Only Child
By
Patricia Wallace
1985
Zebra
Paperback,
332 pages
This is
another is Zebra’s never-ending line of scary brat books. I usually resist the
urge to buy these, knowing they never truly satisfy me but for a few bucks at
Savers, I figured what the fuck.
A small
plane crashes in Southern California and the only survivor is a young girl who
seems almost too perfect to be true. The townspeople all fawn over her because
of her plight and her blondeness. It seems that she has amnesia about
everything except her first name: Hannah. She’s taken in by the local priest
and shit starts going down around town… fires, disappearances and medical
maladies begin to stack up. Could it be… young Hannah who is behind these
horrors?
Only Child doesn’t pull any punches and
as soon as you see the cover, you pretty much know what you’re in for, but it’s
not a bad book at all. Wallace makes it super easy to read, with frequent
breaks between scenes, a good sense of humor, and enough zest to keep the pages
turning. She doesn’t over-write at all, which is a godsend in a book like this.
Easy peasy. She churned out a dozen of these books for Zebra and they’re all
very readable even if they’re not great. While this one isn’t particularly memorable,
it’s an OK way to spend a few nights, reading about other peoples’ creepy
children.
This review originally appeared in Midnight Magazine #8, July 2021.
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