โSophisticated, suspenseful, unsettling, and highly recommended: a terrific debut from an author to watch.โ โLee Child, #1 New York Timesโbestselling author
Moving and suspenseful, Lisa Ballantyneโs The Guilty One is a psychological thriller about the darkness in each of us. It explores how we are all tied to our pasts, and what it means to be guilty.
Solicitor Daniel Hunter is called to defend eleven-year-old Sebastian who has been charged with the murder of a young boy on a London playground. While examining Sebastianโs life in order to save it, Daniel canโt help but be transported to his own difficult youth spent in foster careโa time when the one he trusted the most was the one who betrayed him . . .
Emotionally wrought, and with an abundance of twists and turns, The Guilty One is a character-driven novel of suspense that explores the true nature of guilt.
โA first novel that is both moving and suspenseful; richly detailed, yet with the eerie simplicity of a parable.โ โJoyce Carol Oates, #1 New York Timesโbestselling author
โA page-turner.โ โCosmopolitan (UK)
โA child-on-child murder drives Ballantyneโs searing debut . . . [A] scalding exploration of childhood violence, adult refusal to forgive, and redemptive love.โ โPublishers Weekly (starred review)
โThis is a sensitive and insightful narrative that gradually builds suspense during Sebastianโs trial and Hunterโs revelations. Truth is revealed in the final pages, but Ballantyne leaves it to the reader to determine just where the guilt lies. An accomplished first novel and a good bet for book groups.โ โBooklist
โAbsorbing and compelling . . . A captivating debut.โ โKirkus Reviews