The Last Child by John Hart

The Last Child:A Novel
by John Hart
$14.99
Paperback: 432 pages

Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1 Reprint edition (March 9, 2010)

ISBN-10: 0312642369

ISBN-13: 978-0312642365

Annotation/Flashtalk:

After the disappearance of his 13-year-old twin sister, Johnny mounts his bike in an effort to scour the county to find her. He will stop at nothing to find her; including spying on the county’s known pedophiles.  Will Johnny find in himself in more trouble or will he find out what happened to his sister?

Summary:

Johnny is beside himself at the loss of his twin sister, Alyssa.  The police have no leads.  His father feeling guilty that he didn’t pick Alyssa up at the library feels responsible for her disappearance takes off, leaving Johnny and his mother alone.  Johnny’s mother so distraught is kept in a drugged and catatonic state by her new boyfriend, Ken.  With no one on the trail of what happened to Alyssa, Johnny takes up the quest himself.  He rides his bike crisscrossing the county using maps from the library he spies on the town pedophiles knowing that one of them must be responsible.  He is sometimes aided by his best friend Jack.  Also haunted by Alyssa’s disappearance is Detective Hunt.  Hunt’s was the lead detective on the case, and his obsession over the department’s inability to find Alyssa destroys his marriage and his relationship with his son. 

The violent death of a local professor and his dying words spur on Johnny’s quest to find Alyssa, for the man is clutching a piece of the clothing Alyssa was wearing when she disappeared.  Johnny’s continued pursuit of the case brings him face to face with danger, makes him truant in school, and lands him in the hospital.  But will it land him any closer to finding out the truth about Alyssa?

Genre/Subgenre: Suspense/Mystery

Evaluation: 4-stars.