The Last Child

By: John Hart

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Fresh off the success of his Edgar® Award-winning, New York Times bestseller Down River, John Hart returns with his most powerful and intricately-plotted novel yet.

Thirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: happy parents and a twin sister that meant the world to him. But Alyssa went missing a year ago, stolen off the side of a lonely street with only one witness to the crime. His family shattered, his sister presumed dead, Johnny risks everything to explore the dark side of his hometown in a last, desperate search. What he finds is a city with an underbelly far blacker than anyone could've imagined—and somewhere in the depths of it all, with the help of his only friend and a giant of a man with his own strange past, Johnny, at last, finds the terrible truth.

Detective Clyde Hunt has devoted an entire year to Alyssa's case, and it shows: haunted and sleepless, he's lost his wife and put his shield at risk. But he can't put the case behind him—he won't—and when another girl goes missing, the failures of the past year harden into iron determination. Refusing to lose another child, Hunt knows he has to break the rules to make the case; and maybe, just maybe, the missing girl will lead him to Alyssa...

The Last Child is a tale of boundaries: county borders and circles on a map, the hard edge between good and evil, life and death, hopelessness and faith. Perfectly blending character and plot, emotion and action, John Hart again transcends the barrier between thrillers and literature to craft a story as heartrending as it is redemptive.

©2009 John Hart (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Kept my interest...

While not great book, this book did hold my interest. At times parts of it seemed a little repetitive. I like this author and I will buy the next book. The narrator is not the best that I have heard, but also not the worst. The book is worth a read (listen).

Last Child Worth a Listen

What made the experience of listening to The Last Child the most enjoyable?

I wondered who the child murderer was - actually suspected the police.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Last Child?

When they found the dead body of the boy's dad along with the other children

Which character – as performed by Scott Sowers – was your favorite?

The narrator

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

What's a tag line?

Any additional comments?

I'd recommend this book for a listen. The only thing that wasn't believable was the 13 yr. old's exploits.

Fantastic

loved story line kept me listening. narrator voice caused me to stay with the story

Great!

Good best one I have listened to. Has a lot of suspense but that is what makes a good audiobook.

Great Story! Characters you will fall in love with

I highly recommend this book. The ending gave me goosebumps and warmed my heart.

Excellent story by an amazingly gifted writer

I loved the characters. They were described in exquisite detail. I read the second on before the first one. Once reading that one I had to come back and read the first one. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Excellent

This was an excellent book with excellent narration. I will continue to look for books from this writer.

annoyed

...one of the few I have ever given up on without finishing, not because the story was so bad, but because the narration was annoying. Perfect diction is not the most important consideration...in fact too much precision can set your nerves on edge and is many times accompanied by an emotionless tone.

Great Story Now Find a Narrator With a REAL

What didn’t you like about Scott Sowers’s performance?

This is a great story, but I could only stand to listen to it in small intervals.

Why?

Every time this narrator speaks in his overly-exaggerate Southern drawl I feel vaguely ill.

This story takes place in North Carolina. I lived in North Carolina for many years. Most of my family members live in various parts of North Carolina, including the Sandhills, Piedmont, etc.. None of them sound anything like this annoying guy!!

Exaggerated accents are jarring and as off-putting as nails on a chalkboard to people familiar with the accent. What's frustrating is, this is a great plot and such an exciting story but I have to keep shutting it off when I can't take it anymore!

Narrators and actors: if you can't "do" an accent well enough to fool the people from that area, please just speak in your regular speaking voice!

I hope I can eventually finish this book. :(

The narrator is horrible but

This is an awesome book but the narrator all but ruins it. This is one time I recommend reading it over listening.