A masterful piece of writing." --The News & Observer(Raleigh, NC) "The King of Liesmoves and reads like a book on fir, The missing-child story has been done so often that it takes something extraordinary to make it rise above the commonplace. And that is what John Hart has accomplished in his third novel, The Last Child . In the end, this is a novel about blood--the blood of life and death, the blood of kin, the blood of the past. And Hart has again brought forth a mystery/thriller that surpasses the humdrum and rises to serious literature.