The Last Child

Johnny Merrimon is a 13-year-old who has been living in hell, and the author’s opening paragraph is intense: “Johnny learned early. If somebody asked him why he was so different, why he held himself so still and why his eyes seemed to swallow light, that’s what he’d tell them. He learned early that there was no safe place, not the backyard or the playground, not the front porch or the quiet road that grazed the edge of town. No safe place, and no one to protect you.” John Hart wrote, “Childhood was illusion.” Alyssa, Johnny’s twin sister, had gone missing a year earlier. Their father, Spencer, had been late to pick her up after school, and someone scooped her up when she attempted to get home on her own. There was no clue as to what might have happened to her, and even Detective Hunt, who was obsessed with the case, could make no headway into Alyssa’s disappearance. Johnny’s mother, Katherine, was the most beautiful woman in this backwoods North Carolina township, and she would not let her husband forget his mistake. Hart wrote, “Too much pain. Too much guilt.” Two weeks after Alyssa’s disappearance, Spencer just left – so Johnny’s loss was two-fold. And then it became three-fold when his mother sank into depression and drug abuse.

Hart led the reader through a series of great characters in this mystery. Ken was the richest guy in town who took advantage of the beautiful Katherine’s depression and addiction. He was abusive to her and Johnny. In the face of his mother’s deterioration, Social Services was circling closer and closer to removing Johnny from his home. Detective Hunt’s obsession led to the dissolution of his own marriage and alienation from his own troubled teenage son, Allen.

Then another girl, Tiffany Shore went missing. As Johnny continued his own search for clues about his sister, he witnessed the death of David Wilson as he plunged off a bridge at the end of a crash, his motorcycle having been knocked over by a pursuing car. His last words to Johnny were that he had found the missing girl, but he died before he could say if it was Alyssa or Tiffany. And what about Johnny’s best friend Jack and his star baseball playing brother, Gerald. And Levi Freemantle, the giant of a man who wondered about in the backwoods talking to himself and god.

Hart tied this altogether in believable and captivating way. It’s dark, perhaps as best captured by Detective Hunt’s longtime partner, John Yoakum who said, “I expect the worst and the worst rarely disappoints.” Each of us at MRB has reviewed a Hart book, and we’ve each come away with respect for his work, but also somewhat shaken by the depth and power of his writing.

Redemption Road by John Hart

Detective Liz Black has been a police officer in a small North Carolina town (definitely not Mayberry) for thirteen years.  She is currently on paid leave from her job while an investigation takes place of her involvement in the shooting of two brothers who abducted and repeatedly raped a young woman.  Public opinion should be on her side except that the kidnappers/ rapists were shot eighteen times… with precision for maximum pain before they died.  Det. Black has some skeletons in her closet.  She was raped as a teenager but her father who is a pastor, demanded she forgive her attacker and keep the baby.  She chose an abortion, estrangement from her father, and ultimately became a policeman to punish wrong doers.  After the abortion, a police officer named Adrian Wall was the only one to show her kindness and understanding… in part the reason she chose her vocation.

But Wall has problems of his own.  Shortly after Liz joined the police force, Adrian was convicted of murdering a young woman.  Liz was steadfast in her belief in Adrian’s innocence but the evidence landed him in jail.  Now thirteen years later as Liz is serving her leave, Adrian is released from prison and young women begin to die again.

As more of the backstory unfolds, we meet an assortment of troubled characters touched by tragedy and connected to our protagonists in bizarre ways.  Gideon Strange, a fourteen year old boy, tries to shoot Adrian for killing his mother and is shot himself.  This after years of living with an alcoholic father who attempts to drown his grief in cheap whisky.  “Crybaby” Jones the 89 year old reclusive lawyer who represented Adrian, again finds purpose in life through helping Liz.  Liz’s partner, Beckett wants to prove his loyalty to Liz but harbors precarious secrets.  Liz’s unforgiving father, the fire and brimstone minister, doesn’t entirely practice what he preaches.  Channing, the wealthy kidnap victim whose father taught her to handle a gun.  Layer upon layer of previous events tie these characters together in a cleverly woven story of loyalty, betrayal, grief, retribution, and redemption.

While this is my first John Hart book, it certainly is not my last.  He writes a powerful and riveting tale.  No wonder all of his books are New Times best sellers.

Down River by John Hart

Red Water Farm, Rowan County, North Carolina, the Yadkin River. Adam Chase was shunned by his family and community because of a murder he did not commit, a murder for which he was acquitted, but for which he was still blamed. It was widely assumed that he had been freed because of a rich man’s defense, due to having the better attorney and due to technicalities. Grey Wilson, the 19-year-old who was killed was a local football star, well-loved by the community, while Adam’s wealthy family was not. It was Adam’s stepmother who served as the eyewitness for the prosecution at his trial, and his father chose to support her, rather than his own son. Adam fled to New York for five years until his one old and true buddy, Danny Faith, called to say he needed Adam to come home immediately, there was an urgent matter that could only be discussed face-to-face. But, by the time Adam got there, Danny was nowhere to be found – and not long after his arrival, Adam discovered Danny’s body. Down River was a story of maximal family dysfunction. The character development was great. As EC Don wrote about Hart’s first book, The King of Lies, the writing was far more literate than many of the books in this crime-novel genre. At times, I thought Hart was working a little too hard to hold the plot line together, but overall, it was a very good mystery, although perhaps a bit too real at times when compared to our usual escapist books.

The King of Lies by John Hart

"Our truest self is often the person we allow no one to see . . . "

His name is Jackson Workman Pickens (aka 'Work'), Attorney at Law in Rowan County, North Carolina - a bit west of Charlotte. Son of Ezra Pickens, Attorney at Law. Brother of Jean, a woman bearing her share of scars. And their mother - was she ever named? In total, one very screwed up family.

Some backstory:

1. Ezra was dirt poor, but clawed his way out to become a powerful and rich lawyer. Misogynistic beyond words. Women were possessions to be overpowered and controlled, and not worthy of mention in his will.

2. The mother played her role and it cost her.

3. Jean delivers pizza, but was once married to a surgeon who was killed by a drunk driver who crashed into the surgeon's parked car when he was humping the babysitter. Ezra had her committed where she met, and now lives with, Alex who has her own violent history of an abusive father whom she handcuffed to a bed and coldly watched him burn.

4. When Work was maybe 13, he spotted Vanessa at a school dance, followed her from a distance when she went outside for a walk only to see her abducted, dragged into a culvert, and raped. When the creep turned on Work, he found some strength and managed to haul him down about the time the cops showed up. A hero he never wanted to be. All he wanted was to be with Vanessa. Over the following 25 years, Vanessa and Work circled each other in a desperate, evolving affair.

5. 10 years ago, Work wedded Barbara whom Ezra just about handpicked to be the dutiful wife of an up and coming attorney. Barbara is beholding only to an image of the country club set.

6. Eighteen months prior to Chapter 1, Ezra and Jean fought over Alex. Work and his mom watched. When the mom intervened, Ezra swung and knocked her down the stairs to her death. Upon returning from the hospital, Ezra receives a call, gathers his keys and coat, walked out the door and was never seen again.

All that happens before the book opens. Ezra's remains have been found, shot twice in the head. Ezra had his share of enemies, but all evidence points to Work because the will reveals that Work would likely get little if any portion of Ezra's $40 million estate; so does Jean. But Work thinks Jean shot her father in retaliation for the argument over Alex and is willing to take the rap to protect his sister.

As the investigation unfolds, Work comes to learn more secrets he wished he had never learned, about Jean, Alex, Barbara, and most importantly, Ezra's manipulative, money worshipping, secretive, and whoring ways. We only learn all the miserable details when Work manages to break the password for a hidden safe in the law offices and find a videotape that answers more questions than Work, or anyone else for that matter, ever thought to ask.

Remember the movie Secrets and Lies? Where a black woman tracks down her birth mother who turns out to be white and all the various family secrets come out? This book reminded me of that. With every new rock that is overturned, Work learns more and more about his father which mushrooms his hatred of Ezra with every chapter. His loyalty to his sister and fear of prison almost ends in his suicide, but Work pulls the gun away only to end up saving Jean's 3rd attempt to take her own life. His sham of a marriage and continuing love of Vanessa only adds an additional layer of complexity to a life spiraling out of control.

Most of the books reviewed here are pretty straightforward - pretty black and white. This was a dozen shades of gray, eloquently written in a style that leans more toward 'literature' than the 'fiction' usually posted here. This was Hart's debut novel and it is far more than a murder mystery/thriller. Those terms are a bit trite and limiting for this story. While the ending is satisfying, I would never call this uplifting because it explores the recesses of a man's soul that most of us would prefer be left alone.

East Coast Don