The Last Child (Johnny Merrimon, #1) in Around the Year in 52 Books

Feb 04, 2014 Book Concierge rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age, adventure, tragedy, audio, contemporary-fiction, mystery, friendship, southern-lit, concierge, library

Audiobook performed by Scott Sowers

Johnny Merrimon is a troubled young man. At thirteen he is shouldering far more responsibility and guilt than any child his age should carry. His twin sister disappeared a year ago, his father has left the family, his mother is lost in a fog of drugs, and his father’s former boss has insinuated himself into their home. Detective Clyde Hunt hasn’t given up searching, but he’s increasingly concerned for Johnny and his mother. Johnny won’t trust anyone – except h Audiobook performed by Scott Sowers

Johnny Merrimon is a troubled young man. At thirteen he is shouldering far more responsibility and guilt than any child his age should carry. His twin sister disappeared a year ago, his father has left the family, his mother is lost in a fog of drugs, and his father’s former boss has insinuated himself into their home. Detective Clyde Hunt hasn’t given up searching, but he’s increasingly concerned for Johnny and his mother. Johnny won’t trust anyone – except his best friend Jack, who accompanies him on his search for the truth.

What a ride! Plenty of twists and turns in the plot. I was sure I had it figured out (and, in fact, I did guess one of the bad guys), but I was still surprised by several events. Hart took a crooked path with many side trips and more than a few dead ends. Unfortunately I felt he was repetitive – how many times do I need a discussion between Johnny and Jack about whether Jack will succumb to his fears or stick by his friend to help him search. Ditto repeated descriptions of Hunt’s speeding through town to get to his next locale. I also wasn’t sure that much of the story regarding Levi Freemantle was necessary to the main plot. A good editor might have trimmed this by a hundred pages without losing any of the momentum or most of the plot twists.

I loved Johnny. He was intelligent, tenacious, courageous and sensitive. If his success at figuring things out was a little unbelievable, I’m willing to forgive Hart for that. This is a child grasping at straws and truly left to his own devices to make sense of what has happened to his family and to try to put it back together. I couldn’t help but cheer him on.

Scott Sowers does a fine job reading the audio version. He has good pacing and was able to sufficiently differentiate most of the characters. Occasionally, when two similar characters (Jack and Johnny, or Hunt and Yoakum) were in conversation it was a little difficult to tell who was speaking, but that was really minor.

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Sep 14, 2012 John Warner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller

When 13 year old Alyssa Merrimon vanished one day, her disappearance shattered several people's lives, especially her parents who each sought different means to blunt the grief - the mother who turned to drugs to deaden the pain and the father, who left the family to run away from the pain. Johnny, Alyssa's twin brother, believing that Alyssa was still alive began to systematically investigate the small North Carolina town and its residents for clues to Alyssa's whereabouts. Johnny began his inv ...more

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Nov 04, 2015 Sonya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, thriller, 2015

This is a well written book that kept me on the edge of my seat. Great character development, too.

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Feb 10, 2020 SibylM rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, mystery, kcpl

3.5 stars.

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Jun 20, 2009 Ryan Mac rated it really liked it

This was a well written mystery/thriller although it did have some of the old tired stereotypes in these types of books (political Chief of Police who needs results, police officers stop and stare at very dedicated but tired detective who might be taking the case too personally, etc).

Johnny lives with his mother and her wealthy boyfriend(?). Their lives have been shattered by the abduction of Johnny's twin sister Alyssa one year earlier and the sudden disappearance of his father not long after ( ...more

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Jul 03, 2010 Shasta rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-favorites, mystery-suspense-thriller

Okay, this is not 5 stars as in Dickens or Hemingway, but it's 5 stars as in adrenaline and awesomeness! Freakishly suspenseful page turner, kept me up for a few nights -- excellent summer beach or airplane read. If you like TV shows such as "Law & Order: SVU" and "Wire in the Blood", or books by Gillian Flynn, Tana French or Caleb Carr, this will be right up your alley. ...more

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