Jack's Run

by Roland Smith

Overview

Find out what happens when the wrong secrets get out in this high-stakes mystery about a family in hiding.
 
Jack Osborne has spent the last year lying. Living with his family in the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska, everyone called him Zach, and nobody knew his father had been arrested for drug trafficking, all thanks to the Witness Security Program. But that didn’t stop his dad’s ruthless drug czar ex-boss Alonzo Aznar from coming after them—and narrowly missing them.  
 
Now, with his trial date fast approaching, Alonzo’s hunt for Jack’s family intensifies. One slip up, and Alonzo will find them, making sure no Osborne survives to testify against him. Jack has messed up once before, and he won’t do it again. Unfortunately, someone else in the family hasn’t been as careful…
 
Action-packed with kidnapping, escapes, spies, and secrets, this unputdownable mystery thriller is the exciting follow-up to Zach’s Lie.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423104070
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/01/2007
Series:	Zach's Lie , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Roland Smith is a former Zoo Curator and Research Biologist, and a New York Times bestselling author. He has published more than twenty novels for children and young adults, including Peak, Zach’s Lie, and Cryptid Hunters. He and his wife, Marie, who is also an author, live on a small farm near Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

In Zach's Lie (which PW called, "a suspenseful adventure"), readers learned that Zach Granger is really Jack Osborne, living under a pseudonym because his father was put in prison for transporting drugs for a ruthless cartel. In Jack's Run by Roland Smith, Jack and his sister are kidnapped by drug lord Alonzo Aznar's thugs. Can they escape before they are killed? Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 6 Up-In Zach's Lie (Hyperion, 2001), Jack Osborne's father agreed to testify against drug czar Alonzo Aznar. Although the family joined the Witness Security Program, Aznar eventually found them and notified his minions, and Jack narrowly escaped death at their hands. In this thrilling sequel, Smith provides enough background to understand Jack's past and the pressures that he now faces. His older sister, Joanne, has moved to L.A., where she plans to attend college and pursue a musical career. His father, under close watch by the U.S. Marshal Service, is scheduled to testify at the trial. For his own safety, Jack is sent to live with Joanne. When he arrives, he discovers that she has been selected for an American Idol-type show, and that her image has been splashed all over the news media. Aznar's men find and kidnap the siblings and move them to a vineyard in South America. From that point, the author tells the story from dual perspectives: that of Jack and Joanne as they try to escape and that of their parents and their struggle to find their children. The two story lines collide when the Osbornes arrive at the vineyard, posing as dealers. The action is nonstop and the characters are compelling. The fast pace will keep even reluctant readers interested. A highly entertaining read.-Emily Garrett, Naaman Forest High School, Garland, TX Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

After a narrow escape from the drug dealers in whose trial Jack's father will testify (Zach's Lie, 2001), Jack and his family have returned to the dubious safety of the Witness Security Program. They seem safe enough until Jack's painfully stupid sister, Joanne, successfully auditions for the reality television show American SuperStar. When she appears on national television-under a false name, but giving the genuine location of their hidden parents-the gig is up. Agents of drug kingpin Alonzo Aznar promptly kidnap Jack and Joanne and hustle them off to a ranch, an Argentinean hideaway that's a complete reproduction of an Old West town. Jack and Joanne, held to ensure that their father doesn't testify, escape in the muddle of a drug syndicate hootenanny in full Old West style. Meanwhile, their parents rush to the rescue with the help of former janitor and KGB agent Sam. Despite tense, action-packed escapes, the conclusion strains the bounds of credulity. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews