Last Child (Hart)

Book Reviews
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.... 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.
Art Taylor - Washington Post

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.
Richmond Times Dispatch

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.
Winston-Salem Journal

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.
Raleigh News & Observer

A year after 12-year-old Alyssa Merrimon disappeared on her way home from the library in an unnamed rural North Carolina town, her twin brother, Johnny, continues to search the town, street by street, even visiting the homes of known sex offenders, in this chilling novel from Edgar-winner Hart (Down River). Det. Clyde Hunt, the lead cop on Alyssa's case, keeps a watchful eye on Johnny and his mother, who has deteriorated since Alyssa's abduction and her husband's departure soon afterward. When a second girl is snatched, Johnny is even more determined to find his sister, convinced that the perpetrator is the same person who took Alyssa. But what he unearths is more sinister than anyone imagined, sending shock waves through the community and putting Johnny's own life in danger. Despite a tendency to dip into melodrama, Hart spins an impressively layered tale of broken families and secrets that can kill.
Publishers Weekly

When 12-year-old Alyssa Merrimon disappeared a year ago, her family fell apart. Her twin brother, Johnny, became obsessed with trying to find her, their father took off, not to be heard from again, and their mother sank into a world of drugs and booze, helped along by an abusive, wealthy boyfriend. Det. Clive Hunt is also obsessed, both with finding Alyssa and with her mother, and his preoccupation costs him his marriage and jeopardizes his job. But this is Johnny's story and his quest to find the sister he lost. Taking his mother's car while she's passed out and occasionally taking along his best friend, Jack, Johnny spies and keeps meticulous records on the townsfolk of small Raven County, NC. The world is a dark place when seen through his eyes, and Johnny is an unforgettable character in this finely drawn yet disturbing thriller. With his best novel yet, the Edgar Award-winning Hart (Down River) firmly cements his place alongside the greats of the genre. Highly recommended for all public libraries.
Library Journal

In his third novel, Edgar-winner Hart confronts murder, depravity, betrayal and the like, while still finding room for tenderness. Young Johnny Merrimon carries a detailed map of his Raven County, N.C., home and rides his bike in strict accordance with it, knocking on certain doors, bypassing others, but always watching. One year ago, his twin sister was kidnapped. By now, of course, conventional wisdom presumes her dead, but Johnny won't let go. Neither will Detective Clyde Hunt, who's paying a severe price for what some call an obsession. His wife has left him; his relationship with his teenaged son is getting less than the attention it requires; and even his career has been jeopardized. His boss, the chief of police, has begun to wonder aloud if Hunt has let the Merrimon case become unduly personal. Hunt denies this, claiming it's the terrible, tragic case alone that absorbs him. But the fact is that he likes Johnny enormously. He's drawn to the boy's grit and tenacity. As for Johnny's beautiful, grief-stricken mother, Hunt acknowledges to himself that he'd best tread carefully there. Then another little girl is kidnapped, and when murder follows murder, with more murder in the wings, it's as if Pandora's Box has sprung open. Appealingly character-driven, particularly by 13-year-old Johnny, who's full of likeable traces of Huck Finn.
Kirkus Reviews