Hawks makes his debut in YA literature with a high-caliber thriller, with a plot reminiscent of Cormier's I Am the Cheese in its convoluted intrigues and double-crosses. Patty Meely, 15, is living a routine life in Indiana until one afternoon, in full view of her school, FBI agents surround her father's car and haul Patty and her father off--separately--for questioning. In the breathless nightmare that follows, Patty must come to terms with her father being not only a traitor but an escaped convict who's been running from the law since long before she was born. As Patty's life is transformed, she finds unexpected resources within herself to escape from her foster home when she learns that her father has escaped (again) and to stick with him as he flees across country. Knowing she is now an accomplice, Patty wrestles with her conscience and the question of whether she is willing to spend her life on the run--especially if Dad is recaptured. Fast-moving and thought-provoking.