ALA Booklist (Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

The wicked stepmother motif is altered to wicked stepfather in this contemporary chiller. Cassie, 16, has suffered a year of upheavals: her parents' divorce, her mother's remarriage and new pregnancy, and the discovery that her stepfather's psychiatric practice revolves around an experimental drug that may have led to the suicides of several of his teen patients. Leading off is a horrific scene of Cassie's abduction, masterminded by her stepfather, who planted crystal meth in her room and arranged for her to be taken to a juvenile rehabilitation center. Organization is a strong point here. In the first part, Henry effectively shuttles between Cassie's imprisonment and the discoveries that lead to it. In the second part, Cassie must free herself and obtain evidence to save other teens from the deadly drug--all but impossible tasks in the Dickensian atmosphere of the teen facility. Along with solid plotting and suspense comes a likable heroine who's a good match for the nefarious adults in her life.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

In this fast-paced thriller, fifteen-year-old Cassie discovers her psychiatrist stepfather's connection to the suicides of three teenagers who had tested an experimental drug. To shut her up, he ships her off to a juvenile delinquent center, where she's physically, emotionally, and psychologically battered. Cassie's getaway and her stepfather's downfall smack of implausibility, but adolescent readers used to Hollywood endings won't even blink.

Kirkus Reviews

Almost 16, Cassie hates her new psychiatrist stepfather, Rick, in this over-the-top thriller. Cassie discovers that relentlessly evil Rick has fraudulently given an unproven drug to three teens who subsequently committed suicide. Before she knows it, Rick has her kidnapped and shipped to a school for delinquent kids in Mexico. Cassie's loving but clueless and very pregnant mother agrees with the decision, going along with anything her new husband says. Cassie immediately learns that the school is more like a prison, where the students are beaten and starved. Can Cassie escape, expose Rick's crimes and put an end to the school? Henry writes with a quick-moving, superficial style and often glosses over awkward plot points with quick explanatory paragraphs. He delivers some shocking moments while making no attempt to examine realistic adolescent problems. A potboiler that may appeal to a wide range of young readers and could be useful for reluctant readers. (Fiction. 12-16)

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Cassie Streng, 16, knows that her psychiatrist stepfather, Rick, prescribed an experimental drug for his teenage patients, three of whom have committed suicide. Before she can gather evidence, however, she is grabbed by two men, handcuffed, locked in the back of a van, and taken to Peaceful Cove, a facility for troubled teens in Mexico. Rick has assured her mother that the place is an excellent boarding school-he maintains that he found crystal meth in Cassie's room-but she soon discovers the truth. She is trapped in a brutal prison camp, and she must make her way back to Oregon and convince someone of the danger Rick represents before anyone else dies. While the premise is a bit over the top, Cassie is a strong and sympathetic character who relies on her wits and determination from the very first page. Short chapters that show how she uncovers her stepfather's actions alternate with the story of her journey from Portland to Mexico, a nicely executed technique that keeps the plot moving and readers engaged. While the secondary characters are a little flat and the ending is a bit too neat, Henry packs her first YA novel with the quick action and suspense that will keep even reluctant readers turning the pages.-Beth Gallego, Los Angeles Public Library, North Hollywood Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates

One April day, fifteen-year-old Cassie is accosted on her driveway by two men, thrown into the back of a van, and handcuffed in front of the knowing eyes of her mother, Jackie, and new stepfather, Rick. Rick tells Cassie that finding crystal meth in her room convinced him that a boarding school, Peaceful Cove, will help Cassie straighten herself out. But Cassie never used drugs. During the long drive to destination unknown-ultimately Mexico-Cassie realizes that her malevolent, controlling, psychiatrist stepfather engineered her abduction because of her attempt to expose his complicity in doctoring findings of an experimental antidepressant, which resulted in three teenagers' suicides. Peaceful Cove is really a detention center with barbed wire fences and guards. Little education is going on. Breaking its strict rules can result in dire consequences. Cassie is befriended by Hayley, a sixteen-year-old inmate, and the two plan their escape, a feat never before accomplished. Henry alternates between the events occurring during the three days prior to Cassie's abduction and the present. Initial suspense is short-lived, but the inmates' fear and the guards' intimidation do come through. The events transpire over two months before Cassie successfully escapes. The escape, however, is too quick and easy, and the book's ending is too pat, with Cassie exposing her stepfather and her mother filing for annulment. An easy read, the novel targets middle and high schoolers of both genders, but unfortunately there is no "shock." Libraries should spend their money on a more gripping story.-Ed Goldberg.