The Guilty One

Starred review from January 14, 2013
A child-on-child murder drives Ballantyne’s searing debut, a psychological legal thriller. Because solicitor Daniel Hunter, an experienced defender of children accused of crimes, was a troubled child himself, he connects with his disturbed client, 11-year-old Sebastian Croll, who’s on trial for beating to death eight-year-old Ben Stokes in a London park. Alternating flashbacks of Daniel’s youth as a fatherless foster child of a drug-addicted mother given by social workers to eccentric, perceptive, and loving Minnie Flynn demystify Daniel’s rejection of Minnie, who both hurt him and saved him from Sebastian’s fate or worse. Meanwhile, the truth about Sebastian and his arguably overdrawn dysfunctional family gradually emerges. Drawn with ruthless realism, Ballantyne’s sympathetic major characters, especially Daniel and Minnie, leap from her pages into readers’ hearts. Ballantyne also indicts the British government’s stingy refusal to fund genuine rehabilitation of juvenile offenders in this scalding exploration of childhood violence, adult refusal to forgive, and redemptive love. Agent: Nicola Barr, Greene & Heaton (U.K.).

January 1, 2013
The tales of two troubled boys at individual crossroads are interwoven in Ballantyne's first novel. Daniel Hunter grew up on the mean streets, with a drugged-out mother and an attitude that landed him in constant trouble. Removed from the mother's home, the English boy bounced from foster home to foster home until he finally ended up at Minnie's. The Irish Minnie, a widow whose only child has died, gave up nursing and moved to the country with her family, but she suffered twin tragedies that have left her alone with her animals and small farm, eking out a living selling eggs and produce and taking in foster kids. When Daniel arrives, Minnie tries to mold the disturbed and violent young boy into a man and eventually earns his respect, but years later, as a grown attorney, he and Minnie have parted ways and he no longer speaks to the woman who saved him. When he receives news that causes him to reflect on the years he put between himself and the affable, loving Minnie, he plunges into a case involving another vulnerable but possibly murderous boy named Sebastian. When Sebastian, whose wealthy parents hide a multitude of sins from the world, is charged with killing an 8-year-old playmate, Daniel must reach back into his own past to defend the child and prevent him from spending his formative years in prison, locked up like a monster. Ballantyne, who is Scottish, exhibits comfortable familiarity with the British legal and social systems, and the story she tells is both absorbing and compelling. This very lengthy novel takes the reader through Daniel's childhood and both the trial preparation and the trial itself. The prose is strong, but Daniel and Sebastian are so damaged that it can be difficult to feel empathy for them. A captivating debut, but Daniel and Sebastian prove difficult to like, and readers may find themselves unsatisfied when turning the last page.

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October 15, 2012

London-based solicitor Daniel Hunter typically takes on dicey cases, but his latest is especially troublesome. He's defending 11-year-old Sebastian, accused of killing a younger boy, and as he probes Sebastian's knotty home life Daniel is reminded of his own tragic past: a childhood in foster care until he was adopted by a loving woman who then betrayed him so despicably that he turned his back on her forever. And if that setup doesn't intrigue you, nothing will. Lots of excitement for this debut, including sales to 21 territories so far and a 100,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2013
London criminal solicitor Daniel Hunter feels a certain affinity for client Sebastian Croll, an 11-year-old charged with murdering 8-year-old Ben Stokes, his neighbor and playmate, in a nearby playground. Just as Hunter gets Sebastian's case, he receives a last communication from Minnie Flynn, the adoptive mother from whom he became estranged years earlier, causing him to relive memories of his own difficult childhood, during which he was separated from his beloved, drug-addict mother. The chapters alternate between Hunter's youth and the strong forensic and circumstantial case against Sebastian, who's considered precocious yet unsettling even by his own defense team as he maintains his innocence and as his own troubled home life comes to light. This is a sensitive and insightful narrative that gradually builds suspense during Sebastian's trial and Hunter's revelations. Truth is revealed in the final pages, but Ballantyne leaves it to the reader to determine just where the guilt lies. An accomplished first novel and a good bet for book groups.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)