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WORK TITLE: Last Girl Gone: A Laura Chambers Mystery
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://jghetherton.com/
CITY: Durham
STATE: NC
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: two daughters.
EDUCATION:Graduated from Northwestern University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Novelist.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
J.G. Hetherton’s debut novel Last Girl Gone: A Laura Chambers Mystery introduces his sleuth, disgraced reporter Laura Chambers. Laura had won a prestigious position at the Boston Globe when a mistake resulted in her dismissal. She was forced to return in disgrace to her small North Carolina home town and move in with her manipulative mother. Laura finds a position contributing occasional articles to the local paper and hopes for a chance to rebuild her career. Her big break seems to appear when a little local girl, Olive Hanson, disappears and then is discovered dead in a local field. Another little girl, Teresa Mitchem, has also disappeared but her body (if she is in fact dead) has yet to be discovered. “Laura’s convinced she knows where the killer and the missing girl are,” stated a Lesa’s Book Critiques reviewer. “While she isn’t responsible for the resulting tragedy, she’ll never forget what happens. And, then another girl disappears.”
When Laura pushes the investigation further her boyfriend, a deputy sheriff, is murdered in a remote log cabin. Laura “finds herself in a perilous situation and all hell breaks loose,” declared Nancy Carty Lepri in the New York Journal of Books. “This diabolical debut thriller offers more twists than winding country road and is sure to keep the reader on tenterhooks. Past secrets and evil are unlocked bringing home a chilling and unexpected conclusion. J.G. Hetherton is an author to watch.”
Critics enjoyed the tension and the plot of Hetherton’s debut, but they also highlighted the character of Laura herself as one of the novel’s outstanding features. Laura’s willingness to use people—including her boyfriend and her psychiatrist–to further her career may make her unattractive, but at the same time it makes her realistic. “Hetherton,” said a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “delivers a realistic look at contemporary newsroom culture that bodes well for future installments.” But Laura, critics continued, is not wholly unappealing. “She is … conflicted by the competing desires to get the scoop (and therefore the byline),” explained John Valeri in a review on the website Criminalelement.com, “and to see justice done for those who have died—and those who are still among missing.” “Simply stated, J.G. Hetherton has written a damn fine thriller,” concluded Valeri. “Beyond character, cultural resonance, and a propulsive premise, he unleashes twists and turns with the finesse of a pro and profers an ending that’s equal parts surprising and superlative. If Last Girl Gone is any indication, there are exceedingly great things to come.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, April 30, 2018, review of Last Girl Gone: A Laura Chambers Mystery, p. 39.
ONLINE
Criminalelement.com, https://www.criminalelement.com/ (June 13, 2018), John Valeri, review of Last Girl Gone.
J.G. Hetherton website, http://jghetherton.com (August 29, 2018), author profile.
Lesa’s Book Critiques, https://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/ (June 12, 2018), review of Last Girl Gone.
New York Journal of Books, https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/ (August 29, 2018), Nancy Carty Lepri, review of Last Girl Gone.
J. G. Hetherton was raised in rural Wisconsin, graduated from Northwestern University, and lived in Chicago for the better part of a decade. Along the way to his first novel, he dabbled in many different day jobs before moving to North Carolina for a girl. They live in Durham, North Carolina with their twin daughters, and when he’s not writing, you can find him on the hiking trail or sitting down with a good book.
J.G. Hetherton was raised in rural Wisconsin, graduated from Northwestern University, and lived in Chicago for the better part of a decade. Along the way to his first novel, he dabbled in many different day jobs before moving to North Carolina for a girl. They live in Durham, North Carolina with their twin daughters, and when he’s not writing, you can find him on the hiking trail or sitting down with a good book.
Last Girl Gone: A Laura Chambers Mystery
Publishers Weekly. 265.18 (Apr. 30, 2018): p39+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Last Girl Gone: A Laura Chambers Mystery
J.G. Hetherton. Crooked Lane, $26.99 (320p)
ISBN 978-1-68331-617-6
The journalism career of Laura Chambers, the star of Hetherton's promising debut and series launch, was off to a good start when she landed at the Boston Globe. But then an exclusive story blew up, and she was spectacularly fired. Now she's back home in Hillsborough, N.C., where she writes "small-town" stories for the Hillsborough Gazette, wonders if her career will ever rebound, and lives with her toxic mother in the farmhouse where she was raised. Laura's coverage of a 10-yearold girl's murder is the kind of story she can turn into national news, especially when a second girl, who may be a victim of the same killer, goes missing. Although that story gets hijacked by fellow reporter Colin Smythe, Laura proves her mettle to FBI special agent Tim Timinski, who refers her to unsolved cases from 30 years earlier also involving missing girls. Laura's work with now-retired sheriff Donald Rodgers gives the plot heft and illustrates how sharp investigators span generations. Despite the occasional cliche, Hetherton delivers a realistic look at contemporary newsroom culture that bodes well for future installments. Agent: Alice Martell, Martell Agency. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Last Girl Gone: A Laura Chambers Mystery." Publishers Weekly, 30 Apr. 2018, p. 39+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A537852240/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d39b35a6. Accessed 27 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A537852240
Review: Last Girl Gone by J. G. Hetherton
By John Valeri
June 13, 2018
Last Girl Gone
J. G. Hetherton
Laura Chambers Mystery Series
June 12, 2018
Last Girl Gone by J. G. Hetherton is a pulse-pounding series debut and the next obsession for fans of Julia Keller, David Bell, and readers of unflinching thrillers.
J. G. Hetherton was raised in rural Wisconsin, graduated from Northwestern University, and spent nearly a decade in Chicago before moving to North Carolina in pursuit of a girl; they now make their home there with twin daughters. Hetherton dabbled in many different day jobs before answering the call of the unwritten novel, and he often spends his leisure time hiking or in the company of a good book. Last Girl Gone is his debut.
Investigative journalist Laura Chambers’s star was on the rise at the Boston Globe before a source burned her, resulting in a very public firing—and worse, necessitating her return home to Hillsborough, North Carolina. There, she writes puff pieces for the Hillsborough Gazette and pretends to ignore the town’s critical eye. She also lives with her overbearing mother, who believes her husband’s death was an act of abandonment and never wastes an opportunity to incite an argument with her daughter. It’s a welcome-if-woeful distraction, then, when a local girl who’d gone missing turns up dead, the victim of a homicide, and Laura sees the opportunity to redeem herself by recapturing the glory of front-page news.
But her editor, Bass Herman, isn’t quite sure that she’s the one for the job. Despite recognizing Laura’s talent and ambition—not to mention his own luck in being able to afford a reporter of her caliber—he feels that Colin Smythe might be better suited for the assignment. After all, Smythe has an abundance of local contacts and the ability to get people to speak on the record who might shirk Laura. It’s a valid point, but it’s one that Laura—who has observed Smythe to be an egocentric, sexist hack—refuses to concede. Instead, she convinces Herman to allow her one day to dig up some dirt before he reassigns the story.
Problem is, there’s little to go on. Consequently, Laura has to squeeze her boyfriend, local sheriff’s deputy Frank Stuart, for information—and she isn’t averse to sneaking a look at his notebook when he fails to give up the goods (assuming there are any). After staking out the crime scene with her photographer—17-year-old Leon Botton, who usually snaps pics of school sports—she recognizes an outsider in their midst. Some savvy sleuthing soon turns up his identity: FBI Agent Timinski. Timinski eventually agrees to be an unnamed source in law enforcement or a source close to the investigation; he can’t comment on an ongoing case, but he does point her attention to the year 1988.
Hesitantly, Laura does her due diligence—and discovers that this isn’t the first time young girls have been abducted and killed in her hometown. This revelation leads her to retired sheriff Donald Rodgers, who was never able to close the case despite countless hours painstakingly tracking down leads and obsessively reviewing files. Having tried to finally put this painful past behind him, he nonetheless allows Laura access to the boxes that still clutter his home—and eventually, to the memories that have haunted him for decades. Though she’s missed her deadline, Laura realizes that she’s uncovered a much bigger story than she could ever have imagined. More than that, she’s about to become a part of it.
Already beyond the bounds of dispassionate reporter, Laura is further drawn into the case when she receives a cryptic phone call from the perpetrator. This is but the beginning of a Zodiac-like communication pattern meant to taunt and tantalize; indeed, the UNSUB starts sending riddles (and far worse) that contain clues to his/her whereabouts. But with the promise of discovery comes the peril of death. And while some play a dangerous game for the glory of winning, others frustratingly fail to act at all. It’s a series of events that ratchets up the tension (and the repercussions) while motivating Laura to put far more on the line than her (admittedly sullied) reputation.
Laura’s homecoming is made all the more harrowing by virtue of her tenuous liaisons, and its these associations that further propel the narrative: her mother, who plays the perpetual victim; her boyfriend, who suspects their relationship is a ruse; Timinski, who may be using her as a mouthpiece for his own agenda; Smythe, who could be a catalyst for the #MeToo movement. Additionally, she has a therapist, Dr. Jasmine DeVane, to help her work through these entanglements—though even this dynamic becomes muddled when Laura invites her to consult on the investigation. She is further conflicted by the competing desires to get the scoop (and therefore the byline) and to see justice done for those who have died—and those who are still among missing. It’s these complexities, and the underlying motives, that give Laura her depth and drive.
Simply stated, J. G. Hetherton has written a damn fine thriller. Beyond character, cultural resonance, and a propulsive premise, he unleashes twists and turns with the finesse of a pro and profers an ending that’s equal parts surprising and superlative. If Last Girl Gone is any indication, there are exceedingly great things to come.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Last Girl Gone by J. G. Hetherton
When FBI special agent Timinski refers to Laura Chambers as tenacious but naive, he hits the nail on the head. In his debut mystery, Last Girl Gone, author J.G. Hetherton introduces a gutsy investigative reporter, Laura Chambers. She reminds me of James Ziskin's Ellie Stone.
Everyone in Chambers' hometown of Hillsborough, North Carolina knows she lost her job at a Boston paper and slunk home. She had been determined to get out of town as soon as possible. Now, she's back living with her verbally abusive mother who makes no secret she doesn't approve of her daughter, her job, or her lifestyle. Laura has to fight for every inch of space at the newspaper, competing with the mayor's son. When two ten-year-old girls go missing in Hillsborough, one body is found. Laura's sleeping with her source for her articles, Deputy Frank Stuart. And, the only one willing to listen to Laura is someone who is being paid, her therapist.
Chambers is lonely, and she knows she's the butt of jokes. But, she's determined to be in on "the missing white girl story" if it breaks state or nationwide. It's the FBI agent, Timinski, who sends her in the right direction, to the retired sheriff and the accounts of ten-year-old girls who went missing thirty years earlier. Laura's convinced she knows where the killer and the missing girl are. While she isn't responsible for the resulting tragedy, she'll never forget what happens. And, then another girl disappears.
Hetherton's Laura Chambers isn't necessarily a likable investigator. But, it's hard not to root for her. As a result of her upbringing, she's desperate for success. And Timinski pushes her to the realization that the people involved are more than a story. They're people.
Last Girl Gone is a compelling story with a shocking climax. Most readers will be as stunned as Laura Chambers, who never saw it coming. This first mystery is an intense, character-driven story. It's going to be fascinating to see how the events of Last Girl Gone change Laura Chambers in future books.
J.G. Hetherton's website is www.jghetherton.com
Last Girl Gone by J.G. Hetherton. Crooked Lane Books, 2018. ISBN 9781683316176 (hardcover), 320p.
Last Girl Gone: A Laura Chambers Mystery
Author(s):
J. G. Hetherton
Release Date:
June 12, 2018
Publisher/Imprint:
Crooked Lane Books
Pages:
320
Buy on Amazon
Reviewed by:
Nancy Carty Lepri
After committing a faux pas that cost her her job as a reporter for the Boston Globe, Laura Chambers is back in her hometown of Hillsborough, North Carolina. She fled many years ago, swearing never to return and is now working for The Hillsborough Gazette, the town paper, where her assignments are mundane.
Craving a front-page byline, Laura fights to win the story of two local girls gone missing. She hopes to prove to her boss and her contentious colleague she is the right person for this feature. Olive Hanson's body is discovered in a soybean field, but the other child, Teresa Mitchem, still needs to be found.
Laura knows she's the best journalist for this assignment, which could put her back on top. She meets with FBI Agent Timinski to compare notes, though she must keep his information off the record. Laura also picks the brain of her therapist, Dr. Jasmine DeVane, looking to get insight into a criminal's mind. DeVane is hesitant to talk with Laura because she is a patient, yet Laura promises not to disclose her source.
Back in 1988, ten-year-old Patty Finch ran away and was never found. Soon after, Susan Gilroy and two other girls disappeared. Receiving a tip about these old cases, Laura talks with now-retired Orange County Deputy Donald Rodgers, the head investigator back then. Going through his files and old newspaper archives, Laura gasps over the old headlines upon seeing the photo of Susan Gilroy who shares an uncanny resemblance to Olive Hanson:
"Gilroy Girl Search Continues:"
"The [front page] picture was Olive Hanson rendered in black and white.
Laura double-checked the caption, confirming that this was indeed Susan Gilroy. Looking at the photograph was like looking at a ghost. Corn-silk blond hair. A narrow face ending in a weak chin. Sad eyes. A face that had seen violence and come to accept it, one that expected every adult was two seconds away from lashing out with a slap or a kick. The face of a little girl who had decided to pursue a strategy of blending into the background, hoping never to be noticed. A child who excelled at remaining invisible."
Could this past event somehow be linked to the present? Has the perpetrator, then known as "The Kid," laid in wait for so long or is this a copycat scenario?
More horror plagues Laura when her lover, Officer Frank Stuart, heads to an abandoned cabin in the mountains on a lead. She follows and nearly misses being shot, though Frank is brutally murdered. At a therapy session, Dr. DeVane urges her to talk about her encounter, but she refuses. Her thoughts are:
"Some hot part of Laura's brain went cold. It had been happening more and more lately, like flipping a safety switch. The terror and fear and anger and shame would swell in her chest and just when there should have been a climax, an explosion, her insides would turn to ice. She felt like a robot, but that didn't bother her. Anything to be free of herself."
Soon known as the town pariah, Laura is obsessed with locating the last little girl. She finds herself in a perilous situation and all hell breaks loose. This diabolical debut thriller offers more twists than winding country road and is sure to keep the reader on tenterhooks. Past secrets and evil are unlocked bringing home a chilling and unexpected conclusion. J. G. Hetherton is an author to watch.
Nancy Carty Lepri is the author of a children’s chapter book, Tiny Angel, and is an illustrator and freelance editor. She has edited more than 20 books for national small publishers in various genres.