Ted lives alone in his childhood home with his cat, Olivia. Abused as a child, he has turned mostly into a recluse in his adult life, going out to get food when necessary and see his therapist so he can get his meds. Ted has blocked out the outside world as much as possible, except for his daughter, Lauren, who visits him from time to time. He boards up all the windows of his house with plywood that just has peepholes drilled into them so he can see in but no one can see out.

"This is a true page-turner. Just when you think you’ve figured out what is really going on, you’ll probably realize you were wrong..."

Dee Dee’s little sister, Laura, disappeared from the lake close to Ted's house when she was just six years old. Dee Dee blames herself, even though it wasn’t really her fault. Ever since her parents died, she has been on a quest to find the individual responsible for kidnapping Laura. After much investigation and sleuthing, she has concluded that Ted is the guilty party and is hiding her inside his house.

THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET is told from the points of view of several different characters, one of whom is Olivia. Yes, even the cat gets to offer her perspective, which is a unique way of telling the story.

This is a true page-turner. Just when you think you’ve figured out what is really going on, you’ll probably realize you were wrong as the plot takes many twists and turns along the way, bringing it to an unexpected conclusion.

While producing a shocking and immersive read, Catriona Ward gives valuable insight into mental illness and DID (dissociative identity disorder), child abductions, guilt when a sibling is taken away, and plenty of other thought-provoking issues. Her novel is intriguing, terrifying and informative, all at the same time.