How to Disappear

April 4, 2016
A girl on the run and the boy sent to kill her are on an inevitable collision course in an adrenaline-soaked thriller that veers into melodrama. Sixteen-year-old Nicolette Holland, a popular but rebellious cheerleader, witnesses a gruesome crime in the woods near her Ohio home and runs away. She constantly changes her appearance and her name, and she never stays in one place long. Whereas Nicolette gleans her knowledge of criminal behavior from Law & Order, 18-year-old Jack Manx needs to look no further than his corrupt family: his brother, Don, is incarcerated and their crime boss father is dead. Jack’s hopes of staying clean evaporate when Don forces him to track down and kill Nicolette, whom Don says is a murderer. She’s no easy prey, and he isn’t the best hunter, but when the two finally meet, sparks fly, diluting the tough, independent persona Stampler (Afterparty) had built up for Nicolette. The premise requires more than a little suspension of disbelief, though the teens’ alternating narratives sustain tension throughout. Ages 14–up. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

May 15, 2016
Two teens are set on a collision course with sexy results.Nicolette Holland is on the run. She's changed her name and her hair and fully intends to disappear as fast as possible. Jack Manx, son of a mob big shot, is blackmailed into finding Nicolette and making sure no one else does. The circumstances revolving around Nicolette's importance are a bit blurry: Jack is told she murdered a girl connected to a powerful crime boss, but Nicolette doesn't act like a murderer, and the police aren't on her tail. The story unfolds with alternating chapters switching between Jack's and Nicolette's present-tense accounts, but the different perspectives offer little to the narrative. There are no tense cat-and-mouse sequences here; Jack just finds his mark with little trouble. When the pair cross paths there's a sexual attraction that promises to give emotional texture to the mob drama, but each character is so guarded that little genuine heat arises. Jack and Nicolette are manic in their moods, going from loving to hating and back to loving each other, sometimes within the span of one or two pages. Neither character is particularly engaging: Jack is a stereotypical bad boy with a heart of gold, and the mysterious nature of Nicolette's past crime keeps her at arm's length.It's hard to get invested in a love story when one of the partners is an unknowable black hole. (Thriller. 14-16)

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May 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Jack Manx, son of an infamous Vegas hitman, has always fought against the assumption that he would follow in his father's footsteps. A month before his high school graduation, straight-A student Jack visits his brother in jail and is met with an impossible ultimatum: find and kill a young woman named Nicolette, or watch his mom die. Implausibly, Jack agrees to this, rather than going to the police, and begins researching the young woman who's run away from her home in Ohio. Meanwhile, halfway across the country, a girl named Cat is desperately trying to outrun her past, change her physical appearance, and disappear into anonymity. Jack tracks Cat's movements across the country, but even attentive readers will be mystified by the hazy geography. Most of the events take place in Las Vegas or Ohio, but it isn't always clear what is supposed to be happening where in the time line. Plus, many rushed or missing transitions make comprehension a real challenge. For example, in one scene, Cat is thinking about going to pick up some essential items for life on the run. Suddenly, she is at the Goodwill, picking out dresses without even hinting at a change of scene or action. The plot does, however, pick up speed when the protagonists finally meet. The tension between them is well written, steamy, and fun to read.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 After witnessing a murder and believing her own life is in danger, 16-year-old Nicolette runs away from Ohio, involving herself in a series of identity-changing tactics, including changing her name, backtracking along various interstate bus routes, and gaining weight, all in an effort to disappear from the killer's radar. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Jack, a standup guy from Nevada who hates that he's from a gangster family, is blackmailed by his brother into hunting down Nicolette and taking her out in a contract killing. In alternating chapters that maintain distinct voices and personalities, these two smart and damaged teens separately maneuver their new on-the-run realities, until they end up meeting, falling in love, and joining forces against the threats they face. Rapid pacing and intricate plotting unfold with lots of ready wit, dry humor, and sensitivity, and Stampler's people, places, and cultures are genuine, making relationships and motivations authentic and vivid. This attractive mash-up of suspense, road trip, romance, and psychological drama maintains its energy and credibility right through its emotionally honest and un-fairy-tale-like ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)