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    The Quiet Child: A Novel
    The Quiet Child: A Novel
    The Quiet Child: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Quiet Child: A Novel

    Written by John Burley

    Narrated by MacLeod Andrews

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    From the award-winning author of The Absence of Mercy, comes a gripping and darkly psychological novel about family, suspicion, and the price we are willing to pay to protect those we love the most.

    It’s the summer of 1954, and the residents of Cottonwood, California, are dying. At the center of it all is six-year-old Danny McCray, a strange and silent child the townspeople regard with fear and superstition, and who appears to bring illness and ruin to those around him. Even his own mother is plagued by a disease that is slowly consuming her.

    Sheriff Jim Kent, increasingly aware of the whispers and rumors surrounding the boy, has watched the people of his town suffer—and he worries someone might take drastic action to protect their loved ones. Then a stranger arrives, and Danny and his ten-year-old brother, Sean, go missing. In the search that follows, everyone is a suspect, and the consequences of finding the two brothers may be worse than not finding them at all.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateAug 8, 2017
    ISBN9780062463807
    Author

    John Burley

    John Burley grew up in Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay. He worked as a paramedic and volunteer firefighter before attending medical school in Chicago and completing an Emergency Medicine residency program at University of Maryland Medical Center / Shock Trauma in Baltimore. He currently serves as an Emergency Department physician in northern California, where he lives with his wife, daughter, great dane, and english bulldog. No Mercy is his first novel.

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    Reviews for The Quiet Child

    3.5/5

    35 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Review of eBookThe McCray family calls Cottonwood, California home. Ten-year-old Sean watches over six-year-old Danny who never speaks. High school science teacher Michael takes care of his wife, Kate, who suffers from a lethal debilitating illness, and the two boys.The McCray’s neighbors . . . most of the town, actually . . . believe that silent Danny causes all sorts of bad things to happen, including illness and death. Then a man steals Michael’s car . . . and kidnaps the two boys . . . . The superstitions and fears of the townspeople are rather reminiscent of the behavior of Peaksville’s adults who live in fear of six-year-old Anthony Fremont in the “It’s a Good Life” episode of “The Twilight Zone.” The only difference is that Anthony actually did terrorize the townspeople while Danny does nothing except remain silent.Set in the early 1950s, there’s a sharp contrast between police investigations of the time and today’s technology-laden probes for evidence and truth. A search through phone logs to locate calls from the kidnapper reveals the monumental disparity in obtaining evidence between then and now. The story, with its well-drawn characters, fills the reader with dread. Short chapters help to keep the suspense palpable and, as heart-rending reveals bring new aspects into the telling of the tale, the tension mounts. Anchored by a strong sense of place, this tale of family is complex, heart-breaking, and unfathomable. Readers are sure to find its telling both captivating and haunting. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      Set in the small town of Cottonwood, CA in 1954, The Quiet Child by John Burley  is a suspenseful mystery about the search for two kidnapped children.

      How can an entire town blame a mute six year old boy for the ill health and death that have plagued them in recent years? Apparently quite easily in the absence of any other logical explanation. So when young Danny McCray and his ten year old brother Sean are kidnapped, does anyone outside of their parents, Michael and Kate, want them found? Thankfully part time Sheriff Jim Dent is not about to let fear and suspicion prevent him from doing everything he can to track down the kidnapper and rescue the boys before it is too late.

      From the very second a stranger drives off in the McCray family car with Danny and Sean, there is an intense sense of urgency to locate the boys before something dire happens to them. Sheriff Dent is committed to finding the boys and he is completely honest with Detectives John Pierce and Tony DeLuca about the town's opinion about Danny right from the very start. However, like Dent, both Pierce and DeLuca do not allow rumor and speculate interfere with the investigation and all three are committed to solving the crime. They are making very little progress in the days after the kidnapping but will Dent's realization that Michael has gone looking for his sons change the course of the investigation? This discovery is the break they have been waiting for but can Dent, DeLuca and Pierce locate Michael in time to rescue him, Danny and Sean from a possibly dangerous situation?

      While The Quiet Child is mainly a mystery, there is also a bit of a supernatural element to the storyline due to the speculation that Danny is somehow responsible for the town's ill health and bad luck. The story weaves back and forth between the boys' experiences at the kidnapper's hands and the increasingly desperate manhunt and massive police search to locate them.  With no discernible motive for the kidnapping, plenty of action and some absolutely jaw-dropping plot twists, the novel is incredibly fast-paced with a compelling storyline. John Burley brings the novel to an astounding, twist-filled conclusion that will stun readers.
    • 4/5
      John Burley has just released his third novel, The Quiet Child.1954 - Cottonwood, California. Many residents of this small town are ill, including the McCrays. Although there are environmental reasons that might explain the sicknesses, fingers are instead pointed at six year old Danny McCray, who doesn't speak. But how could a child bring so much illness to the town and his own family? When Danny and his older brother Sean are kidnapped, the townsfolk whisper that it's maybe for the best. But Sheriff Jim Kent and the boys' father Michael are determined to bring them home.Now, with that description, you may think the book is a mystery - and yes, it is. Who has taken the boys and why? The Quiet Child has echoes of Burley's first book, The Absence of Mercy - fathers and sons, a suspicious small town, what a parent would do for a child and at what cost?Burley's writing is beautifully descriptive and atmospheric - many passages are worth reading again to savour. I've found that its impossible to determine where Burley is going to take his stories - and this was proven again in The Quiet Child. There are almost 'otherwordly' tones to the book. I was surprised by the turn the story took in the last few chapters - it was completely unexpected.I was interested to read in the author's notes at the end of the book that Cottonwood is a real town - one Burley visited while writing the book. I wonder what the residents think of this book?
    • 3/5
      Danny and brother Sean are missing and Sheriff Kent is responsible for finding them. Michael takes matters into his own hands and is able to rescue one son, Sean from the kidnapper. It leaves their mother and the Sheriff with more questions than answers. This is a story about family, loss, unforgiving neighbors, and co-workers. The author explores how far a father will go to protect his family when the odds and community are against them.Goodreads Giveaway randomly chose me to receive this book. Although encouraged, I was under no obligation to write a review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.