The Hush

September 15, 2017

The New York Times best-selling Hart is the only author to win an Edgar for two consecutive novels, one of which was The Last Child. Johnny Merrimon, that novel's appealing young protagonist, returns here ten years later, seeking privacy by living in the wilds beyond the town rocked by Last Child's tragedy. He's still friends with Jack, who senses that there's danger in those rugged surrounds that Johnny knows but won't share.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 20, 2017
Edgar-winner Hart’s sequel to 2009’s The Last Child works best for readers who are already invested in Johnny Merrimon, whose twin sister, Alyssa, vanished when they were 12 almost a decade before the action begins in this volume. While newcomers will be able to pick up the threads—Johnny managed to catch the man responsible for murdering Alyssa and their father, becoming a national celebrity in the process—the heavy dose of the supernatural, which includes Johnny’s Wolverine-like healing ability, takes some getting used to. Johnny is now cash-poor, despite owning thousands of acres known as Hush Arbor in North Carolina. Without money to fund an appellate defense to a suit contesting his ownership, Johnny turns to his childhood friend, attorney Jack Cross, for help. Meanwhile, terrifying and inexplicable violent acts continue on his land, including a crucifixion. Hart’s prose is as evocative as ever, but fans who admire his work when it’s confined to the natural world may feel that his adroit explorations of human nature aren’t improved by fantastical plot elements. 250,000-copy announced first printing; author tour. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

Starred review from January 1, 2018
Hart's career continues on its ever-upward trajectory: five books, five NYT best-sellers, two Edgars, and steadily growing critical acclaim. Those first five titles were all stand-alone thrillers, but this time Hart changes directions, offering a sequel to The Last Child (2009), in which 13-year-old Johnny Merrimon tracked the pedophile who abducted his sister. It's 10 years later now, and Johnny is living off the grid, in a cabin deep in the mysterious Hush Arbor, 6,000 acres of North Carolina swamp that Johnny inherited via a slave freed by one of Johnny's ancestors. Trouble is stalking Johnny, however, both from inside the arbor, where his nightmares and blackouts are increasing, and from without, in the form of back taxes and a suit challenging his right to the property. Johnny's oldest friend, Jack Cross, now a lawyer, is attempting to defend Johnny's interests, but the prospects are dim for success. A relatively straightforward premise so faruntil Hush Arbor itself emerges as the story's most powerful character, and the novel embraces the horror elements that have been clamoring for attention all along.It can be jarring when a seemingly realistic novel suddenly jumps into full supernatural mode, but Hart handles the transition seamlessly. He has always worked on the edges of southern gothic, so his genre-bending leap seems less dramatic than it might otherwise. Moreover, his vivid evocation of Hush Arbor and the ghosts it shelters, extending back to slavery, carries a Faulknerian density that makes the idea of the past coming alive deep in a swamp feel not only believable but also inevitable. Hart makes it six for six here, and behind this uncanny string of success is a rare ability to combine the most propulsive of popular fiction with beguilingly rich characters (Johnny is the black-sheep first cousin to Quentin Compson). HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The track record is enough on its own, but this time the idea of a sequel to a popular previous novel will have Hart's fans squirming in anticipation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)