Review by Booklist Review
Central Valley High's new government teacher and assistant baseball coach, Chris Brennan, is looking for a boy that fits his precise criteria: a little lost and open to a malevolent scheme. He has a truck and a bunch of fertilizer but needs the perfect accomplice as the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing approaches. But he is on shaky ground one of his fellow teachers just happens to be from his hometown and threatens to blow his cover in a gust of friendly gestures. More importantly, the moms of Chris' three top prospects all have family dramas that distract Chris from his goal. Heather, mom of a talented player, is broke and desperate to make ends meet. Insecure Mindy suspects her husband of using their son's money to hide an affair. Susan's dead husband looms large in the background as she struggles with a troubled older son, while her younger son is clearly in over his head. Scottoline keeps the pace relentless as she drops a looming threat into the heart of an idyllic suburban community, causing readers to hold their breath in anticipation. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Scottoline's latest promises plot twists that will keep readers flipping pages.--Howerton, Erin Downey Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
ATF agent Curt Abbott goes undercover as high school baseball coach Chris Brennan in this entertaining thriller from bestseller Scottoline (Most Wanted). He targets three teenage boys in his investigation of a domestic terrorism plot: wealthy, spoiled Evan Kostis; troubled Raz Sematov, struggling to cope with his father's recent death; and thoughtful, diligent Jordan Larkin, raised by a single mother. As his supervisors threaten to derail the case, loner Curt wonders whether he could have a future with Jordan's mom, Heather, for whom he has unexpectedly developed feelings, if she knew his true identity. Scottoline shifts focus among Curt and each of the boys' mothers, who represent a cross-section of suburban Central Valley, Pa. This fast-paced read culminates in a daring chase that would play well on the big screen, and readers may anticipate the outcome of Curt's budding romance with Heather as eagerly as they do the resolution of the terror plot. 400,000-copy announced first printing; author tour. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Having stabbed a man to death, a seemingly damaged, deranged Chris Brennan plans to attack a small Pennsylvania town. Or will he? This loner certainly is a liar: he lies about his name, his background, and his experience to gain a teaching and coaching position at a high school where he urgently pursues a teenage boy to assist him with his scheme. Chris succeeds in finding a ten-foot box truck that can hold 50 bags of fertilizer, enough to cause deadly destruction. After putting readers on edge with the development of this unlikable character as a would-be domestic terrorist, Scottoline (Most Wanted; Every Fifteen Minutes) slams the plot into reverse at midpoint and accelerates at full speed. Throw in sexting, cheating, drinking, and grieving to draw in the other protagonists, including teachers, three mothers, and their teenage sons. VERDICT This stand-alone suspense novel is not to be missed by Scottoline's fans as well as other readers who relish fast-paced thrillers by Linda Fairstein and John Grisham. [See Prepub Alert, 10/24/16.]-Wendy W. Paige, Shelby Cty. P.L., Morristown, IN © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Readers meet Chris Brennan just in time for his job interview at Central Valley High School, where he hopes to teach government, economics, and criminal justice and serve as the assistant varsity baseball coach. The second sentence of the novel makes it clear that he is a fraud, but Scottoline doesn't expand. After obtaining the job, Chris gets to know his students, particularly the baseball players, and readers discover that he has a criminal act in mind. Teens are introduced to some of the players on the baseball team and find out a bit about their family lives, but it's not until a third of the way through the narrative that they learn who Chris really is. Something big is stirring in this small town in Pennsylvania, and a plot with nationwide consequences could create an uproar in the lives of the baseball players and their families. As Scottoline tracks the progress of the investigation step-by-step, readers will be drawn into this exciting and absorbing page-turner. VERDICT Recommend this fast-paced read to teens who enjoy tales of espionage and action.-Marlyn K. Beebe, Los Alamitos, CA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The chronicler of Philadelphia law firm Rosato DiNunzio (Damaged, 2016, etc.) heads out to the suburbs to insert a fraudulent teacher into the staff of Central Valley High School.If you were looking for a midyear replacement for a departing government teacher, you could hardly do better than Chris Brennan. He's clearly prepared to cover the courses in government and criminal justice; he's bright, attractive, and personable; he bonds instantly and effectively with students; and he can even serve as assistant coach of the school's faltering baseball team. Chris is clearly too good to be true, an observation it never occurs to his new colleagues to take seriously. Only Abe Yomes, the gay African-American language-arts teacher, poses any threat, not because he sees through Chris but because he actually grew up in Wyoming, where Chris is pretending to be from. Soon enough, however, Mr. Y is dead, an apparent suicide, and Chris is ready to go ahead with his plan, which requires him to befriend a lonely, vulnerable boypreferably somebody both in his class and on the baseball teamseparate him from his cohort, and turn him into a patsy for a scheme that involves a rented truck and a mountain of ammonium chloride fertilizer. To say more would undermine several whopping surprises Scottoline has in store, but readers can be assured that the author nails the high school milieu, from athletic rivalries to sexting, and that even if they spot every twist coming from a mile away, they're still in for one thrilling ride on the roller coaster. A bonus is some strategic leavening via Scottoline's journalistic aphorisms, as when one of the students' mothers imagines a romance with the imposter hero: "She knew that it was an inappropriate fantasy, but no fantasy worth having was appropriate." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
