- Hardcover: 368 pages
- Publisher: Hutchinson; Second edition (7 Jan 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 009180194X
- ISBN-13: 978-0091801946
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 4.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,019,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Judas Child
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Everyone knows that they caught the local child killer, and that formerly popular local priest Father Paul Marie is doing hard time. Everyone is so sure that, when 15 years later two little girls disappear, the police are sure that they have run away and will turn up soon. Everyone, that is, except for state police investigator Rouge, whose sister was the victim 15 years ago, and scarred beautiful criminologist Ali, who believes Father Paul Marie's claims of innocence. They have their own problems--why is his family broke, and what caused her scar? Things are not going as well as they might for the killer either; this particular pair of children have resources of pluck and ingenuity that constantly baffle him.
This is a departure for O'Connell; she has abandoned her usual detective, high-tech psychopath Mallory and her crew of misfits, for people less obviously extraordinary and brings the same skewed intelligent vision of human capability to bear on them. The switches between investigators trying to unravel past and present, and victims surviving against the odds, successfully wind up the tension to an almost unendurable pitch; O'Connell turns in a virtuoso combination of detection and suspense that is her best book yet. --Roz Kaveney
Review
" 'A heart-stopping novel of intelligence and suspense' - Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday. 'Compulsive reading, a genuine page-turner in which the "whodunit" is only part of the puzzle' - The Times"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I actually cannot find the words to adequately describe this brilliant book. Carol O'Connell has got to be the best writer there was or is. Judas Child is a stunning, haunting and utterly extraordinary story that will grip you by the heart. This story of lost girls and a community torn is absolutely harrowing. Carol O'Connell's use of language beggars belief in all her books but in this story you will be startled by the intimacy and immediacy that pervades every word. I finished the last word of the story and was compelled to immediately start it all over. I would be astounded if I was the only one.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an intensely gripping, suspenseful, tautly written, psychological thriller. The author, a master storyteller, weaves a compelling tapestry of events, as well as a complex plot in which history seems to repeat itself.
Several days before Christmas, in a small, bucolic, tightly knit town, two ten year old girls, best friends, Sadie Green and Gwen Hubble, suddenly disappear. One of the local cops, Rouge Kendall, becomes involved in the investigation and manhunt that ensues. The case calls to mind his own brush with a madman, when fifteen years earlier his own ten year old, twin sister, Susan, had likewise been abducted. She was found murdered on Christmas Day, and his family never fully recovered from the blow they were dealt by Susan's untimely and grisly death. A local priest, Father Paul Marie, was arrested for Susan's abduction and murder, tried, and convicted.
Enter Ali Cray, a former classmate of Rouge and Susan, who is now a forensic psychologist. Facially disfigured, she carries with her emotional baggage from her past. Yet, she is determined to make sure that justice is done in this case. She has a theory of the case about which she feels strongly. She believes that one of the girls functioned as a Judas child, a secondary target who is used as bait to lure the primary target into a trap. She also believes that Susan Kendall's fifteen year old abduction and murder and the current abductions are linked, notwithstanding the fact that Paul Marie is incarcerated at the time of Sadie's and Gwen's apparent abduction. Should Ali Cray be proven correct in her theory, an innocent man has been paying for the crimes of another all this time.
The author serves up a brilliant narrative, imbuing the two abducted girls with personalities that hook the viewers. Sadie Green is the irrepressible, fearless leader of the two. Creative, resourceful, irreverent, highly intelligent, and loyal, she is a kid who thinks outside the box, as a matter of course. Gwen Hubble is also highly intelligent, as well as sensitive and intuitive, but more timid and reserved than Sadie by nature, a follower not a leader. While all in town are hoping that both will be found alive, it is Ali Cray's conjecture that the abductor quickly dispatches the child who is the designated Judas child. She believes that the child who is the primary target will live for a short time, until she too is dispatched, most certainly by Christmas, so as to wreak maximum emotional havoc.
The narrative flips back and forth between that which is happening in the town, not only with the investigation but also with some of the townspeople, and that which is being ostensibly experienced by Sadie and Gwen during their captivity. What happens to the girls is absolutely riveting, as well as heartbreaking. This is a vividly drawn, skillfully layered tour de force that is imbued with intriguing mystery and, at the same time, infinite sadness. The reader is sure to remain glued to the pages of this book, until the very last page is turned.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant. O'Connel excels with this novel. The tension builds up from page one, and the reader is immediately enmeshed in the story teller's web. The goodies are very good, and the baddies are particularly odious. This novel gives you everything - stylish characterisation, brilliant plot, fine prose - in a word its a stunning book. The juxtaposition between Mortimer Cray and the killer was masterly - and for someone like me, who likes to see the baddies get their comeuppance - well she delivers in spades. The ending was very satisfying. I've now read all O'Connell's books, and this one stands up really well against her Mallory stories. Perhaps she might consider writing another novel to include both Kathy Mallory and Rouge Kendall - go on Carol, you know you want to!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Heart wrenching story
I loved this book.Because of health issues,I read lots of book,and always have a good supply on my kindle. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tracey Baxter
What's not to enjoy
This is a truly fantastic book. If you're thinking about buying or reading it - stop thinking and do it !!
Carol O'Connell has created a unique tale. Read more
Carol O'Connell has created a unique tale. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2007 by Shelagh
What an ending!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't put it down! This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I could easily imagine this book as film and would pay good money to watch it. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2006 by "mandymto"
O'Connell's best work
I ordered this book having enjoyed Carol O'Connell's Mallory books, and feel as though I have been bowled over. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2004 by S. M. Hillman
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE...
This is an intensely gripping, suspenseful, tautly written, psychological thriller. The author, a master storyteller, weaves a compelling tapestry of events, as well as a complex... Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2003 by Lawyeraau
Riveting reading
This book is so original in this genre. It had me hooked from the beginning and continued to enthrall til the end. Even then I still had to recap. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2003 by Tracy Sedgemore
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE...
This is an intensely gripping, suspenseful, tautly written, psychological thriller. The author, a master storyteller, weaves a compelling tapestry of events, as well as a complex... Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2002 by Lawyeraau
Great book - very dark, great ending
I love the Malory novels. At first when I bought Judas child and saw it wasn't a malory novel I was disappointed. That didn't last long. I really loved this book. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2001
Good Gothic Thriller
O'Connell has a real gift for Gothic settings and a nice line in freakiness/supernatural themes which are heavily developed here. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2001 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
A fantastic achievement
Carol O'Connell has got to be one of the best crime writers out there. In fact one of the best writers of any kind. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2000
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