The Last Time She Saw Him

by Jane Haseldine Narrated by Kate Rudd

Overview

Julia Gooden remembers nothing about the worst night of her life. Thirty years ago, her nine-year-old brother Ben was abducted from the room they shared. Now a crime reporter at a Detroit newspaper, Julia tries to give others the closure she's never found. But guilt and grief over Ben's disappearance have left her fearful that whoever took her brother is going to come back. And then, on the anniversary of Ben's disappearance, Julia's worst fears are realized when her two-year-old son, Will, is snatched from his bed. Convinced that the crimes are related, Julia tries to piece together memories from her final day with Ben. Are the sudden reminders of her brother clues that will lead her to her son's abductor, or merely coincidence?

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

05/02/2016
Reporter Julia Gooden, the smart, relatable heroine of journalist Haseldine’s uneven debut, needs a break from her job at a Detroit newspaper. She finds peace at her vacation home on Lake St. Clair, Mich., with her two sons, Will and Logan. On the 30th anniversary of the 1977 disappearance of her brother, Ben, two-year-old Will is taken from his bed; the clues left are shockingly similar to those left at the scene of Ben’s abduction. In addition to recruiting the help of ex-boyfriend Det. Ray Navarro and estranged husband David, Julia decides to take matters into her own hands. In the next 24 hours or so, Julia manages to have a press conference, illegally search a suspect’s home, help search 30 acres of property, sit in on two interrogations, make a prison visit to someone who may have information about Will, and more. This improbable sequence takes credibility away from what is, for the most part, a competently written thriller—at least until the gruesome final showdown, which borders on the ridiculous. Agent: Priya Doraswamy, Lotus Lane Literary. (July)

From the Publisher

So visually written and chilling, with such real, believable characters and twists that shocked. A gripping story that I read in one night—I could not put it down…

Library Journal

03/15/2016
Thirty years ago, Julia Gooden's nine-year-old brother Ben—her older confidant and protector—vanished from the room they shared. Much to her frustration, Julia remembers nothing of the incident, but the unsolved crime now haunts her adult world. Dogged with unresolved guilt that she can't vocalize, Julia becomes a reporter because she "never found out the ending to [her] own story." She supervises her two sons with frantic and unhealthy fervor, enough to cause a rift in her crumbling marriage. The mental and emotional lingering of Ben's abduction becomes frighteningly tangible, however, when Julia's own two-year-old son, Will, is snatched from his bed on the anniversary of Ben's disappearance. Julia is convinced the abductions are related. But to find her son, she must also find herself. VERDICT Haseldine's first novel is a solid read that fans of Debbie Howells, Julia Dahl, and Laura Lippman will appreciate.—Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173664419
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	06/28/2016
Series:	Julia Gooden Mystery , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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