This is a follow up to The Last Child. There are supernatural forces to contend with i this one. ( )

"There is no 'normal' in The Hush. There is only story and magic."

This was a wonderful book 2 but very different from the first book. It follows the life of Johnny and Jack but also those that were around them in the last one. It throws in new characters but none of them are as big as The Hush is.

Although I loved the dynamic of all the pieces and the players in the story - I found that I loved the lore and the "Other" that's in the story, but I have to admit that the set up of all the characters bogged down at times. This book took me far too long to read because it felt slow in a lot of spots.

Finishing this one makes me appreciate even more the story, the characters and the relationships built in book 1. So glad I continued the series! ( )

John Hart is an amazing storyteller! This was an awesome thriller suspense series! Thank you for writing it! ( )

A very different sequel and most likely would not have read it if I had known.... ( )

I really like Hart's stuff. He's become a favourite author of mine. And I went into this one blind, having no idea it was the follow-up to The Last Child.

This story may throw regular Hart readers, because he really slides into the supernatural on this one. Around the point that I'd stated this could have been his best book, the supernatural elements were subtle and well-paced.

Unfortunately, while it was still a damn good book, it did get a little over the top toward the end. I still enjoyed it, and it all made (for the most part) logical sense, it still felt surprisingly heavy-handed from an author who is normally very sensitive and deft.

Still, overall still a great story. ( )

How embarassing -- I completely forgot that author John Hart had provided the chilling backstory to Johnny Merrimon in his award-winning The Last Child. Johnny is a legend in Raven County for his solving a horrific crime, but is not a hermit, living in Hush Arbor as an integral part: 6,000 acres of dense woods, swamp, rocky terrain, and shady weirdness, where many have disappeared or returned changed forever. Once belonging to Johnny's family, it was deeded to a group of freed African slaves, but reverted back to Johnny when the last direct survivor of Isaac Freemantle died. As the land is threatened by many outside forces, bodies start piling up, Johnny is blamed and the unwavering support from his best friend and now attorney, Jack Cross, and his adoptive father and County Sheriff, cannot stem the growing resentment, especially in the law enforcement community.

Many reviewers have not cared for the magical realism elements of the story, involving the history between the Merrimons and the Freemantles, a departure from Hart's usual mystery writing. While it was distracting at times and the ending a bit far-fetched, it was a small price to pay for more of Hart's extraordinary writing, which is lush, lyrical, and captivating. ( )

Yet again another surprise book. This one started off slow for me, but picked up nicely. I think one of the reasons I enjoyed it was that it was very Stephen King like in the last half...the older King books. I’m pretty picky when it comes to crazy, over the top plots. This was just the right amount of crazy. ( )

Having read 'The Last Child' I picked this one up on audio. I enjoyed the return of the characters but found the magical/supernatural elements overplayed in this outing. I had trouble suspending my disbelief enough to buy all the goings on, also the power behind all the happenings is revealed late and unsatisfactorily explained in my opinion. Too much disconnected from the first book in the Merrimon series. ( )

I finished this book today and maybe I'll come back and edit this later, because I am still thinking on it. My immediate impression though was only 3 or 3.5. When I was reading it I kept thinking, "Why am I reading this? I should just quit." But I couldn't. Something made me keep reading it. It is absolutely nothing like the first book really other than having the same characters in it. They could each be stand alone books. I kind of felt annoyed with the ending, it felt a little wrapped up and muddled. The biggest dislike though was Jack. Geez, how many times can he say he owes Johnny and for how long does he owe him that much? I mean, I read the first book, but do you have to keep giving him your whole life just to be good friends? It kind of seems like a one sided friendship at this point. That made the characters feel disconnected as well. I really like Clyde, but he was just surface and background in this, just as in the first one. I truly never understood either why the sheriff hated him that much? I mean he solved a huge case for you dickheads, and for that you hate him? ( )

This is probably the best author I have read in a long time. So many suspense or murder mystery books seem to follow a formula. I did not know The Last Child was the first book in a series. ( )

It pains me to give a John Hart novel only 3 stars. While The Hush was well written, with beautiful prose, the story was too strange for me.
Things I liked:
- the total and deep bond between Johnny Merrimon and Jack Cross
- the friendship of Leon and Johnny
- the complete love between Clyde Hunt and his stepson, Johnny
- the love for Hush Arbor felt by Johnny
Things I didn't like
- the violence of what was hidden in the Hush
- the meanness of Verdine
- the hold the Hush had over so many families
- the supernatural undertone of the century old story
John Hart is an amazing writer, but this one just didn't do it for me.
#TheHush #JohnHart ( )

This is a sequel of sorts to John Hart's debut novel, The Last Child. Set in North Carolina, among swamps and rugged hills, The Hush picks up a decade after the events of the previous novel. Johnny inherited 6,000 acres of land when he turned seventeen, and he's been living there ever since, in a shack he built himself. He's become a recluse in his wilderness, sleeping in trees and shooting at hunters who trespass on his land. He's spent time in prison, for shooting up the hunting camp of a powerful billionaire. Meanwhile, his best friend, Jack, has graduated from law school and has just started work in the most prestigious law firm in town.

But all is not well for Johnny. A law suit he can't afford to fight is threatening his home. And Jack sees Johnny changing in ways that make him unhappy. And when a dead body is discovered on Johnny's land, things become worse.

This is a horror novel of sorts, or at least it seems to be edging toward that genre. There's a supernatural force controlling the property, one which allows some to live, but kills others in horrific ways. Writing horror successfully is a difficult balancing act. Too little and the reader isn't scared, too much and it can suddenly veer from frightening to just silly. Hart does not manage to stick the landing. But whether or not the evil force is compelling or not is less important than Hart's handling of both women and African American history.

The women in this novel come in two varieties. Mothers are helpless, often addicted, and cannot parent their children. And the other woman of note is a lawyer, beautiful, manipulative and bad. We know this woman is bad because she is described as being a user and a taker soon after she makes an appearance. There's also a part of the plot involving an evil African princess and her African powers that made me deeply uncomfortable. It felt like an element out of a pulp novel from a different age and not in a good way. I'm not sure how this element could have worked in even the hands of a sensitive author. Hart was not at all sensitive. There is a ton of stuff going on, with plot lines and themes followed for a few pages or chapters and then discarded.

On the other hand, Hart has a talent for writing stories that compel the reader to keep turning pages. In the end, this was not enough to redeem this novel for me. ( )

I was digging weeds as I listened to this tale---almost in my own Hush!!! Hart is a new author for me and I was surprised how intriguing I found this novel to be and looking forward to backing and up and reading more of his works. ( )

This novel is extremely well written - very good pacing, good character development, and with a palpable overriding sense of dred evil, and foreboding. While I consider John Hart to be among my favorite authors this book was way to over-the-top for my tastes. I seldom really love books with supernatural themes - this being a very good example. I hope this novel is not establishing a trend for the author. ( )

I knew I wanted to read this one as I love John Hart's books but I couldn't have known how much I would love this! I didn't realize that it was the second in the Johnny Merrimon series until after I had started it. It continues with his life as a recluse but the swamp that he is living in is steeped in mystery and unexplained deaths. I was surprised at the supernatural aspects of this novel but found it very well done and it really drew me in. So glad I saw this one on the 7 day shelf at the library! ( )

There's something about Johnny Merrimon in John Hart's The Hush that sets people on edge. Perhaps it's his history, the murder of his sister, the terrible deaths that happened ten years ago in John Hart's The Last Child. Or, maybe it's because he lives a hermetic life in Hush Arbor, the mysterious swampland outside town that many people swear is haunted. Even his best friend Jack Cross thinks there is something weird about Hush Arbor and maybe even about Johnny.

Meanwhile, Johnny is trying to save Hush Arbor. It had belonged to his family before the Civil War, but his great-grandfather had given the land to the slaves he had freed. It reverted to Johnny when there were no more male heirs. The female heirs were suing and he could lose the land, land he felt bound to in more than just heritage.

In addition, William Boyd, a billionaire is trying to buy the land. He also feels a familiar connection as his grandfather hunted there and made a discovery that motivates Boyd who uses his wealth to keep local lawyers from representing Johnny. When Boyd turns up dead, Johnny is a natural suspect and the local sheriff would love to pin it on him. He is certain that Johnny is damaged by his past and dangerous and the Sheriff won't let anything like the law get in his way.

But there's another actor in this drama, the unseen forces of history, of the long ago past, haunting their descendants, not just Johnny, but the women suing for the land. There is a compulsion bringing them all to a terrifying confrontation.

John Hart is a good writer, even a great one. After all, I just read the kind of book I never read. When I saw Edgar winner, I made a false assumption about the kind of book this was, and somehow found myself reading what I would classify as a horror story, as weird fiction, rather than mystery, though it's steeped in mystery.

I don't like horror stories, not the really scary ones. Sure, I love campy horror like Dresden or iZombie, but real horror gives me the creeps, probably a remnant of my Baptist upbringing that prohibited reading supernatural stories because they opened the door to demons. Not that I believe in the supernatural, but it's still creepy. Something about authors dreaming this stuff up creeps me out. Needless to say, this book is scary. The mix of suspense, the supernatural, and the bloody history of racism in the South make it a perfect exemplar of Southern Gothic horror.

The Hush has a tremendous sense of place. Hart puts you right in that otherworldy swamp. In fact, he puts you in that swamp too well. It's why I had to keep putting this book down. I found it too spooky and gruesome. Hart makes you care about the people, too. I had to know what happened, I cared about Johnny and Jack. I cared about Cree, Luana, and Leon. He made me care what happened which made me keep reading this book that creeped me out.

The Hush is truly weird, and by weird, I mean in the sense that Lovecraft described, "the illusion of some strange suspension or violation of the galling limitations of time, space, and natural law which forever imprison us and frustrate our curiosity about the infinite cosmic spaces beyond the radius of our sight and analysis. These stories frequently emphasize the element of horror because fear is our deepest and strongest emotion, and the one which best lends itself to the creation of nature-defying illusions."

So if you like scary books, if you like horror and weird fiction, you will love The Hush. I don't and yet I kept reading and have to confess I liked this book even if I could only read it in small doses because it's so dang creepy.

I received a copy of The Hush from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Hush at St. Martin's Press | Macmillan
John Hart author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2018/04/15/the-hush-by-john-hart/ ( )

This is a book I was not sure that I would finish when I first started reading it. I had never read anything by this author before, so I had no preconceived ideas about his work. Not only did I finish reading this book, but I have become a huge John Hart fan. In this book we pick up on the life of Johnny Merrimom who apparently was a character in a prior book. He is an adult now, living in the Hush, the land that belonged to his family for generations. He has only one real friend in the world - his childhood pal Jack who tries to save Johnny from the world around him. The story of the past and present slowly unfolds in a tale that is almost impossible to put down, but yet one wants to savor every minute of it. I simply loved this tale of history, friendship, family loyalties and life while knowing I must read the first book that set the stage for all of this. Hart is one incredible writer! ( )

John Hart is an excellent writer and author. The Hush is a continuation of the story begun in The Last Child about the life of Johnny Merrimon and his good friend Jack Cross. A true page turner and a highly recommended book. ( )

This one just didn't do it for me. It had some supernatural elements (which I enjoy), some paranormal (I like that, too). However, something just seemed off. I do recommend you trying this, but you should read The Last Child first since this is a continuation of that story.

My thanks to netgalley and St Martin's Press for this advanced readers copy. ( )

Once again, John Hart took me to the edge of my seat as I read the continued story of Johnny begun in "The Last Child". This time Johnny is grown and lives life on his own terms in the swamp near his ancestral home and the deserted old slave yard. There is something going on there that is evil and not entirely of this world. Johnny is somehow connected, but once again misunderstood by the law. His friend Jack, now a lawyer, continues to stand by him, but is frustrated by Johnny's secrecy. The story connects with a young woman who is a descendant of one of the freed slaves from the plantation of Johnny's great grandfather. Both she and Johnny have "dreams" that take them back into their familial history. Add in people dying and going mad after daring to go in the swamp, and you have a complex and genre defying tale of terror.
I really like this author and this book. That said, I found it a bit complex at times and thought that maybe he could have cut out some of the detail which at times just slowed down this otherwise fast paced read. It is still an amazing story, and one that I would highly recommend whether you have read "The Last Child" or not. I continue to be a fan.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. ( )

I dove through the first three-quarters of this book and then.....

Then things just got a little to hinky for me. I'm not a huge fan of the supernatural and it just got to be a bit much for my tastes. That said I still love John Hart and have read everything he has written and will continue to grab for his books they minute they hit the shelves. I would love to see more of Johnny and Jack, especially after maybe some of the power of the Hush has worn off and the boys are on their next adventure. ( )

This novel uses the same setting and characters from the author’s award-winning thriller The Last Child, picking up the story ten years later. It can be read as a standalone, although reading the previous book first would enrich the experience.

In The Last Child, Johnny Merrimon helped solve the mystery of what happened to his missing twin sister Alyssa. Now 23, Johnny lives alone in the isolated and forbidding back country outside of town in Raven County, North Carolina. He stays there in part because he dislikes his “celebrity” status in town from the old murder case, as well as the constant questions along the lines of “What really happened?” and “How are you holding up?” He also wants to avoid his mom, because he knows she looks at him and sees the face of his murdered twin, as well as the face of his dad who died trying to save Alyssa. The wilderness offers him escape, as well as beauty, serenity, and sustenance. Even the portion that is the swamp once occupied by slaves, Hush Arbor, is magical to him, not only figuratively, but literally. But that’s a truth Johnny doesn’t want to share.

When Johnny is in Hush Arbor, he has a supernatural awareness. He can sense movement in the grass, the water, the air, and the activities of all life around him, both seen and unseen. Moreover, he gets healed from any ailment when he is there. He loves the entanglement with nature he experiences in the Hush, and hates leaving at all.

Johnny rarely has visitors, except his best friend Jack Cross, who comes once a month for dinner. For Jack, Johnny had been “more father than Jack’s father, more brother than any brother God had seen fit to give. In every way that mattered, Johnny Merrimon had defined Jack’s childhood.”

Jack is now an attorney, and Johnny asks him to help with the legal battle to save his family’s land. Johnny owns 6,000 acres, and doesn’t want to lose it. A rich New York hedge-fund owner, William Boyd, wants it for trophy hunting. And Johnny faces a legal challenge from a descendant of Isaac Freemantle, the first freed slave in Raven County. Johnny’s ancestor had freed Isaac and given him all 6,000 acres. No one understands why that transaction took place. In addition, the deed stipulated that the land would go back to the Merrimon family when and if the last male Freemantle died. That happened ten years earlier, and the land went to Johnny. But now a female descendant, Luana Freemantle, is challenging the transfer.

Jack has only been in practice a short time, and in any event, does bankruptcy law. He asks an appellate attorney in his firm, Leslie Green, if she would take the case pro bono, since Johnny is out of money. She agrees to look into it, in part because she is one of the celebrity gawkers when it comes to Johnny. She tells Johnny that Luana could indeed have a case - not because of an error of law, but on the grounds of public policy, equity, and gender inequality.

Meanwhile, William Boyd also asks for Leslie’s help, and he is offering her twice her yearly salary as well as his fund’s hugely profitable business for her firm. He claims he only wants the land because “hunting is my passion.” But Boyd’s grandfather was born in Raven County, and Boyd is desperate for the land for reasons he won’t say.

Luana wants to sell the land for complex reasons, but her daughter Cree wants the land to keep it. Freemantle relatives also get involved in the struggle. As Johnny and Cree learn the secrets of the Hush through their dreams, the danger increases to all who are trying to interfere with the fate of this magical space.

Evaluation: There is an element of magic in this book that might put off some readers, but Hart handles it with dexterity. Rather than seeming like a “paranormal” story, Hart uses the magic to expose the history of slavery in the area, as well as a way to reveal the complex nature of temptation and greed. Through it all, the bonds of friendship and family moor the story to reality, and the mystery of what is happening adds tension and interest. ( )

The Hush by John Hart is a highly recommended thriller. It is also a sequel to 2009's The Last Child, although it can be read as a stand-alone novel.

Johnny Merrimon and Jack Cross are back. It's been ten years since the events from The Last Child (Johnny became a national celebrity after capturing the man responsible for murdering his sister Alyssa and their father). Johnny, now 23, is living a solitary life on the six thousand acres called Hush Arbor in North Carolina. He struggles to keep his life private, despite the fact that a book has been written about what happened when he was thirteen. Jack is now an attorney and has returned to Raven County to practice law. He and Johnny still have an unbreakable bond and connection to each other.

Johnny has been fighting a legal battle to keep the land that he inherited five years ago. Cree Freemantle, a young woman who also has a claim to the land, is challenging him legally for ownership of the property. Johnny won the initial suit, but the case has now reached the appellate court. Johnny is land rich, but cash poor and he needs Jack to help him fight the legal battle for the property. Jack wants to help Johnny, and tries to arrange a more qualified attorney on a pro bono basis to handle the appeal. But he also senses an unseen menace and feels like there is something dark and sinister living in Hush Arbor. He also questions Johnny's ability to heal so quickly.

There is no doubt that Hart has written a very compelling novel in The Hush. The quality of the writing is excellent. The setting is described picture-perfect, creating an atmospheric setting for what soon heads down the path of magic realism and a supernatural presence. It does start out rather slow, but soon events take off, violently. There is some shifting back and forth in time in the narrative as characters connect to others who lived in the past. "There is no normal in the Hush. There is only story and magic."

I haven't read The Last Child, although I'd like to after reading The Hush. While it is true that this novel can be enjoyed without reading the previous novel, in some ways I feel like I would have enjoyed The Last Child more than The Hush. Once the novel headed down the magic supernatural dark forces path along with the tie-in to events that happened in the 1850's, I began to question why I was reading it. Still, it is a satisfying story and well written, which matters a great deal to me. I didn't particularly like the ending, but it does bring the story to a conclusion. 3.5

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/02/the-hush.html ( )

Johnny and Jack have been best friends forever and have been through more than most friends. Check out The Last Child for more information about their past. Johnny has chosen to be a hermit and live on his land called Hush Arbor. Strange things occur on Hush Arbor. These strange things land Johnny in a mess of trouble.

Well….this is different! Really different! I think this book is classified wrong. It is classified as general fiction. I think it is more thriller/horror/fantasy. It really could fall into all those categories. I have been a fan of John Hart for a very long time. He took a chance with this book. But, it does show a unique, creative side of his mind. And I am thoroughly impressed!

The story may be strange and out of my genre but it was so compelling I could not stop reading. I fell for Johnny during The Last Child. He is a character which begs to be saved. Jack tries so hard to be there for him through thick and thin. There are some things Jack just cannot save him from.

The characters, the story, the mystery, all of these come together to create a page turner, an edge of your seat read….all the cliches fit this book! If done properly, this book would make a great movie!

I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review. ( )

Johnny Merrimon has a problem. Someone is trying to take away his land. It’s not just any plot—-actually thousands of acres of pristine North Carolina forest and swamp land—but rather has magical properties (as does Johnny) and has been in his family for many generations. But, someone else has laid claim. A quirk in the deed that just might transfer the property to a previously unknown sole descendent of the family Johnny’s ancestor had allowed to take possession until no descendant remained alive. But is this the true sole survivor? Who else has a horse in the race? And why? The law in murky even to his old friend attorney Jack Cross. Lines are drawn. Deadly lines. This story has many twists and turns, wonderful characters, a definite supernatural feel, and is superbly written.

DP Lyle, award-winning author, lecturer, and story consultant. ( )