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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Gilstrap, J. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | GIL | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A remarkable debut novel that has already been bought for film by the producers of Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, this electrifying story tells of a 12-year-old boy accused of murder, who becomes the object of a nationwide manhunt and the target of a professional killer.
Author Notes
John Gilstrap is the acclaimed author of Nathan's Run and AT All Costs, both of which were selections of the Literary Guild. A former firefighter and EMT, he is an explosives-safety expert and an environmental engineer. He lives with his wife and son in Virginia.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
YAIf John Grisham and Charles Dickens were to collaborate, this book could be the result, for The Client and Oliver Twist both come to mind when reading Gilstrap's first novel. It's a page-turner with a star-crossed, brave young hero. Nathan, a 12-year-old orphan, is locked up in a juvenile-detention center after stealing a car belonging to his no-good guardian. The boy escapes after killing a guard in self defense, and eludes police with a combination of limited street smarts and dumb luck. While holed up in a vacant house, he tunes into a call-in radio show on which he is the topic of discussion. After hearing a number of adults condemn his behavior, he calls the show and tells his side of the story. YAs will appreciate the courage Nathan shows in confronting his accusers, explaining the circumstances of his actions and convincing many listeners that he is not a killer. The authorities consider Nathan a cop killer and he must keep moving, unaware that a hit man is also on his trail. One officer investigates Nathan's side of the story. It's a race between the good cop and the contract killer to see who finds the boy first. Readers are left to ponder his ultimate fate. A riveting read.Nancy Karst, Fairfax County Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A preteen locked in a juvenile detention facility for car theft kills a supervisor, breaks out, and leads the police on a chase from Virginia to Pennsylvania. At least that's what it looks like--though actually Nathan Bailey is as innocent as the next 12-year-old. He stole the car only to get away from his uncle Mark, the hated guardian who's secretly after his inheritance; he killed the supervisor only in self-defense; and he's being pursued not only by the red-faced police but by a contract killer as well. Nathan doesn't know about the contract killer, but he blurts out the rest of his story at the first opportunity to Denise Carpenter, the self- styled ``Bitch'' of NewsTalk 990, during her phone-in radio program, and the audience, cueing the gentle reader, goes bananas (eventually, calls run 3 to 1 in his support). Gone to ground in a vacationing family's home, the slight, blond, resourceful Nathan--an obvious role model for most of the 12-year-olds you know--sweeps up the glass he broke getting in, washes the linens, and leaves an apologetic note for the surprised homeowners. (A second note to a different family remarks in passing that he's taken their handgun.) Meanwhile, county cop Warren Michaels and his good-cop friends sweat to bring Nathan in before damn-the- First-Amendment county prosecutor J. Daniel Petrelli or well- connected hit-man Lyle Pointer can pin down his location and blow him away. First-timer Gilstrap doesn't clutter this scenario with any unnecessary physical descriptions, psychological background, or moral complexity; like a roller-coaster, the story races along on well-oiled wheels to an utterly predictable but undeniably pulse-pounding conclusion. The Fugitive with Oliver Twist in the title role--and a surefire summer read for the family-values crime buffs who lapped up The Client. (First printing of 100,000; film rights to Steifel Phillips Productions and Joel Silver; Literary Guild Alternate; $175,000 ad/promo; author tour)
Booklist Review
Nathan Bailey's life is a Dickensian tragedy updated for the 1990s. At age 11, his father dies in a car accident, leaving him orphaned and at the mercy of abusive, alcoholic, ne'er-do-well Uncle Mark. To escape further beatings, Nathan steals Mark's car and is sentenced to a juvenile-detention center, where he is promptly gang-raped. When a drunken guard attempts to kill him, Nathan manages to kill the guard and escape. Stealing cars and hiding in the suburban homes of vacationing families, Nathan learns that he's the talk of talk radio, and as the boy hunt escalates, he begins an on-the-air dialogue with The Bitch, a nationally syndicated talk-show star. The body count rises as a sadistic hitman also stalks Nathan, and only The Bitch and a local cop believe that Nathan may be a victim instead of a stone killer. This novel isn't literature, and the author isn't a new Dickens. Nathan seems too sweet and polite to be a believable 12-year-old, especially one so brutalized. Other characters, notably the callous juvey warden and the DA who thinks the death penalty for Nathan is his ticket to the U.S. Senate, are the flimsiest of cardboard constructions. That said, the book has an engaging, plucky hero and a breakneck pace, and it is likely to become both a smash best-seller and a big-budget film. Libraries should prepare for a Grisham-like run on Nathan's Run. (Reviewed December 15, 1995)0060173858Thomas Gaughan
Library Journal Review
"We think he's another John Grisham," advises the publicist, and plenty of folks seem to agree: film rights have already been sold, and 13 countries lined up for foreign rights. Not bad for a first novel. Gilstrap draws on his experience as a volunteer worker with troubled children to craft the story of a 12-year-old on the run from a juvenile detention center, where he supposedly killed a guard. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.