ALA Booklist

When 13-year-old Jack Osborne's father is arrested for drug trafficking, Jack, his older sister Joanne, and their mother are forced to flee their comfortable home and take on new identities through the Witness Relocation Program. In tiny Elko, Nevada, the teens try to get comfortable as Zach and Wanda Granger. Wanda settles in easily, but Zach doesn't quite get the hang of being someone else and has problems with the constant lying he must do to maintain their story. Life improves for Zach as he gains a girlfriend in beautiful Catalin and a father substitute in the unusual, wonderfully paternal school custodian. But when the school bully steals Zach's diary, the deception begins to fall apart. Although the fast-moving plot is almost too straightforward, Zach's well-depicted emotional turmoil about his once-beloved father lends depth. Short sentences and a fast-moving plot will make this title appealing to reluctant readers.

Horn Book

After his father is arrested for drug trafficking, an eighth grader and his family are placed in a witness-protection program and relocated to rural Nevada. Zach's secret-filled journal falls into the hands of an adversarial classmate at the same time drug runners arrive seeking vengeance against the family. Though fast-paced, the book contains several last-minute plot twists that severely strain belief.

Kirkus Reviews

<p>The life Jack Osborne knew has just ended. One night the seventh-grader wakes up to find masked men ransacking his house; the next thing he knows, his father has been arrested for drug trafficking. When the accusations against his dad prove true, Jack, his sister Joanne, and his mother enter the FBI's witness protection program. They must leave everything behind and relocate to a small town in Nevada under an assumed identity. Each member of the family deals with this monumental upheaval in a different way. Jack's mother maintains calm composure, while 16-year-old Joanne sees the experience as an opportunity to hone her acting skills. Only Jack, who becomes Zach in his new life, has difficulty adjusting. The contrast between his wealthy former life and the tiny town they are hiding in is stark. He misses his friends, his school, and, above all, his father. Along with this story line, the author includes two interesting subplots. One involves the drug cartel his father was involved in: they have found the family and are preparing to have them killed to prevent Neil's testimony. A second, more richly drawn layer is the inclusion of a large community of Basque people who live nearby in the mountains, continuing their old-fashioned life as shepherds. Jack/Zach makes connections with them and they play a large part in the conclusion of the novel. An explosive but believable ending leaves a few loose ends, but feels satisfying. Jack/Zach is a complex character, struggling with all kinds of emotions about his new life circumstances while also trying to be a normal teenager. An intriguing idea, well-written, with many heart-stopping moments, this should appeal to a wide variety of readers. (Fiction. 12-14)</p>

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Zach Granger has to tell many lies; for one, his name is really Jack Osborne, and for another his parents aren't divorced—rather, his father, a pilot, is in prison for transporting drugs for a ruthless cartel. When his father agrees to cooperate with the DEA, his family goes into a witness protection program, with new names and a new home in Elko, Nev. Will they be safe from the cartel? Smith (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Thunder Cave; <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Jaguar) paints a realistic picture of Zach's complicated emotions: he misses his father and his old life, he's nervous about making a mistake and he is uncomfortable lying, especially to his new girlfriend, Catalin. He also takes to his new surroundings, especially Catalin's grandfather's sheep camp in the mountains, and the friendly hotel that's home to Sam, the warm and wise custodian of Zach's school. Smith keeps the tensions high: readers will suspect right away that the detailed journals Zach keeps are going to lead to trouble, and will understand the hero's anxiety when lines from it begin to appear on his classroom's chalkboard. Drug lord Alonzo Aznar is a stereotypical bad guy (he has a ponytail, dresses all in black and "likes getting his hands dirty from time to time") and Sam's confession that he is a former KGB spy feels too convenient. But these are small caveats; readers are sure to be caught up in Zach's suspenseful adventure. Ages 10-14. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(June)

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9-In this contemporary suspense novel, Jack's father, a pilot, has been arrested for drug trafficking. When the cartel thugs come to their house to terrorize the teen, his mother, and his sister, they become candidates for the Witness Security Program and must change their identities. Although the family is told not to bring anything to Nevada that would link them to their former lives, Jack, now Zach, cannot leave his diary behind. With the villains searching for them, there can be no slipups, but the young protagonist soon learns that, in the small town of Elko, "Everyone knows Everything about Everybody." The diary and Zach's vulnerability are well-developed devices, but the plot soon becomes compromised by some unbelievable twists and turns. Zach is befriended by the school custodian, Sam, who acts as the principal's assistant, handling disciplinary cases with counseling and boxing therapy. Sam introduces Zach to the Basque people, sheep tenders in the hills outside town, who conveniently provide a hiding place for Zach when the bad guys arrive. In the biggest stretch of all, Sam outwits the thugs with talents he acquired as a KGB agent. Other details and characters merely set up the chain of events, which is unfortunate because individual chapters are often exciting, and there is a great potential to satisfy suspense fans.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.