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Synopsis
Wyatt never really thought much about his dad—a hardened criminal, a lifer in a prison somewhere on the other side of the state. But then the economy had to go and tank, and the community had to go and cut the baseball program from Wyatt's high school. And then the coach had to go and show Wyatt a photograph of his dad at sixteen, looking very much like Wyatt himself. Through a series of unfortunate—or perhaps they were fortunate—events, Wyatt meets a crazy-hot girl named Greer with a criminal dad of her own. A criminal dad who is, in fact, in jail with Wyatt's own criminal dad. Greer arranges a meeting, and Wyatt's dad is nothing like the guy he's imagined—he's suave, and smart, and funny, and cool, and—Wyatt's pretty sure—innocent. So Wyatt decides to help him out. A decision that may possibly be the worst he's ever made in his life.
This is another hold-your-breath thriller by the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award nominated Peter Abrahams.
VOYA
Baseball is cut because of the budget, so sixteen-year-old Wyatt, advised by his coach, transfers to a more affluent high school in Silver City. Wyatt, who has had a fight with his out-of-work step-father, is eager to go but his friend, who also moves, takes the vacant spot on the team. Baseball, however, is forgotten when Wyatt discovers that his biological father, Sonny Racine, is serving a life-sentence in nearby Sweetwater Penitentiary for armed robbery. Wyatt's life changes fast when he is drawn into a sexual relationship with sophisticated nineteen-year-old Greer, who has a "reputation," and as he begins to receive calls from a father he had not known until he visited him in prison. Is his father innocent? Some believe so, including Greer. "Same person could arrive at different answers" is an insight that Wyatt learns the hard way as he and Greer begin to investigate the robbery at Millerville with dire results. Wyatt's odyssey takes place in a well-delineated landscape of recession that is affects Wyatt's and Greer's lives. The emphasis on Wyatt's character and his relationships, especially the back-and-forth relationship between Wyatt and Greer, together with questions about innocence, guilt, and justice contribute to a complex story that is a thriller with a dramatic denouement. Wyatt is an engaging, thoughtful teenager who experiences how things can spin out-of-control when one does not know all the answers. This is a very well-written, riveting read for older teens. Reviewer: Hillary Crew