The Guilty One

The Guilty One – Lisa Ballantyne

Daniel Hunter is a successful London solicitor who specializes in defending young people accused of crimes. But nothing has prepared him for his newest client: Sebastian Croll, an eleven-year-old boy accused of murdering an eight-year-old neighbor in a London playground. Sebastian is articulate, polite and from a wealthy family, yet something about him is deeply unsettling.

The Guilty One, the debut novel by Lisa Ballantyne, follows Daniel as he prepares Sebastian’s defense and the case moves toward trial at the Old Bailey. As he gets to know the boy and his troubled parents, Daniel finds himself drawn into the case on a personal level, because Sebastian reminds him of himself as a child.

The story alternates between the present and Daniel’s past. As a boy, Daniel was angry, neglected and constantly in trouble, and he was placed with Minnie, a farmer in Cumbria who fostered him and eventually wanted to adopt him. Minnie gave him love and stability, but something happened that caused Daniel to cut her out of his life. Now, Minnie has died, and Daniel must confront the painful secrets of his childhood and his long silence.

Ballantyne combines a tense legal thriller with a moving story about childhood, guilt, forgiveness and the question of whether a child can truly be evil.

Gripping and emotionally powerful, The Guilty One is a compelling read for fans of psychological suspense and courtroom drama. It contains themes of violence involving children, neglect and abuse.