How to Disappear

A girl on the run and the boy sent to kill her are on an inevitable collision course in an adrenaline-soaked thriller that veers into melodrama. Sixteen-year-old Nicolette Holland, a popular but rebellious cheerleader, witnesses a gruesome crime in the woods near her Ohio home and runs away. She constantly changes her appearance and her name, and she never stays in one place long. Whereas Nicolette gleans her knowledge of criminal behavior from Law & Order, 18-year-old Jack Manx needs to look no further than his corrupt family: his brother, Don, is incarcerated and their crime boss father is dead. Jack’s hopes of staying clean evaporate when Don forces him to track down and kill Nicolette, whom Don says is a murderer. She’s no easy prey, and he isn’t the best hunter, but when the two finally meet, sparks fly, diluting the tough, independent persona Stampler (Afterparty) had built up for Nicolette. The premise requires more than a little suspension of disbelief, though the teens’ alternating narratives sustain tension throughout. Ages 14–up. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (June)