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

An audio "page turner"

I really enjoyed The Last Child. This murder mystery rollicked along with interesting characters. Amazing how many bad things can happen in one little Southern town. My only negative was that I found the narrator some how distracting for the first few hours. Though it takes a fair dose of willing suspension of disbelief, it is an engrossing story. A good listen for the car.

Wonderful book poorly read.

I have not been so absorbed by a novel in years as I was by John Hart's "The Last Child". A beautiful creation that satisfies on many levels, this book defies the normal constraints of genre. Just call it literature. Time will be kind to this work. Johnny Merrimon is a compelling character of rare quality.Less gifted writers will undoubtedly try to copy him in the coming years. They will not succeed. Johnny is everything that is fierce, loving, defiant, vulnerable, pure, endearing and frightening about a boy near the end of boyhood.

There are many good things to say about this book, its characters, atmosphere, themes, etc. That has already been ably done. You should read "The Last Child".

You may, however, want to read it in hard copy. With regret, I gave 4 rather than 5 stars in this rating. The simple reason is the terrible narration. Others have described it rather well and I agree with many of the criticisms of the narrator's work. It felt at times as if my eyebrows were being plucked out, one at a time, to the beat of a very, very slow metronome. Awful. I wound up just buying the book and reading it on the couch at home. I have no idea what, if any, creative impulse was guiding the narrator in this effort. I sincerely hope he ignores that impulse, or has better people to guide him, in any future production he is given. He should not be let out alone.

The Last Child

OK, another "driveway" event. This book took many twists and turns. John Hart is one of those writers that can transport the experience of the story into the written word (or listen in this case). This was my first John Hart book, but I will now look for more. I totally enjoyed the book, in spite of the dubious theme.

A book you can't stop listening to

This book was so captivating, I found myself cleaning out my junk drawer, instead of mowing my lawn, just so I could listen to it some more.

And I love to mow my lawn!

The lead character is a very bright but withdrawn adolescent boy, and the narrarator reflects that perfectly. A more gregarious narrarator might have been more entertaining, but would have ultimately rung false.

Easily the best mystery I've heard/read all year.

Good But Tedius

First off, the diction of the narrator really fit the feel of the story. But his use of "thee" and "a" was annoying at best. If you can get through that, then the story was interesting enough. However I have to agree with a previous reviewer that towards the end it tends to drag a bit. Still a very good novel. Might have been better to read rather than listen to.

Great read!

Everything worked in the storyline. The story kept you guessing while not keeping you in the dark.

Great writing, poor narration

This was my first John Hart book and it won't be my last. His character development is honest without beating you over the head with their character flaws. The length is as required for story development.

Hart is a fair writer. All the information is there for you to reach the final and right conclusion. No Perry Mason ending here.

The twist made me sorry I judged and showed me my own soul.

The narrator I'll leave behind. He uses a sharp and stuttered style and an almost old West pronunciation in a persistently hard and unnatural "e" in "the" and "a" but "been" like the legume. At times I was confused by his voicing of the boys and couldn't distinguish who was speaking.

I did find that it interfered with the enjoyment of the book and prevented from me rating it the full five stars it deserves.

I need 5 more stars!

I wish I had more stars to give, this book raised the bar on reviews! If you are contemplating buying this book go for it. The story,so well written , combined with the performance (amazing) makes this book the best I have purchased. There are books that sound interesting but the narrator makes it unbearable to listen. Then there are stories that are bumped up by the performance, this book is the Best of both.

Great read

I truly hated to see this book end. I would love to see a sequel or possibly a series with these characters.

The Last Child Review

Good story but narrator was too stiff; formal enunciation of words like 'a' & 'the' threw off the flow of the story. This story took place in the south: more 'local' pronunciation would have been better.