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

Couldn't get over the narration

Narrator has an odd way of speaking -- sounds like a combo of an old-time Texas accent and the Comic Book guy from The Simpsons. NEVER heard anyone speak like that, and couldn't get used to it. The story itself was good, but felt a little manipulated by some of the twists.

narrator was distraction from story

The use of the long "E" sound in the word "the" drove me nuts. completely out of character. this reader does excellent southern accent, but difficult to distinguish between the male characters.

Decent Story: Very Difficult to Listen To!

There are books to actually read and some to listen to. This one was certainly one to read and not to listen to. The narration drove me crazy. I will not listen to another book by the narrator unless he completely loses that accent. I've listened to other books about the south with other narrators and have enjoyed them, but this one hurt. I did get through the book and actually enjoyed the story, so I'll perhaps try another by this same author.

The Last Child

Great story - Just wish the narration for female characters could be done by a female. It's annoying to hear a deep baritone voice trying to sound like a girl or woman. Highly recommend the story though. Was plausible and interesting from start to finish.

The worst narrator I have ever heard

The narrator almost ruined this most excellent novel. The work had all of the elements of a great mystery unfortunately the narrator did his best to destroy the author's effort. My rating is entirely based on the book not the storyteller.

Even a cursory listening would have revealed the almost purposeful inappropriate pronunciation of the narrative. Audible should at least require some review prior to accepting books for sale.

Fantastic!

What a great listen. Scott Sowers is an amazing narrator, and the story was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Another killer story by John Hart!

Great Story, Narration Distracting

Any additional comments?

The story line kept my interest. I would rate Scott Sowers as a B- for his enunciation of certain words; the, a, again, (especially again) would knock me out of the magic of the story. I guess because his enunciation sounded so proper and stiff instead of easy flowing. If you can handle a little bit of choppiness then I highly recommend this listen.

UGGGG - the narrator

What did you love best about The Last Child?

The plot and character development is very good - the obvious research that went into important references to history or locale impressive.

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

Doesn't matter that diction might be 'spot on' for the setting of the story - I'm not from there so it distracted terribly from the story. Oh my- it was read like someone who was just learning the English language. The flow of the story was so disjointed. Sad to say.... I had to give myself a break from the narration - every now and again.

Riveting Story, Weird Narration

I was worried about the narration after reading the reviews, but I'm on a John Hart binge. Glad I listened. Yes, the enunciation is a bit strange, but I was able to put that aside and truly enjoy a story that had many plot twists and compelling, complex characters. I never figured out "who dunnit" until the final revelation. just ignore the weird narration; this book is well worth your time.

Very Entertaining Read

The Last Child is my first book by John Hart, but it definitely won't be my last. It is a great book that I didn't want to stop listening to. It is about Johnny, a young boy whose sister went missing about a year ago. He will not give up on trying to find her - while dealing with a very troubled home life due to his familys inability to cope with the tragedy. However, it is not all depressing. This book will have you feeling for the characters especially Johnny. It is also a very entertaining and interesting mystery. I've never written a review before, but this book is that good. Highly recommend.