RollnSmoke Reviews: THE LAST CHILD by John Hart

THE LAST CHILD by John Hart (St. Martin’s, 2009)

This New York Times Bestseller is a gripping summer read set in North Carolina and loaded with drugs, insanity, creepy pedophiles, rotten cops and mysterious, grisly murders that need untangling. The very first line of the who-done-it reveals the nature of the young protagonist: “Johnny learned early that childhood was illusion,” who exists to comfort his damaged and addicted mother. Through the course of the novel, Johnny works to unearth the truth behind the abduction of his twin sister, and he struggles with the disappearance of his father. Meanwhile, the lead detective on the case, Clyde Hunt, struggles to keep his work professional and not personal while pinning down unlikely heroes and astonishing villains who scramble in sync towards the final crescendo (8/10).