The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

Tor Nightfire, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250812629

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook (  Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com  )

The Last House on Needless Street takes as its starting point the abduction of a little girl, Lulu, from the beach, ten years before the events of the present. Lulu’s disappearance was a turning point in the lives of two children at the beach that day: her older sister Dee, and a young man, Ted Bannerman, who was briefly suspected of carrying Lulu off.  Since then, Dee has been obsessed with finding Lulu and the man who abducted her. A photograph from a news article about the search for Lulu sends Dee in Ted’s direction, and she moves into the house next door to observe him and look for evidence of Lulu.

The book alternates between a variety of first person narrators, and the reader will soon pick up that none of them are reliable. Tragic, violent, and terrible things happen but it’s not clear to whom or when. Characters are not who they seem to be and their actions and thoughts are often scrambled or inexplicable. Ward has constructed an intricate, layered, maze of a book with tragedy, horrific abuse, and trauma at its core.

Mental illness is often demonized in the media and especially in horror fiction and Ward avoids that, writing with compassion and respect. Her author’s note indicates that she did detailed research before writing the book. While it’s possible to read through this quickly, it deserves the time it takes for the reader to process. It will stick with you long after you are done. Highly recommended.

Contains: emotional and physical abuse, child abuse, suicide. violence.