JACK’S RUN

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)