The Last Child

It has been a year since 12 year-old Alyssa Merrimon disappeared on her way home from the library. Her twin brother Johnny continues to search the town for her, street by street, keeping meticulous records of the movements of known sex offenders and other undesirable characters in this small unnamed rural North Carolina town. His father abandon’s the family soon after the abduction, never to be heard from again and his beautiful and grief-stricken mother has succumbed to drugs and alcohol, supplied by her wealthy and abusive new boyfriend. Detective Clyde Hunt, lead cop in Alyssa’s abduction, is obsessed with the case and her mother Katherine Merrimon. It has cost him his marriage and his reputation on the force. When a second young girl is snatched, Johnny is convinced the perpetrator is the same person who took Alyssa and he is even more determined to find her. The dark secrets that Johnny and his best friend Jack uncover will shake this rural North Carolina town to it core and put many lives in danger.

This 2010 Edgar Award winning novel will not disappoint, The Last Child by John Hart will takes its place alongside the other great novels of the genre. Hart’s brilliant portrayal of a broken family and a desperate boy looking for closure is close to perfection. Teens will be drawn to the boy who shows determination and tenacity and proves to the adults around him that he is smarter than them.