The Price of an Orphan - Hardcover

Carlon, Patricia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1569471738 ISBN 13: 9781569471739

Publisher: Soho Press, 1999

Synopsis

Johnnie is a nine-year old city orphan (his mother is dead, his father in prison). He has recently been placed with Stuart and Kay Heath, a childless couple who live in the Australian outback on a cattle station which Stuart manages for its wealthy owner. Hoping for a "real" boy, they are bitterly disappointed. Johnnie is not quite the foster child they had in mind: he is "cheeky and lazy, cowardly and stubborn." So when he claims to have witnessed a murder they remind him of the boy who cried wolf. But then Johnnie and Kay are invited on a camping trip. A special treat to give Johnnie another chance to adjust to life in the outback? Or a cunning trap by a ruthless killer?

About this title

About the Author

Patricia Carlon was born in Wagga Wagga and now lives in Sydney, Australia. She has written fourteen crime novels, including The Running Woman, The Souvenir, and The Whispering Wall, all available in Soho Crime paperback editions.

From Publishers Weekly

Offering a thrilling glimpse into the Australian outback, the fifth title by Aussie author Carlon (Crime of Silence) to be published here by Soho brims with suspense. Kay and Stuart Heath's nine-year-old foster son, Johnnie, is a troublemaker, with a penchant for spinning tall tales. When he brags about witnessing the murder of an unknown woman in a red dress, Kay and Stuart, who manage the Quidong cattle ranch, are reluctant to believe him, assuming that his story is merely another example of the boy who cried wolf. Eventually, Johnnie decides to say he's been fibbing, figuring that once he's reunited with his birth father, the two of them can investigate and find the owner of the license plates Johnnie discovered at the crime scene and later hid. Kay and Stuart, seeking to work on their marriage and their relationship with Johnnie, bring their son along as they accompany the ranch's owner on a camping trip to the wild brush. The familial retreat becomes a life-threatening hostage situation when the murderer's true identity is revealed. Johnnie and Kay are left at the will of this cold-blooded, ruthless killer, as countless chances of being saved come and go. Carlon's struggling, sharply drawn characters provoke sustained interest in their fates; her evocation of tough Johnnie's hidden loneliness is especially poignant. Her usual assured prose and expert pacing will lure readers deeply into her tale, from its mysterious opening to its nail-biting conclusion. Agency, John Johnson. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Soho Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1569471738
• ISBN 13: 9781569471739
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 190