SOURCE: "This Boy's Life Is No Fun on the Run," in Chicago Tribune, April 19, 1996, p. 3.

[Below, Hess praises Gilstrap's protagonist as "one of the most likable characters in recent fiction: an honest yet resourceful kid."]

This emotionally charged thriller is one of the year's best.

Until he was 10, Nathan Bailey had an almost perfect life. Although his mother died when he was an infant, he was adored by his prosperous father. But when a train crashes into his father's car, Nathan's life becomes a living hell. The court awards custody of Nathan to an uncle, who beats the boy. At 11, Nathan decides to run away, steals his uncle's car, is caught and sent to a children's detention center, where he is assaulted on the first night. At 12, a guard puts Nathan into a detention room, makes him take off his shoes and socks, then tries to kill him...