The Guilty One
The stunning Richard & Judy Book Club pick
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4.4 • 129 Ratings
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
A RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB FAVOURITE
AN INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON
'Sophisticated, suspenseful, unsettling' Lee Child
'Grips like a vice' Daily Mail
'Compulsive' Rosamund Lupton
'Moving, insightful' Guardian
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Daniel Hunter has spent years defending lost causes as a solicitor in London. But his life changes when he is introduced to Sebastian, an eleven-year-old accused of murdering an innocent young boy.
As he plunges into the muddy depths of Sebastian's troubled home life, Daniel thinks back to his own childhood in foster care - and to Minnie, the woman whose love saved him, until she, too, betrayed him so badly that he cut her out of his life.
But what crime did Minnie commit that made Daniel disregard her for fifteen years? And will Daniel's identification with a child on trial for murder make him question everything he ever believed in?
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'One of the most readable, emotionally intense novels of the year' Richard & Judy Book Club
'It kept me up all night and guessing the whole way through' Jenny Colgan
'A page-turner with real emotional depth' Daily Express
'Moving and suspenseful' Joyce Carol Oates
'Absorbing' Company
'Will touch your heart, even as it leaves you unsettled' Hallie Ephron
'Outstanding' Daily Record
*DON'T MISS LISA BALLANTYNE'S NEW THRILLER, THE INNOCENT ONE, OUT NOW*
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
The Guilty One
Loved the story, it was different to any book I have read before.
I thought the ending was weak, I was expecting a better finish.
Love!
I absolutely loved this book. Beautiful story, well written, desperately wanted more. Thank you.
A great read!
Thought provoking as well as being a compelling story. The two stories compliment each other.