Scott Free

December 23, 2002
Suspense veteran Gilstrap (Even Steven) falls back on one of his familiar themes—young person in peril—for this rousing, if hokey, adventure set in Utah's Wasatch Mountains. Scott O'Toole, the teenage son of celebrity shrink Sherry O'Toole, goes down in a small plane in the snow-covered backcountry while en route to Salt Lake City. As Scott struggles to stay alive, mom and dad—long-divorced—bicker over who's at fault for their son's disappearance. The local authorities, meanwhile, launch only a halfhearted search; the U.S. president is scheduled to stop in later in the week for a special environmental event, and most resources have been sidelined to prepare for the visit. Scott finally straggles up to a remote cabin, only to find it inhabited by a heavily armed, twitchy man named Isaac DeHaven. Pressured by Scott to explain the presence of two dead bodies on the property, Isaac acknowledges he's a professional hitman. Scott conceals his panic and manages to plot his escape and return to safety. But then he gets to thinking: DeHaven's a hit man and the president's coming to town. Gilstrap's plot rolls along with the momentum of an avalanche, culminating in a well-executed finale on the ski slopes. Yet his characters drop some feeble lines ("it's so unfair," observes Scott of his crisis), and Scott seems oddly cool under pressure for a boy of 15. Still, Gilstrap shows once again that he knows how to provoke an armchair adrenaline rush. 5-city author tour.

January 1, 2003
Gilstrap's fourth novel is just as exciting as its predecessors ("Nathan's Run,"1996; "At All Costs," 1998; and "Even Steven," 2000). Sherry O'Toole is a best-selling pop-psychology writer with a messy personal life: her ex-husband has custody of their 16-year-old son, Scott, and she's running out of schemes to shift her boy's allegiance. A ski trip may be her last hope. But the rebellious Scott's plans don't exactly include spending time with Mom. A newfound friend, a pilot, plans to take Scott to a concert, but a snowstorm gets in the way, and they fly into a tree. Now, with his friend dead, Scott is alone, in below-freezing temperatures, with no idea where he is. And his parents, who can barely stand the sight of each other, must join forces to find him. Gilstrap takes a few chances here\emdash especially interesting is his decision to make Sherry so immensely unlikable\emdash and the reader is rewarded with an alone-against-the-elements story that's fresh, suspenseful, and memorable. Gilstrap is one writer who just keeps getting better. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)