The Price of an Orphan [Hardcover]

Patricia Carlon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

Nine-year-old Johnnie, an orphan from the city, has recently been placed with Stuart and Kay Heath, who live in the Australian outback on Quidong Station, a cattle ranch they run for its wealthy owner. But Johnnie is not quite the foster child they had in mind; in Kay's opinion 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. Finally, he admits he was lying. Johnnie is about to be sent back to the orphanage when he 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?

Editorial Reviews

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.

From Booklist

Readers who shared in the discovery of Carlon's outstanding Crime of Silence , first published in the U.S. many years after its debut in Australia, will be thrilled to find another jewel here. Also published in the 1960s in Australia, this one shares with Crime of Silence an original, highly creative plot and a cast of utterly compelling characters. The action centers on Johnnie, an obnoxious and miserable nine-year-old child who comes to live with Kay and Stuart Heath on a cattle ranch in the Australian outback. When Johnnie witnesses a murder, he can't get anyone to believe him, but the murderer isn't taking any chances. Soon the boy must try to outwit a devious killer before he becomes the next victim. Carlon is a major talent who deserves a much wider audience. Jenny McLarin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Soho Press (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569471738
• ISBN-13: 978-1569471739
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,092,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth the Price...., January 10, 2001

By 

"rontuft" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Price of an Orphan (Paperback)

This book would have made a fine short story. For the first 16 pages -the suspense is breathtaking. Then the story becomes sodden with unbelievable actions and motives. The characaters are not well-formed. It goes downhill in a bucket as the action becomes repetitive and confusing. I closed the book at page 113. I snuck a look at the last page, p.190, but did not find resolution.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Carlon's plots are getting more and more implausible, October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Price of an Orphan (Hardcover)

I have read all of Carlon's recently published books in the U.S. They are over 30 years old and the first 2 or 3 were refreshing, but the last two including this one left me cold. In both of them the implausiblily of essential elements of the plots spoiled the book for me, although Carlon is an excellent writer. In Orphan, we have a 9 year old with the analyical mind of a 35 year old with an IQ of 150. His ability to think through events and likely scenarios is incredible, to say the

least. In addition to this wunderkind, we have a couple of events that absolutely are so unbe- lievable that they take your breath away. Without giving the plot away, a phone call made by a stranger regarding a sleeping pill and his subsequent actions, are mind boggling in the cir- cumstances. NO ONE WOULD EVER HAVE DONE WHAT HE DID in the circumstances, but it is essential to the plot. Another phone call made by a gas station owner is almost as unbelievable, and is also important to the plot. And then the resolution of the novel is left wide open. I read the last 5 pages 3 or 4 times to be sure that I didn't miss it, and still the fate of the culprit is unclear to the reader. A lousy way to end a thril

4.0 out of 5 stars Suspense in book form!, April 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Price of an Orphan (Hardcover)

In "The Price of an Orphan" Patricia Carlson combines traditional detective fiction and spine-tingling suspense in one quick read of a novel. Johnnie, a nine year old orphan of criminal parentage is sent to live with a childless couple on a cattle station in Australia. Seen as a lazy, stubborn boy with a penchant for lying, his foster parents and the surrounding community naturally do not believe him when he claims to have witnessed a murder. Unfortunately for Johnnie, he did witness the murder, and the murderer knows he was there. The latter two-thirds of the novel consist of Johnnie and his foster mother, Kay, struggling to escape a cunning trap set by the murderer in the wild, harsh outback. Telling the rest of the tale would give away the suspense, thus the best part of the story, however, rest assured that the reader is in for an exciting ride.
To create this twisting, suspenseful story, Carlton incorporates ideas that are traditionally not found in detective fiction. One is her lack of a main "detective". It takes a community to solve this puzzling mystery. Carlton also utilizes psychology in two ways. One is obviously in the use of psychological suspense for the reader. The other is a study in the cruelty and self-absorption that can be created within the mind of an individual under duress.
Finally, Carlton's setting the mystery in Australia underlines the country's past that is rooted in criminality and escape from identity. When Australia was still a penal colony of England, many criminals were sent there in order to "start over" (i.e. away from the law-abiding citizens of England). Many others escaped to Australia to reinvent themselves away from all who knew them. These aspects of criminality are utilized in Carlton's novel concerning both Johnnie (the communities lack of belief in his stories due to his criminal parentage) and the main villain. This novel is quite the interesting combination of detecting and psychology...a quick, wonderful book!