THE BOOK CLUB’S READ NO. 34 AND NO. 35 WITH DISCUSSION TO BE HELD ON MAY 8TH, 2012
An old man is dying. When the old man is dead they will come for him. And they will come for her, to make him hurt.
John Hart delivers his fourth novel — a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no reader will soon forget.
He would go to Hell
At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time to kill, time for two young orphans to learn that life isn’t won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. When tensions boil over and a boy is brutally killed, there is only one sacrifice left for Michael to make: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him.
To keep her safe…
For two decades, Michael has been an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime, a prince of the streets so widely feared he rarely has to kill anymore. But the life he’s fought to build unravels when he meets Elena, a beautiful innocent who teaches him the meaning and power of love. He wants a fresh start with her, the chance to start a family like the one he and Julian never had. But someone else is holding the strings. And escape is not that easy. . . .
Go to Hell, and come back burning….
The mob boss who gave Michael his blessing to begin anew is dying, and his son is intent on making Michael pay for his betrayal. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena—who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he’s laid at her door— back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he’s been running from his whole life: Iron House. ~ Goodreads
Discussion Questions via ReadingGroupGuides.com
1. The story begins with a vivid depiction of Michael and Julian’s childhood at the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, and yet we don’t find out the truth about Abigail’s childhood until the climax of the book. How did your assumptions about Abigail change as the truth unfolded?
2. The crux of this story is Michael’s outlook on fatherhood as a new beginning, a chance for happiness and a moral life previously unavailable to him. Do you think this kind of event can fundamentally change a person – both within the context of the book and in your own experience?
3. In his determination to protect Abigail, Jessup is willing to do almost anything, up to and including breaking the law. Is he right to do so? Why does Jessup care so deeply for Abigail?
4. Throughout the book several characters are haunted by things they’ve done in the past, though they often acted at the coercion of others and not of their own volition. How does this change your judgment of that character’s actions? Examples: Julian is pushed to the brink by the torments of unmonitored and violent bullies at Iron House. Michael finds the only father figure he’ll ever know, but is forced to take the lives of others in order to win his approval.
5. There are few characters in Iron House who had the privilege of a traditional childhood. How are the main characters shaped in different ways by their pasts?
6. Explore the different parent-child relationships in the story. How does each relationship evolve throughout the course of the novel? Are there any “good” parents in this story?
7. Given the things he’s done, is Michael capable of a moral existence? Does he have a religious faith? Was he ever a moral man? Is he, indeed, more than the things he’s done?
8. Psychological disorder figures prominently in Iron House. Some characters are aided by others who recognize their issues and attempt to help them. But there are also cases of unchecked malady, as in Jimmy’s uncontrollable violence. How does psychological disorder function in the larger story?
9. Jimmy’s feelings for Michael are powerful yet ambiguous. What does he really feel and why?
10. There are significant differences between the way Abigail, Jessup, Julian, and Victorine treat psychological disease. Is this a reflection of the respective age of the characters, and the perception of psychological disorder in which each generation was raised?
11. Was Michael right to let Arabella Jax live? What were his reasons for doing so and were they morally correct?
12. Given all that’s transpired, can Michael and Elena be truly happy together?
13. If you’ve read some or all of John Hart’s earlier books, how do you see Iron House in relation to them?
14. How do you feel about the resolution of Iron House?
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Winner of the 2010 Edgar Award for Best Novel
John Hart’s New York Times bestselling debut, The King of Lies, announced the arrival of a major talent. With Down River, he surpassed his earlier success, transcending the barrier between thriller and literature and winning the 2008 Edgar Award for best novel. Now, with The Last Child, he achieves his most significant work to date, an intricate, powerful story of loss, hope, and courage in the face of evil.
Thirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: a warm home and loving parents; a twin sister, Alyssa, with whom he shared an irreplaceable bond. He knew nothing of loss, until the day Alyssa vanished from the side of a lonely street. Now, a year later, Johnny finds himself isolated and alone, failed by the people he’d been taught since birth to trust. No one else believes that Alyssa is still alive, but Johnny is certain that she is—confident in a way that he can never fully explain.
Determined to find his sister, Johnny risks everything to explore the dark side of his hometown. It is a desperate, terrifying search, but Johnny is not as alone as he might think. Detective Clyde Hunt has never stopped looking for Alyssa either, and he has a soft spot for Johnny. He watches over the boy and tries to keep him safe, but when Johnny uncovers a dangerous lead and vows to follow it, Hunt has no choice but to intervene.
Then a second child goes missing . . .
Undeterred by Hunt’s threats or his mother’s pleas, Johnny enlists the help of his last friend, and together they plunge into the wild, to a forgotten place with a history of violence that goes back more than a hundred years. There, they meet a giant of a man, an escaped convict on his own tragic quest. What they learn from him will shatter every notion Johnny had about the fate of his sister; it will lead them to another far place, to a truth that will test both boys to the limit.
Traveling the wilderness between innocence and hard wisdom, between hopelessness and faith, The Last Child leaves all categories behind and establishes John Hart as a writer of unique power. ~ Goodreads
Discussion Questions via ReadingGroupGuides.com
1. What is the meaning of the title? Who is The Last Child?
2. The novel is not just about Johnny’s search for Alyssa. It’s also about his quest for power. Where does Johnny look for power and does he ever truly find it? If so, where?
3. In the beginning of the novel we find Katherine in a state of utter collapse. Is her condition understandable, given the circumstances? If not, does she redeem herself?
4. Why does Detective Hunt care so much for Katherine and Johnny? How do those feelings contrast with the way he sees his own son? His own life?
5. Revisit the opening of Chapter 14: Johnny’s ritual with the fire. We find out that Johnny has had a severe crisis of faith since Alyssa disappeared, and for what he was about to do, he “needed older gods.” What draws Johnny to “older gods”? What kind of power do they have that the God of his childhood does not?
6. By the end of the novel, Johnny comes to believe that Freemantle was, indeed, set in motion as an instrument of God. If this the case, by what means did God put Freemantle in motion? And given the debt that Freemantle owes to Johnny’s family, was the price too high, or was it fair? Is life, indeed, a circle?
7. We see two preachers in Johnny’s life, one described as, “fingernails buffed and fat face shining,” and one described as “a blade of a priest in white, flashing robes.” How do these figures reflect the changing nature of Johnny’s faith? At the end of the novel, does he believe in the same God he believed in before Alyssa disappeared or does he still believe in other sources of power?
8. Freemantle believes that crows have the power to collect the souls of the dead. This is why he fears them. If the crows are not after the soul of Freemantle’s daughter, as Freemantle originally believes, why then are they following him? Do the crows have another goal in mind? Is the goal accomplished?
9. Explore the different father-son relationships in the story. How does each relationship evolve throughout the course of the novel? What are the similarities and differences between each father-son relationship? How do the fathers’ actions effect those of their sons?
10. Many people blame themselves for things that have happened in the past — Johnny, Hunt, Katherine, Jack, Levi Freemantle and others. How does guilt motivate each of them to act? Where does the real guilt lie in the story?
11. The novel opens on a view of the North Carolina back country. What role does the setting have in the story? Do you think Johnny’s story have the same impact if it took place in a different state, or in a different country
