The Innocent One: A Novel

by Lisa Ballantyne

Overview

He was a child who was accused of murder. Who did he become when he grew up? A gripping, thought-provoking thriller from the internationally bestselling author of Everything She Forgot.

Innocent?
Ten years have passed, but everyone remembers The Angel Killer. Sebastian Croll was just eleven years old when accused of murdering his playmate.

Criminal attorney Daniel Hunter helped prove Sebastian's innocence in a trial that gripped the nation—and now the past is being unearthed when he gets a call from his old client.

Or guilty?
Sebastian's university professor has been brutally murdered—and everyone who knew her is in the frame of suspicion. As Daniel steps in to represent Sebastian for a second time, news about the boy's past spreads like wildfire, instantly branding Sebastian as guilty.

With tensions around the country rising, can Daniel prove once again that Sebastian is the innocent one? Especially when he realizes that it's not just Sebastian who is in danger, but himself . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639362547
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Lisa Ballantyne is the internationally bestselling author of four novels. Her debut, The Guilty One, was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award and translated into thirty languages. Lisa’s other novels are Everything She Forgot, Little Liar, and Once Upon a Lie. She lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Editorial Reviews

08/29/2022

In Edgar finalist Ballantyne’s The Guilty One (2013), solicitor Daniel Hunter successfully defended 11-year-old Sebastian Croll against a charge of murdering an eight-year-old friend. Ten years later, in this enjoyable if by-the-numbers sequel, the police want to question Sebastian after his Cambridge classics tutor, Frances Owen, is found murdered in her office. Daniel allays Sebastian’s fears, saying his trial as a child should be expunged and the police are doing routine questioning. When Sebastian’s past is leaked to the media, dangerous protests follow, forcing him to leave Cambridge. Meanwhile, Daniel, who still grapples with having grown up in foster care, contends with his wife wanting a separation, his seven-year-old son acting out at school, and his legal investigator turning up leads on the mystery of who his father was. As the police turn more attention to Sebastian, Daniel is backed into a legal corner that threatens his whole family. Good pacing and nice balancing of story lines help make up for some implausible character actions (Daniel’s son explains his actions in ways that even adults would struggle with) and a foregone conclusion. This works well enough as a standard British crime drama. Agent: Sophie Lambert, C&W Literary Agency (U.K.). (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

’It was a terrible thing to know you were going to die and not be able to do anything to prevent it.’ Fingernail-on-a-chalkboard sentences like this one are what make The Innocent One, Lisa Ballantyne’s fifth novel — the follow-up to 2012’s The Guilty One — so good. Fashioning memorable suspense out of a well-known case is incredibly difficult, but Ballantyne makes it look easy.

The New York Times Book Review

Ballantyne’s effortless prose took me across the Atlantic and didn’t let me return until its surprising and satisfying conclusion. A tight story that comes full circle and keeps you reading.

Bryan Reardon

A skillful mixture of creepy crime thriller and gripping domestic drama, The Innocent One had me turning the pages late into the night.

C. J. Cooper

Lisa Ballantyne’s The Innocent One is a crackling good read—exactly the kind of novel that readers have come to expect from one of the most talented psychological suspense authors working today. With a gripping, twisty plot, conflicted and relatable characters, ever-rising tension, and an ending that’s as thrilling as it is satisfying, I loved this book!

Karen Dionne

Praise for Lisa Ballantyne:

From the Publisher

"Moving and suspenseful; richly detailed, yet with the eerie simplicity of a parable.

Joyce Carol Oates

Grips like a vice.

The Daily Mail

A page-turner with real emotional depth.

The Daily Express

One of the most readable, emotionally intense novels of the year.

Richard and Judy

A moving, insightful novel.

The Guardian

"A character-driven, domestic crime novel. Through juxtaposing the choices of two emotionally disturbed boys, Ballantyne sensitively explores themes of rejection, abuse, and forgiveness."

Booklist

Thought-provoking, brave and challenging, this book is an unsettling and compulsive read.

Rosamund Lupton

I couldn't get this book out of my head. It kept me up all night and guessing the whole way through. I loved it.

Jenny Colgan

"A tense and shocking thriller that has the added treat of Lisa Ballantyne's deft prose. I loved it.

Renee Knight

A gripping and emotionally charged story. Just brilliant.

Clare Mackintosh

"A page-turner of a thriller. I couldn't put this beautifully crafted, beautifully written book down; and the complex, flawed characters stayed with me for a long time.

Saskia Sarginson

Sophisticated, suspenseful, unsettling, and highly recommended: a terrific debut from an author to watch.

Lee Child

"Gripping, tense and moving.

Claire McGowan