The Final Child

July 27, 2020
Between 1994 and 1998, a serial killer known as the Father kidnaps pairs of young siblings across the English Midlands in this unsettling psychological thriller from British author Dorricott (After the Eclipse). Of the Father’s last child victims—Erin and her brother, Alex—only Erin escapes, though she has no memory of what happened. The Father is never apprehended. In 2016, Harriet Murphy, whose cousins, two brothers, were kidnapped and later killed, is writing a book about the disappearances and murders. Harriet wants to interview Erin, but Erin is reluctant to talk. Then someone breaks into Erin’s house, and later odd gifts turn up outside and inside her house. As Erin tries to sort out what’s going on with Heather’s help, she comes to realize that the Father—or someone impersonating him—is out to get her. The action builds to a fiery and devastating conclusion that leaves open the possibility of a sequel. Dorricott knows how to tell a gripping if familiar story. Veteran genre readers won’t find anything new but will be nevertheless entertained. Agent: Diana Beaumont, Marjacq Scripts (U.K.).